How I learned to work with senior leaders when I worked at The J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu.
This article is a part of our Leadership Series — reflections on inspiration, influence, and the choices that shape meaningful achievement.
It is also a part of our Life at Work Series — where we explore the practices, challenges, and lessons that shape our professional lives.
I Recently Went Back to the Getty for a Visit
I’ve been visiting Los Angeles this month and visited The J. Paul Getty Villa (formerly the Museum) in Malibu.
This is where I landed my first post-university job as Accounting Supervisor for the Museum 35 years ago.
And still draw on the lessons I learned at the Getty when working with senior leaders.
When you’re a leader in CX, Customer Service or Contact Centers, you need to be able to work well with senior leaders in other departments.
Working well with others is at the heart of gaining momentum for your Customer-centric ambitions.
Gartner wrote that it’s a good idea to build strong rapport with key functional heads in Finance, Operations and IT. Because CEOs tend to listen closely to these roles.
And without their buy-in, it’s hard to move culture forward.
It helps to know which roles have the CEO’s ear in your organization. But I can pretty much guarantee that the CFO is one of those roles.
My studies and early career were in finance. In its own way, Finance is a lot like CX.
It’s a discipline that touches every department.
Which means that a good finance person has to build relationships with senior leaders.
I didn’t run around and try and teach Finance to senior leaders
After I got the job at The Getty I didn’t run around to Department Heads and try and teach them how a reserve was calculated or why certain financial ratios mattered.
I didn’t bore them with how financial statements were prepared.
The Department Heads at The Getty had titles like Head of Paintings and Head of Decorative Arts. These were remarkably learned and sophisticated people responsible for some of the world’s great heritage.
Their eyes would have glazed over if I had done that. And I would have lost traction.
Having said that, I did get up out of my chair and go and meet people regularly. Because that’s at the heart of building relationships.
And I had a great boss who made it clear that this was a big part of my job.
I remember one intense work conversation with the Head of Sculptures.
One of my early work conversations was a little intimidating to be honest. I had to meet with the Head of Sculptures and go over the state of his department’s operating budget.
The goal was to help his department make it through the year on budget — because even the world’s richest museum still has budgets.
Which meant discussions around trade-offs relevant to his department.
Hold off on the intern program? Reduce some international travel? Hire the Deputy Head now or defer the new cataloging system?
The discussion was about him, his people, his department, his vision and metrics. And how we in finance could help.
I even once received applause after running the annual budget meeting. My boss told me that had never happened before. But she wasn’t surprised.
She knew — with her help .—- that I had spent time understanding the needs and personalities of the Department Heads.
So as we sat around that massive conference table at the museum, we knew each other. We’d already had the tougher conversations in private — where they belonged.
So getting people on board for the next year’s plan became easier.
This approach works for leaders in the Customer domain too
I think that when CX people get better at listening to the senior people they serve and use their sophisticated know-how to help these people achieve their goals, things go better for the CX ambitions where they work.
If all you talk about is NPS, VOC, or customer journeys, you’re going to lose people.
In part because you’ve made your discipline more important than their discipline.
The discipline that they’ve studied and practiced for years – such as with the Department Heads at the The Getty.
So have respect and empathy for their work. See how your sophisticated know-how can help them solve business problems.
And in those vital early days, begin the establishment of your cross-functional CX governing committee.
Remember that the early adopters in your organization — and those whom you have already helped — make perfect members of such a committee.
These folks share the success stories and what has been accomplished. Which will amplify and champion your CX efforts.
And help you get more people on board.
I’m grateful I came up through Finance
Finance touches every department.
And with figures tells the story of what’s going on in the business and where we need to focus our efforts.
By using my own finance know-how to help others I ended up building up my own internal reputation and credibility.
Because you’ll need both to get more senior leaders on board.
Senior people care deeply about what’s good for the Organization.
When you can show them and prove to them that pushing those experience levers will help — folks will sign on for the ride.
Thank You for Reading
I regularly share stories, strategies, and insights from our work across Contact Centers, Customer Service, and Customer Experience. If this resonates, I’d love to stay connected.
You can drop me a line anytime, or subscribe on our site.
Daniel Ord
[email protected]
www.omnitouchinternational.com
