How Team Leaders can talk like a Leader

In this post I share practical advice on how Team Leaders in Customer Service and Contact Centers can talk like a Leader.

This article is part of our Team Leader Series under the Leadership & Business Management domain.

https://www.omnitouchinternational.com/introducing-our-team-leader-series-of-articles/

Let’s start with a definition of Leadership

In our training work we use this definition of Leadership –

“Leadership is the combination of skills, knowledge and experience that enable a person to inspire others to accomplish a shared goal.”

I like this definition in particular because –

It reminds us that we have a ‘shared goal’. And by extension, that we Leaders need to know what that shared goal is.
It involves the word ‘inspire’. The best Leaders inspire others.

So now that we have a definition let’s get into how to talk like a Leader.

We will start first by looking at Organization’s shared goals. After that we will look at how to ‘inspire’.

To talk like a Leader let’s start with your Organization’s shared goals

There’s a powerful lesson here from the Customer Experience business discipline.

Simply put, the best CX Leaders know ‘who’ their Organization is and ‘what’ their Organization’s main goals are.

They ask questions like –

What’s our Organization’s Vision, Mission & Values? (our story)
Which business metrics matter most to senior Leaders and why? (our performance)
What promises do we make to our Customers? (our brand)

And the answers they get to these (and of course other) questions help them craft and manage the Organization’s CX strategy.

I realize that this can feel like high in the sky stuff.

But the more you are in touch with who your Organization is and what its main goals are, the better you can share that with your people.

In the best Organizations, senior Leaders communicate the Organization well

Notice I did not write the line above as ‘”In the best Organizations, senior Leaders communicate to the Organization well.”

I wrote that they “communicate the Organization well.”

Which means that they are good at making that connection between who the Organization is and what its main goals to the daily actions of the people who work there.

I see this myself when senior Leaders come in and speak to Participants at our training sessions.

Though they may only drop by and chat for five or ten minutes, it’s amazing how much they can pack into that time.

And they often share how the training course that Participants are there to attend connects to the Organization’s objectives. See how that works?

Not to mention how inspiring it is that these senior people took the time and effort to come and talk to us.

Vision, Mission & Values – the story of your Organization

In combination, your Organization’s Vision, Mission & Values tell the story of your Organization. Let’s look at them one by one.

The Vision Statement

The Vision Statement tells us who we want to become. It’s written in a memorable way, it’s aspirational and it represents a point of time in the future.

It should let all of us know where we are headed – individually and as an Organization – and it should inspire us to keep working towards that future.

Sometimes I say that you could describe a Vision Statement this way – “If all of our dreams, beliefs and hard work come true, this is what we will be or become.”

Use this approach to test any Vision Statement you read

When I read an Organizational Vision Statement I test if it describes a point of time in the future.

Here’s the test. See if you can re-phrase any given Vision Statement as a “We aim to become…” statement.

For example, if I read a Vision Statement that says,

“We will make London the safest global city.” (The London Police Force)

I test it by writing it as – We aim to make London the safest city global city

And it works! Remember it’s not that I am suggesting they change their Vision Statement to include ‘we aim to become’.

That’s not what I’m trying to do here. It’s just my way of testing whether what I am reading is really a Vision Statement. That it represents an aspirational point of time in the future.

Because when you go out and read Vision Statements – and I suggest you do – you’ll find that many don’t fit that criteria.

Which is a bit sad. Because a great Vision is part of a great Organizational story.

The Korean Airlines example

In a recent class one of our Participants wanted to use Korean Airlines as a case study and here is their Vision Statement –

To be a Respected Leader in the World Airline Community

The calibre of the Vision Statement is open for discussion – is it memorable or vivid? That’s a different discussion.

But as a group we decided that their Vision Statement met the criteria of describing a future state.

Let’s try our test –

We aim to become a Respected Leader in the World Airline Community. You can see it works.

Before we leave the topic of the Organization’s Vision Statement let’s consider the Departmental Vision Statement

Every department within the Organization is welcome to craft their own departmental Vision Statement. Absolutely yes.

Mature Contact Centers and Customer Service Departments often have their own departmental Vision Statement.

For example –

“We will become known as the place where our Customers can go to be heard and to have their needs and wants taken care of.”

I think it’s a terrific idea to do the work of creating a department Customer Service Vision Statement.

Because a departmental Vision Statement can feel more accessible to people who work in Customer Service. It’s designed around the aspirations and ambitions of the Customer Service department itself.

The only caveat is that any departmental Vision Statement must sit comfortably underneath the Organization Vision Statement. It has to support or align to the Organizational Vision Statement.

The Mission Statement

With the Mission Statement, you are expressing what it is that your Organization does ‘every day’.

For example, if we are a Contact Center, we may seek to listen and solve the enquiries of our Customers in a positive manner.

That’s something we do every day.

Not just on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Or when we feel like it.

If we are a neighborhood bakery, like the ones we have here in Germany, we could say – “(Everyday)…we bake the most delicisous pastries for our Customers.”

