You never know how much your input in a meeting might impact your future.
Leslie has learned to trust her instincts. She’s a listener, a questioner, a seeker of the best route forward by lifting the thinking and actions of others.
In a meeting about a major customer’s problem and what could be done to service their needs and the malfunctioning equipment, the tone and content of the discussion was focused on the burden of what had to be done, including problematic timing, resources, costs.
Leslie spoke up encouraging a different perspective – that of the customer. She urged the team to discuss what they could do to go beyond the customer’s expectations. She believed they all were capable of shifting their approach and doing more rather than just what was needed.
Fast forward a year… Leslie was offered a two-step promotion. The senior leader interviewing her brought up that meeting. He knew then that Leslie’s customer focus and push to go beyond the norm was the way he wanted the service department to be led. He’d been paying attention to her in meetings since, and knew it was just a matter of time before he could place her in the right spot.
Leslie is breathing fresh air into the way her new team thinks, responds, initiates. They’re feeling truly listened to for the first time in years. After months of getting to know them, she had to move a few people off the team. Now the team is working cohesively with a more creative customer-support mindset. And “they’re rocking it.”
Leslie spoke up at that meeting because she believed they could shift from their standard customer mindset to a customer-delight focus, which would impact their service and reputation. Her team had it in them, it was waiting to be awakened. It’s awake now. And Leslie’s approach is being sought for other parts of the company.
