By Mike Lee
Our leadership style is the sum of all the leaders we’ve experienced previously. We must focus on the best parts of the previous leaders we incorporate and suppress the parts we were frustrated with.
Customer success is not intuitive. We all enter this discipline with a bit of trepidation in trying to understand how CS works with the rest of the company and how to achieve overall goals and KPIs (if you know what KPIs are before you start in this space). Everyone who comes into customer success will need guidance on some level; however, it is easy for us to forget that once we’ve moved into leadership.
This phenomenon is like driving. No matter how well you can drive now, you were, at some point, a new driver. You gripped the steering wheel too hard and slammed on the brakes more than needed. You drove far slower than the speed limit and were exhausted by the time you finished a short drive.
Some of that exhaustion extended from whoever was riding with you or teaching you to drive. Many of us had parents who were overly eager to criticize how fast we were going or how we pressed the brake pedal too hard when stopping. Although, for the most part, their hearts were in the right place, the stress they introduced in this very vulnerable stage in our development didn’t help us grow as we should.
Entering CS is much the same. New CSMs are often trying to navigate a new discipline that is still growing. There is lots of information on the internet, some good, some bad, but at the very least, much of it is at least a start. When many of us started, there was absolutely nothing about CS to consume, much less influencers.
The start of someone’s CS career is a very vulnerable time that can shape how that person grows and forms their career. There are five tips to make sure you are helping, not hurting, their growth and understanding in CS (and any other field)
Empathy – Empathy in Customer Success is critical; however, sometimes as leaders we forget to continue using this skill. As you move up the leadership ladder, you move further away from customers and lead CSMs. Empathy was one of the skills that allowed you to be so successful as a CSM. Empathy allows you to develop customer relationships and put yourself in their plight. It allows you to connect on a Human-to-Human level instead of seeing them at dollar signs. Empathy is the differentiator between sales and CS. When we, as leaders, can empathize with a new CSM's challenges, we can give grace when grace is needed. We must take time to reflect on when we started our careers and how we had to navigate the challenges of learning a new discipline and product. We had to learn both to guide our customers to find value. You and I know it isn’t an easy task, especially for a new CSM. Give grace and use empathy; it will make a huge difference.
Guidance on what they are reading – There are TONS of articles, books, websites, and LinkedIn Posts about customer success. As with anything, when there are free platforms to post thoughts and ideas, but some aren’t helpful to a community. Leaders must guide those around them to identify good information and when a source may be wrong. Although this is a subjective action, we must keep the fidelity of information consumed by new CSMs (and seasoned CSMs, for that matter) to educate those we lead. Be open to answering questions about articles or posts a CSM has seen, and be honest about your thoughts. Those who report to us look up to our understanding of CS and best practices. It is much easier for experienced CS professionals to identify factual information. We must take responsibility for the knowledge learned on our watch so that we can lead and grow proper CS professionals to take our places one day.
Pushing them gently out of their comfort zone – I have a saying, “you can’t grow if you are stuck in your comfort zone.” We won't learn anything new when we don’t move to something challenging. As leaders, we must learn the boundaries of our team’s comfort zone and gently move them out. As with any role, CS professionals can get stuck in a rut in the day-in and day-out duties. Especially when we are short-staffed, we find ourselves staying in our lanes and not learning anything new. It is possible this has happened to you, and you may know how it can devastate a career. We, as leaders, must step up and be the leader you needed previously to move you forward. When you were new in CS, someone likely helped you to grow. Someone made you run a QBR before you were ready. Someone made you travel to a customer site before you fully knew the product's benefits. These are examples of someone pushing you to be better, which is outside your comfort zone. We must do the same.
Highlight the good – One of the most influential things a leader can do is praise good behavior. Dean Smith, the famous coach of UNC-Chapel Hill, once said, “always praise the behavior you want to see repeated.” Sometimes when leaders get wrapped up in KPIs, goals, and executing strategy, we forget to speak highly of those on the ground doing the work. Positive words of affirmation go a long way, and in today’s economy, we must continue to uplift those around us. When you praise the behavior you would like to see, it sets a blueprint for your priorities and values. This allows your team to be reinforced with what is important to you. This works in every aspect of your life, especially at work.
Push them to grow their craft – As leaders, we must accept that the people working for us will likely not retire working for us. Therefore, our responsibility is to make them better during our time with them. I often measure myself by my team's roles after leaving my leadership. I am never upset about anyone leaving for a higher role (i.e., CSM to Senior CSM); however, I take it personally if someone leaves for a lateral role (i.e., CSM to CSM). Our job as leaders is to grow our team to the next level. Just as a teacher’s job is to grow a student in a grade level, we must prepare them for whatever is next in their careers. Not only do we coach them to be prepared, but we also must model the behaviors of the leaders they desire to become.
Everyone has a favorite leader, just as everyone has had a leader they are happy to have moved away from. Which type of leader will you be for your team? What do you want your team to remember about you? You can’t be everyone’s friend (nor should you be), but you can be the leader you needed when you first started as a CSM, and maybe you can change the life and career trajectory of someone who needs it.
The Success League is a customer success consulting firm that offers a Certified CS Leadership program which features classes such as Hiring Top Performers and Planning a Team Structure. Visit TheSucceessLeague.io for more information on these and our other offerings.
Mike Lee - With 28 years as a technical professional, Mike is currently the Head of Customer Success at PublicInput, the leading Software as a Service public engagement platform. He leads the entire post-sale organization including Customer Success, Customer Support, Onboarding, Renewals Management, Professional Services, and Training. Mike also is an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). Mike received his MBA in 2011 from UMASS and is currently persuing his Doctor of Business Administration at UNCC.