Not just when the conditions are ‘right’.

The Mission Statement for Korean Airlines is: Excellence in Flight

So does this Mission Statement reflect what Korean Airlines would do or does every day?

Our group decided that Excellence in Flight was something that was supposed to happen ‘every day’.

And that you could cascade the idea of excellence down to all the various functions involved such as catering, in-flight service, cleanliness & ambience of the cabin, entertainment options and more.

Before we leave the topic of the Organization’s Mission Statement let’s consider the Departmental Mission Statement

I think it’s a terrific idea to do the work of creating a department Mission Statement.

A departmental Mission Statement can feel more accessible to people who work in Customer Service. Because it’s designed around ‘what we do every day’ in the Customer Service department itself.

The only caveat is that any departmental Mission Statement must sit comfortably underneath the Organization Mission Statement. It has to support or align to the Organizational Mission Statement.

Values matter when you want to talk like a Leader

Values is a big topic.

But at the core, Values are meant to guide our decision making. When we’re confronted with doing X, Y or Z what do our values (or principles) guide us to do?

Because Values should guide our choices about the behaviors we bring into the world.

And don’t leave Values as ‘high in the sky’ words or phrases.

Go ahead and explore how Values can be brought to life in different functions in the Organization.

For example, if you have the Value of ‘Ownership’ in your Values mix what would that look like in different departments?

For example, in what wasy could Finance show Ownership? Or Procurement, Marketing or Legal?

The rubber meets the road approach to examining each Value -within the context of a specific department or function – helps inculcate effective Values-based decision making across the Organization.

In our training courses I sometimes explore the Values at Zappos

Because the Founder of Zappos shared that Zappos doesn’t just use Values as an internal guide to decision making.

Zappos actually hires and fires people based on how well they bring the Zappos Values to life. Regardless of their actual job performance.

If you fit, you fit. If you don’t ‘fit’, then you don’t fit.

Talk about taking Values seriously!

Zappos has 10 ‘Core Values’ and they are all interesting to read about. Here I share an excerpt with links to three of those Values so you can read more about them for yourself.

So how can a Team Leader talk like a Leader?

Senior Leaders want the essence of the organization to cascade through every department and level. And that doesn’t just happen by having them talk about it.

They want you – the Team Leader, all Leaders – to talk about it too. With your people.

Yet when I ask Team Leaders to reflect back on the last time they brought up any of the Organization’s shared goals in conversations with their people, the room often grows quiet.

Not because they don’t want to be effective. They do.

But largely because it was never that obvious or made clear to them that they can and should.

From theory to practice: Talk like a Leader

To talk like a Leader I don’t think that you need to make up new kinds of conversations to have with your people. Thank goodness.

You probably just need to ‘insert’ some Leadership Language into some of the existing conversations that you already have with them.

To see what I mean, take a look at the examples below. And see how the Team Leader ‘inserted’ Leadership Language into their normal existing conversations with their Team Member –

Bringing the Mission Statement into the coaching conversation for an email

Cindy – I really liked the way you incorporated empathy into your email to Mr. Lawrence. That supports our mission to provide excellent service ‘every day’.

Sharing how someone brought a Value to life

Tom – one of our Values is Teamwork – and by staying back last night to help Tanya finish her report on time you helped bring that value to life. Thank you Tom.

Bringing the Vision Statement into the coaching conversation for a Guest check-in

Alex, for the next Guest who checks in be sure to remember to ask them if they have their loyalty card with them. That’s so that they can enjoy the additional benefits of staying with us throughout the property.

Our Customer loyalty program supports our Vision of becoming the most trusted Hospitality group in our area.

Values in the Performance Review

Siti, for Taking Ownership I’ve marked your performance as Exceeds Expectations.

I don’t think you are suprised here because we spoke several times over the past six months about how you’ve been taking increasing ownership for the quality of your work, closing out Customer cases and even taking on a new channel of communication.

Thank you for that Siti!

Inspiration – it’s not an event, it’s a way of working

So you want your people to be inspired. That’s cool.

The good news is that there is no secret here. The best Team Leaders have frequent and meaningful conversations with every person that works for them.

And your people respond to that. How do I know? Because Agents around the world tell me about their Team Leaders.

And they consistently value both the frequency and value of the conversations they have with their Team Leaders.

Here’s something to keep in mind. It’s not just how you say it, it’s also what you say. Think about what you’re going to talk about. The content of what you want to say.

Will that content help? Is it useful? Can your Team Member use it to grow or develop? Does it link to our Organization’s shared goals?

If you’re not having frequent and meaningful conversations with everyone who works for you then fix that first. And add Leadership Language second.

On the other hand, if you’re already having these frequent and meaningful conversations with your people you can up your leadership game. By adding more Leadership Language to those conversations.

I know you can do it.

https://www.omnitouchinternational.com/help-your-contact-centre-team-leaders-do-better/