Happy New Year! I’m still on vacation from new podcast recordings, and during this interim, I’m replaying 3 of my most popular podcast episodes of 2017. Have you listened to The Chief Customer Officer Human Duct Tape Show? As you get ready for the year ahead, I highly suggest you dig into the archives and listen to more episodes. Bill Carmody of Inc Magazine recently listed my podcast as binge-worthy! It’s an honor to be listed among other leading experts such as Bob Knorpp and Drew Neisser (who was actually a guest on my podcast last year).
From customer journey maps, to defining the CCO role, B2B CX, Startup CX, and more – you’re sure to find wisdom to guide your customer experience transformation or improvement needs. It warmed my heart to see Stephanie Thum, Customer Experience Strategy and Planning Leader, and past guest on my podcast, shout out the podcast in her great article on LinkedIn, sharing the 5 things that journalism taught her about customer experience.
Let me tell you, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing many inspiring leaders on my podcast, and there’s plenty more of that to come this year – I look forward to sharing new recordings with you very soon!
Earn the Right to Do the Work
In this episode replay, I chat with Catherine Courage, the VP of Ads and Commerce User Experience at Google about how she created the path of her CX leadership role. Catherine shares practical and strategic advice about how she attained her position – which included a lot of “show and tell.” Catherine had to prove how she could drive results for the company – how she could improve the ecosystem around Google’s products and experience. In doing so, this meant spending a lot of time understanding the ecosystem and how to interact with the different departments in the company.Beginning with a 3 step process, Catherine did some internal digging to determine – what’s important to the company? How do individual incentives work? And, is there a five-year plan? Next, she sought to find out how can internal and external empathy be developed in terms of employees and customers. Then, she began setting priorities for the business as a whole, and “going where there’s suction,” meaning teams/people who want to change things and be seen as successful in the business.
CX Leadership Lessons Learned
Catherine also shared some valuable lessons that she learned during the transformations of her own career:
- Understand your journey: At a point in her career, Catherine transitioned from Salesforce (a small company where people were growing together) to Citrix (a 20-year company with no focus on experience at that point). You need to understand your journey, where you’re at, and how the transitions are going to be challenging. Your career arc is a journey, and understanding it and the various roles you serve is crucial. It will also give you a deeper appreciation for company culture, which — until you think about things this way — can often seem like a fluffy term.
Your career arc is a journey, and understanding it and the various roles you serve is crucial, says @ccourage VP of Ads and Commerce UX at @Google Share on X - The C-Suite won’t unite organically: you need to drive the unification, especially around vocabulary and incentives.
The C-Suite won’t unite organically: you need to drive the unification, especially around vocabulary and incentives, says @ccourage VP of Ads and Commerce UX at @Google Share on X - It’s okay to ask for help; it doesn’t make you weaker. Paradoxically to some, it makes you stronger.
It’s okay to ask for help; it doesn’t make you weaker. Paradoxically to some, it makes you stronger, says @ccourage VP of Ads and Commerce UX at @Google Share on X
I think suggesting that it’s okay to ask for help is a great reminder for all leaders and managers. Often times, we get caught up in trying to manage everything ourselves – don’t forget that successful leaders know how to delegate and ask for assistance.
What advice would you like to share that helped guide you in your CX role? Share with me in the comments!
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