Customer Service Leadership - The only sustainable Edge - Part 1
Posted on October 15, 2007 - Filed Under Innovative marketing strategies, CSA - Celebrity Speakers, Expert Interviews |
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by Larry Hochman
Having now completed 300 speeches in the past nine years, appearing in 26 different countries and on every continent, one topic remains far and away the most requested by all audiences, big and small alike. It will not surprise any of you that consistently, from Bali to Bucharest, from Dubai to Dublin, from Sydney to San Francisco, the most requested topic is LEADERSHIP. Even after all of the books that people have read, and all of the courses they have attended, and all of the bosses they have lived through, everyone is still seeking some kernel of knowledge to help them grow more confident in their own ability to lead.
In a world where the “white-noise” of hype rules in all forms of communication, how very welcome is the clear and concise definition of anything at all. Unsurprisingly, one of the most important statements about leadership comes from arguably the most respected man on the planet – Nelson Mandela. The great Mandela once said: “The most elusive, and therefore most desired, quality of leadership is vision”. Amen. It simply is impossible to lead successfully unless there is clarity about what it is you are trying to inspire people to accomplish. This is more important than ever before owing to the multiplicity of issues competing for our attention in today’s world.
The world of commerce is now (to a degree once thought unimaginable): mobile, global, temporary, outsourced and off-shored. All of these trends will only become more significant in the months and years ahead. “FAST FORWARD THE MOBILE LIFESTYLE” is the de-facto motto driving almost every society on the planet. To successfully lead in the future, the understanding and communication of this vision is not only important, it is essential. It will be the governing reality in both commerce and culture – worldwide – for the rest of our lives.
In this disparate and increasingly diffusely prismatic world, FOCUS becomes a life-or-death issue. I humbly submit that ALL OF YOUR PRIORITIES ARE NOT IMPORTANT. THEY NEVER ARE! The most effective leaders in the future will be supremely capable of helping people to focus on the issues that really matter. Clarity of purpose and message, driven by a vision of a desired outcome, delivered in a way to make issues less complicated in an increasingly complicated world, will become the hallmark of great leaders.
One of the most respected Chief Executive in the U.K., Sir Terry Leahy of Tesco, has been uniformly consistent in keeping his workforce focused on the single most important thing in the running of any business – THE CUSTOMER. In almost every public (and internal) statement he has made for many, many years, THE CUSTOMER is at the forefront of what is communicated to be important. The stupendous success of Tesco, far and away the most powerful brand in the U.K., is no accident. This mirrors the British Airways story between 1985-1995, when then Chief Executive Sir Colin Marshall was similarly consistent in every public (and internal) statement in keeping the focus on THE CUSTOMER. Both of these great leaders understood something basic to the success of every endeavour: the vision of a leader is like that of a playwright; it can only be effectively realised by others who share the vision, and bring their own creativity to it. They didn’t personally deliver the two greatest turnarounds in U.K. business in the past 30 years; their people did.
Successful leaders in the future will need, more than ever before, to put customers at the heart of everything that is done, said, promised, and DELIVERED. In fact, all talk of innovation (another of the most requested topics for speeches) can and should be simplified: like every other business issue, the surfeit of convoluted explanations about innovation boggles the mind. Innovation, plain and simple, must be about GIVING CUSTOMERS EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT – sometimes before they know they even want it! Two perfect examples from the airline industry are: 1) Low Cost Airlines and 2) Flat beds in First and Business Class. Customers have now embraced both (at different ends of the economic scale), and most airlines simply cannot compete without offering these pricing and product options.
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Great innovative marketing resource
Innovative marketing challenge - a really good resource
Good Day Everyone - hoipe the day is great found your blog searching for mer Service Leadership - The only sustainable Edge - Part 1 : The Innovative Marketing Blog, but wanted info on customer services t mobile . Glad I found it.