Despite boasting impressive portfolios overflowing with award-winning, business-boosting customer experience accolades, our All-Stars are still human. And like any other humans, they have been known to make a mistake or two over the years.
As James Joyce put it, “mistakes are the portals of discovery,” and as part of our voyage of CX discovery we asked our 50 Leaders to name the biggest business mistake they’ve made and what these errors have taught them.
Below is a snapshot of some of their responses. You can view their complete answers to these questions and more in CX All-Stars or by clicking a leader’s name to view their full profile.
The diverse mix of backgrounds and fields that our Leaders come from was reflected in the array of responses to this question. However, we were still able to discern a few common themes. Communication is Key
Whether it be with customers, colleagues, or stakeholders, several of our All-Stars discussed examples of where being unable to convey a message or idea effectively hampered their business operations.
Joey Tan, Head of CX at GXS Bank, outlines how she empowers her workforce through positive communicating:
“Merely doing good work isn’t enough; it shouldn’t stay hidden like a well-kept secret.“As a leader, I’ve learned the importance of actively seeking out and creating platforms to highlight our team’s achievements. Promoting and celebrating these successes is crucial –it boosts morale within the team and showcases our collective efforts to the wider organization and industry, emphasizing the significance and impact of our work.”
Alex Monaghan – Solution Architect at The Open University – discussed the need to use universal language when speaking to customers: “Trying to talk technically to business users. You must speak the customer's language, and you must help them understand concepts in their world rather than trying to dazzle them with technical detail.”
In a humorous anecdote, Dan Miller, Lead Analyst and Founder at Opus Research, championed the need to choose your words wisely:
“I coined the term, “recombinant communications” in 2002-ish to describe how changes in business IT and communications infrastructure would resemble genetic patterns encapsulated by ‘survival of the fittest.’“Businesses were never going to abandon solutions that work for them, and they would define how the next generation of tech had to coexist and interact with existing solutions.
“Well, it didn't catch on, primarily because people's immediate reaction was to picture a recumbent bicycle. Lesson learned: pick a catchier phrase ... like composite technology.”
Ellie Sutton, Director of Customer Strategy at Veriteer, was also open about her shortcomings in not appreciating the importance of a strong communications strategy:
“The biggest mistake I've made was underestimating the power of proactive communication to customers.“I learned firsthand that transparency and timely updates are essential in maintaining trust and loyalty among customers. This was particularly prevalent during COVID but since then, I've prioritized clear communication strategies to ensure customers are informed and reassured, even in the face of challenges.”
The Right Amount of Confidence
In digging through our All-Stars' responses, an interesting parallel emerged between leaders who struggled with trying to do too much and being unable to adequately delegate, and those who suffered with a certain level of imposter syndrome.
Christopher Brooks, Global Customer Experience Specialist at Lexden CX, talked about how he used to be guilty of the former:
“When I started, trying to do too much myself. I learned having people around you to take care of things I can not do, can't do well or don't enjoy is not a cost but a sound investment.”
Likewise, Zachary Dugas – Global Product Owner of CMS & SaaS – also fell into the trap of not utilizing his team enough:
“Probably attempting to do everything myself. When something becomes highly important and time sensitive, I tend to shift to "tunnel vision" and omit delegating to my team.”
Whereas for Andy Dignan, Chief Operating Officer at Five9, the issue was twofold: not striking the right balance when building his team, and too much micro-management of said team.
“I would say early in my career as a leader, I thought that building the best team meant hiring the smartest people and relying on my abilities to get the team to all work together. Easier said than done,” explained Dignan.
“What does work is building a team that is diverse, where everyone brings different ideas and talents to the table, and my job as a leader is to blend them together.“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do. I now put an extreme focus on hiring and building teams by looking at how easily a person will fit into the group and how their specific skills make the team.”
On the other side of the coin, Juanita Coley, CEO at Solid Rock Consulting, admits to being too cautious when she first started out: