In the CEO Afterlife

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

One day a year, I worked in various jobs within our coffee roasting operation, side-by-side with union employees. If you don’t have a factory, work in the store or the call center or the warehouse or. Sometimes I had to stay late on a Friday to make five telephone calls. Maybe they’ll work for you or for your CEO.

CEO 207

CEO Chief Executive Officer Business Model Competitive Advantage 207

Terry Starbucker

JULY 23, 2018

Leadership is one of my life’s great passions – and I’m pleased to share with you my journey (in three parts in 3 weeks) to what I consider to be the heart of great More Human leadership – the success trifecta. Along the way I learned SO many things about leadership, because I had the honor of actually DOING it.

Leadership 181

Leadership Learning-by-Doing COO Follow-up 181

Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

After a flurry of calls back and forth we figured out what was happening. It’s all going down” my Network Operations Center (NOC) manager reported to me. It was one of the worst things that could possibly happen – no phone, no internet, ANYWHERE – even at our own call centers. What do you mean, “all down”?”.

How To 150

How To Leadership Engineering Bottom-up 150

Terry Starbucker

JULY 5, 2015

Note: This is the 3rd installment of excerpts from my book manuscript of “More Human: A Journey To The Heart Of Great Leadership” The first installment is here , and the second here. . It is a key step towards building the culture of accountability that is the heart of More Human leadership. ” – Robert Orben.

Leadership 150

Leadership Letter Conference Definition 150

Next Level Blog

MARCH 12, 2019

Sit In with the Front Liners – In our Next Level Leadership® group coaching program , we have high potential leaders shadow senior leaders for a day. So a senior director in operations might hang out with the company CFO for the day or a VP in IT might sit in with the CEO. If you want to call a meeting, you can call a meeting.

How To 169

How To CFO Teamwork Learning-by-Doing 169

Lead Change Blog

JUNE 22, 2020

On one occasion, a group of us were working on a national project to improve call center productivity. Institutional bias is: A tendency for the procedures and practices of particular institutions to operate in ways which result in certain social groups being advantaged or favored and others being disadvantaged or devalued.

Proposal 214

Proposal Participative Call Center Uncertainty 214

Tony Mayo

OCTOBER 13, 2010

– Alex “Sandy&# Pentland MIT Human Dynamics Lab in Harvard Business Review Another study, at a bank’s telephone call center, showed that operators who spent their breaks speaking to coworkers not only got more work done but experienced less workplace stress.

Mayo 146

Mayo Executive Coaching Efficiency Handbook 146

Decker Communication

JUNE 28, 2021

While I loved all my roles, one in particular really helped me grow as a leader — managing a call center in financial services. The energy in a call center is incredible. Did we set norms on how our team would operate? Take a moment to revisit the call center, reimagined for the hybrid world.

Call Center 95

Call Center Energy Insurance Participative 95

Next Level Blog

MAY 11, 2021

A few years ago, I participated in an early use of remote presence technology when I delivered a leadership workshop at GE Digital. This is especially important in a hybrid environment in which people may not physically see each other regularly.

How To 130

How To Participative Content Creativity 130

Great Leadership By Dan

JANUARY 26, 2017

However, companies do not typically start their operations with a global plan. This includes which countries will have a call center in the primary language, localized products, a comprehensive digital presence, and globalized partner programs. This is where your globalization strategists will spend the most time.

Globalization 120

Globalization Budgeting Strategy Compliance 120

Surviving Leadership

OCTOBER 29, 2018

I also truly appreciated some of the business practices that leadership followed that I have missed in other organizations, including ones highlighted in McCord’s book. This would include a day spent with an installation tech and a day spent with a call center agent – preferably, in a market other than your own.

CFO 58

CFO P&L Call Center COO 58

Decker Communication

JUNE 28, 2021

While I loved all my roles, one in particular really helped me grow as a leader — managing a call center in financial services. The energy in a call center is incredible. Did we set norms on how our team would operate? Take a moment to revisit the call center, reimagined for the hybrid world.

Call Center 52

Call Center Energy Insurance Participative 52

Skip Prichard

OCTOBER 14, 2019

Although none are perfect, they operate in a way that generates engagement and fulfillment for their employees, delight and loyalty for their customers, positive contributions to their communities and to the environment, and excellent returns for their owners and investors. The results of John Ratliff’s healing leadership have been dramatic.

How To 92

How To Simon Learning-by-Doing Organization 92

Strategy Driven

MAY 4, 2016

Here are three tips to help successfully manage organizational change: Listen to employees: It is critical that you or the leadership team take the time to carefully listen to what employees are feeling and saying regarding the change and confront any fears head on. Consider leaving a comment!

Succession 50

Succession Management Parcell Call Center 50

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 15, 2010

Ed holds a Master of Science degree in Operations Research and a Bachelors degree in Mathematics. Mary Grace holds leadership appointments with several professional societies including Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining and the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences.

Resources 50

Resources Process Constraint Objective 50

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 7, 2016

As a reaction to industrial reforms and the strength of unions, a Hard Nosed style of leadership was prominent from 1910-1939, management’s attempt to take stronger hands, recapture some of the Captain of Industry style and build solidity into an economy plagued by the Depression. In this era, business started embracing formal planning.

Management 70

Management Hostile Takeover Management by Objectives Objective 70

Strategy Driven

APRIL 24, 2014

This is leadership! Instead of having an odd man out, I kept an old, beat up call center chair and my team got the good chairs until mine could be replaced. A Shift in Leadership Can Make a Multi-Million Dollar Impact. I had new, plush leather office chairs delivered to me and my executive team.

Development 59

Development Team Loyalty Due Diligence 59

Strategy Driven

JANUARY 2, 2015

‘Customer care’ means that customer service is palmed off on some call center. . ‘Right now’ is a vendor term for what they’re peddling, rather than what the marketplace really needs. Expect to render good business all the time.

Strategy 50

Strategy Strategic Planning Budgeting Risk Management 50

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 18, 2015

As a reaction to industrial reforms and the strength of unions, a Hard Nosed style of leadership was prominent from 1910-1939, management’s attempt to take stronger hands, recapture some of the Captain of Industry style and build solidity into an economy plagued by the Depression. In this era, business started embracing formal planning.

Hostile Takeover 50

Hostile Takeover Management by Objectives Objective Scientific Management 50

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 21, 2011

But already a pervasive network also lets firms ship calls to virtual call centers. LiveOps is one company that helps put call center work in the cloud. But so much of leadership is the soft stuff; how do we adapt that to the new fragmented, anonymous workforce? That work isn't somewhere else, it's anywhere.

Call Center 15

Call Center Offshoring Charisma Video 15

Harvard Business Review

JULY 17, 2012

We know of one retail bank that gave their call center representatives the edict to "delight" customers and permission to waive up to $150 in fees for any customer without seeking any additional authorization. Jim Bush, who leads American Express service operations globally, set up a similar system. The result?

Customer Loyalty 15

Customer Loyalty Loyalty Banking Call Center 15

Harvard Business Review

JULY 17, 2012

We know of one retail bank that gave their call center representatives the edict to "delight" customers and permission to waive up to $150 in fees for any customer without seeking any additional authorization. Jim Bush, who leads American Express service operations globally, set up a similar system. The result?

Customer Loyalty 15

Customer Loyalty Loyalty Banking Call Center 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 10, 2017

In Precision’s case, good tactical performance required developing rules, checklists, and standard operating procedures and then following them closely. A great salesperson will operate much more efficiently with a defined process for reaching out to prospects. We made a number of operational changes to the call center.

Organization 16

Organization Tactics Call Center Metrics 16

Harvard Business Review

JULY 19, 2011

While it may not be intuitive to global readers, I see many similarities between Samsung's transformation from local leader in Korea to major player on the world stage and our own journey in building the United Bank for Africa into a group that operates in 20 countries and on three continents.

Venture Funding 16

Venture Funding Banking Participative Globalization 16

Deming Institute

APRIL 25, 2016

This is even more true in services where often you can’t inspect to catch errors before the customer is disappointed (think of call centers for example). I don’t want a surgeon to operate on me that doesn’t know anatomy. You need to improve the system to avoid producing poor results. Until 6 AM.

