Senior CX Leadership: Being the Voice of Change
By Kristen Hayer
I don’t want to dive too deep into politics in this article. I realize that there are people reading this on both sides of the US divide right now. I will say that I have never before written to my Senators and Representatives as much as I have in the past 2 weeks. I feel as if I’m a little kid saying, “Hey, hey, hey, hey there. What are you doing? Watch this. Watch that. What are you doing? Hey. Hey. Hey…”
To be honest, one of my biggest disappointments in my specific US representatives right now is their lack of communication and transparency. And regardless of political position I think all of us can agree that the past few weeks have included a lot of change. Human brains interpret any kind of change as a problem or risk. So, the big task of a US congressperson right now really should be helping their constituents understand, process and respond to the changes. I don’t see that happening in our state. So, as of now my US Senators and Representative have become my favorite pen pals.
My takeaway as a CX leader from the situation is this: if you are in leadership, a large portion of your job is helping your department or team cope with change. At different times, there will be a little bit of change or a lot of change, but there is almost always some change happening in every organization at any point in time. It is important to acknowledge that and have a plan for how to deal with it.
Here are 3 ideas on how to make change smoother for your team.
1. Communicate Daily. I haven’t hidden the fact that I’m a major TikTok fan and small-time TikTok creator (@HandsomeRobGSD – My dog is the real creator.) The congresspeople I see using TikTok and other social media to keep their constituents up to date on a daily, and sometimes hourly, basis are those who are creating engaged and educated communities who can more effectively deal with the change that is coming at them. CX leaders: Think about how you can communicate frequently with your teams during times of significant change. What are the tools you have access to? How can you reach everyone on your team? When can you make the time to share timely updates?
2. Share the Why. One thing that can help anyone dealing with change is understanding what is happening and where it is coming from. This is the “why”. Right now, congresspeople in the US who are providing insight into why changes are happening are creating engagement. People have a drive to try and understand what is going on around them. It can be disconcerting to one day be blindsided by change you weren’t expecting. CX leaders: Plan how to talk about significant changes for your team. Do you know why the change was implemented? If not, can you ask someone who was involved how to help you communicate the change to your team?
3. Provide Coping Strategies. It is no fun to have some big new change dropped on you, even if it comes with an explanation. For example, many of the changes that are being presented to US citizens right now have an emotional impact. Strong leaders are helping their constituents find practical and active ways to cope. If you and your team are facing a major change in your company, it can have a similar impact. People worry about their job security, workload, and having to learn new processes. CX leaders: Provide your team with actions they can take right now to cope with their reaction to change. What could your team members be doing that would lower their stress level? What could they do to make sure this change will have a positive impact on their role?
Leading through a period of significant change is one of the biggest challenges you’ll face as a CX leader. I hope these tips help you to be a stronger leader than those in my particular region of the US right now. Meanwhile, I’ll keep writing to my new congressional pen pals. I hope they like dog pictures…
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Kristen Hayer - Kristen founded The Success League in 2015 and currently serves as the company's CEO. Over the past 25 years Kristen has been a success, sales, and marketing executive, primarily working with scaling tech companies, and leading several award-winning customer success teams. She has written over 100 articles on customer success, and is the host of 3 podcasts about the field. Kristen has served as a judge for the Customer Success Excellence awards, and is on the board of several early-stage tech companies. She received her MBA from the University of Washington in Seattle, and now lives in San Francisco.