If you had to boil down the essence of great leadership into one word, could you? Thesaurus.com has lots of synonyms for leadership: management, power, hierarchy, superiority… I can’t begin to tell you how none of these are good. Not a one.
I think we can do better.
I recently had some fun asking many people in the customer service, marketing and sales industry how they would describe customer service in a single word. What surprised me the most was the variety in the responses, which really means different people have different expectations from companies. The concern is whether businesses understand that, especially with such a trend around customers wanting a very human experience. Further up the in the company, leadership and their role in corporate culture, have huge impacts on how employees engage with customers. If staff are happy and feeling purposeful, that will translate into a better experience online and front line.
So I had to ask the question again. This time to authors, customer service leaders, PR practitioners, politicians, and writers…
WHAT IS ONE WORD FOR GREAT LEADERSHIP?
Michel Falcon – Forward-Thinking (oneish)
Stan Phelps – Caring
Warren Pickard – Example
Shirley Shelton – Inspiration
@RussLoL example…thete’s your word, lead by example
— Lori King (@1loriking) July 26, 2015
@RussLoL Love is the one word. “Love your people” is the conclusion of everything I’ve learned about highly effective #Leadership.
— Mark C. Crowley (@MarkCCrowley) July 27, 2015
@RussLoL “determined” — Susan Thomas (@SusanThomasSry) July 31, 2015
@RussLoL Listening!
— Alesha Doran (@aleshadoran) July 31, 2015
@RussLoL compassion comes first to mind! — Leanne Flood (@LeanneFlood) July 30, 2015
@RussLoL Vision
— Derek Bolen (@hurrrdurrr) July 30, 2015
Respect. https://t.co/ICmzoYVE8c — Stephanie Pound (@poundofsteph) July 30, 2015
@RussLoL trust
— Anabelle Bernard F (@anabellebf) July 30, 2015
Great leadership to me is purposeful- https://t.co/YF5qc6swzB — Brandon Williams (@BrandonDoubleU) July 29, 2015
@RussLoL integrity
— Shellie Gudgeon (@ShellieGudgeon) July 29, 2015
@RussLoL Grit — Janni Aragon, PhD (@janniaragon) August 10, 2015
@RussLoL oops VIsionARY
— Nancy Wood (@lemonzestlady) August 10, 2015
@RussLoL Inspiration — dazylady (@dazyladyblog) July 31, 2015
Thanks to everyone for their input. Really great views on what great leadership should be, one with an inspiring vision their staff can rally behind while still understanding and caring about them as individuals. Did you have one you’d like to share? Please do in the comments below.
[kkstarratings]