Deming 28

Deming System Senge Seminar 28

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 22, 2018

Our call centers became the FEMA call centers. For example, now with our call center experience, we are competing for the call centers for the U.S. Or a desire to invest in other newer parts of the business — the solar, the housing, the call centers, etc? and Caribbean.

Media 14

Media Company Call Center Real Estate 14

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 5, 2014

To have the influence to help set business strategy for the company, CMOs need to translate customer insights into terms meaningful to senior leadership. Talk about how complex marketing has become is very much in vogue, but there’s much less discussion about the operational (and diplomatic) muscle CMOs need in order to get things done.

P&L 14

P&L Banking Marketing Call Center 14

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 25, 2013

Bush took over American Express’s far-flung service operations in 2005. He was suddenly responsible for many thousands of call-center employees. Leaders kept a tight rein on costs, with goals for reducing average call time, improving customer satisfaction levels, and driving more service volume to the Web.

Call Center 11

Call Center Attrition Learning-by-Doing Cost Center 11

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Witnessing the downward-spiral of Carla Sanders' career was painful — yet her experience offers an important commentary on the requirements of executive leadership in today's organizations. This leadership imperative goes far beyond being collaborative and "playing nicely" with peers.

Proposal 15

Proposal Cialdini Execution Career 15

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 20, 2017

For example, RPA will seldom replace the entire “job” of a call center representative. While the human “co-pilot” no longer does the work of routine navigation and piloting, they still do things like observing the driverless operation, and stepping in to assist with unusual or dangerous situations.

Supply Chain 15

Supply Chain Outsourcing Call Center Organization 15

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 31, 2018

Developing a diverse leadership pipeline can benefit companies in all sectors. And yet black women’s advancement into leadership roles has remained stagnant , even as the number of them in professional and managerial roles has increased. They pursue management challenges.

Management 15

Management Tacit Knowledge Diversity Leadership Pipeline 15

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 28, 2017

And AI success stories are becoming more numerous and diverse, from Amazon reaping operational efficiencies using its AI-powered Kiva warehouse robots, to GE keeping its industrial equipment running by leveraging AI for predictive maintenance. Without support from leadership, your AI transformation might not succeed.

Survey 17

Survey Execution First-mover Advantage Technology 17

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 6, 2012

One success story occurred when a front-line associate in a call center posted online she didn't like a new process. To speed operations and improvement, Process Strategy 2.0 To speed operations and improvement, Process Strategy 2.0 The senior leader saw the comment on their social platform and asked "why not?"

Process 10

Process Examples Strategy Six Sigma 10

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 20, 2014

We are always on the agenda of the executive team and are a significant part of the leadership meetings,” says Bert van Meurs, CMO of Philips Healthcare Imaging Systems. That process incorporates operations, customer service, R&D, clinical specialists, sales, supply chain operators, and service teams. Leadership Marketing'

CEO 9

CEO Marketing Hotels Long-term 9

Harvard Business Review

MAY 5, 2016

” That clean-sheet perspective emboldened Intel’s leadership to abandon memory and focus on microprocessors. Preemptive self-disruption is becoming a new normal for the serious leadership. This clean-sheet customer experience prioritization over more traditional call center KPIs had a huge effect.

Levitt 8

Levitt Disaggregation Kaizen Call Center 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

It tested our crisis management and leadership skills beyond what we could have foreseen or prepared for, demonstrating that in a large-scale crisis, it’s how you react to its real-time situations that determines the speed at which you can begin to rebuild. Here’s how we did it. The First Crisis: Employees.

Crisis 9

Crisis Long-term Short-term Crisis Management 9

Harvard Business Review

MAY 8, 2017

Today AWS accounts for just 10% of Amazon’s $150 billion in revenue, but generates close to $1 billion in quarterly operating profit. As any manager knows, a generic-sounding list of values won’t move the culture needle unless leadership brings it to life. ” They Develop a Road Map Before Disruption Takes Hold.

Franchising 16

Franchising CEO Business Model Strategy 16