S3 Ep1 Quality Perks Crew Discusses Heart-Centered Leadership with Valerie McSorley

Tune into "Quality Perks": Heart-Centered  Leadership, Empathy and Authenticity with Valerie McSorley

Dive deep into the essence of heart-centered leadership with "Quality Perks," where our hosts, Karyn Dupree and Neal Eggers, engage with the visionary Valerie McSorley. This episode takes you beyond traditional metrics, into the realm of leadership that values empathy, authenticity, and genuine connections.

Why You Can't Miss This Episode:

• Personal Insights Meet Professional Wisdom: Start with a warm, relatable introduction over coffee preferences, setting the stage for a conversation that blends personal anecdotes with transformative professional insights.
• Inspirational Stories from the Frontlines: Valerie McSorley shares her journey of empowering women and fostering connections in the digital age, offering valuable lessons on resilience and innovation.
• Empathy at the Heart of Service: Discover how a heart-centered approach to leadership can elevate customer experiences and enhance team dynamics, especially in remote and hybrid work environments.
• Practical Leadership Strategies: Learn actionable strategies for bridging the gap between management and frontline agents, emphasizing the importance of listening and supporting your team.
• A Motivating Call to Action: The episode concludes with a powerful challenge to listeners, encouraging personal growth and the fostering of positive workplace cultures.

Transform Your Leadership Approach:

This episode is more than just a discussion; it's an invitation to rethink leadership in the contact center industry. By prioritizing empathy and authenticity, you can create a more engaged, motivated team and drive exceptional customer experiences. Join us on "Quality Perks" for insights that inspire change and lead with heart.
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Learn more about Quality Perks, our guests & upcoming episodes by visiting our website.
If you would like to be a guest, please email us at marketing@bpaquality.com.

As always, Have a Quality Day!

Transcript

(48) S3 E1 Quality Perks Chat with Valerie McSorley on Heart Centered Leadership - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1_ize7vBDk

Transcript:
(00:03) [Music] [Music] and good morning and welcome to Quality perks where we delve into the dynamic of customer experience and Leadership within the contact center industry I'm your host Karen dpri along with my co-host Neil Edgars and we are so excited so excited to have Valerie murly uh join us where we are going to talk about coffee and heart centered leadership yes awesome awesome so first off we always start off with what are the what coffee we're drinking today so so I am drinking what's called um
(01:04) Seattle's best so I'm on the west I'm on the East Coast but I'm drinking the the West Coast here uh and it is delicious and because we are also talking about women in the contact center industry I brought my special coffee and what it says is the future is female love it love it that's great deal with it NE deal with it all right I agree with your mug oh that's right you have a you have a daughter so he's on our side very much yes so Neil what are you drinking this this lovely morning uh I have we
(01:48) have some new uh quality perks uh branded Yeti coffee mugs that uh just came in so out of that I'm drinking local here to Melbourne Florida vill coffee as usual so shout out to villain coffee Lo Local Company local brew so always love to give them uh as much business as possible awesome yummy and what are you drinking Valerie so I brought the biggest mug that I have in the house because I don't know what to expect with this conversation today and I have a toffee nut latte that sounds delish it's actually
(02:30) my favorite um my favorite coffee it's like my sort of my guilty pleasure coffee that I like it's not the usual that I have in the morning but thought today was a special day nice see if you get through that entire mug during the conversation that would be impressive I'll be ready to pounce for the rest of the day fantastic well welcome to the show Valerie so tell tell us a little bit about yourself before we die in sure so um I may look familiar to a lot of folks in the in the contact center industry I
(03:07) had my own business for over 25 years producing all kinds of content and executive level um workshops and networking all around the country um I co actually was not kind to the events industry so I did some pivoting and uh I really found my Lane in the virtual space and I do my own series now virtually I have a session actually this after afternoon for women in the contact center um contact center space and we do the monthly and they they just bring me so much joy there's so much there's so much that I get out of bringing really
(03:43) smart intelligent women together monthly for a conversation that's related to the industry and you know I really believe that um right now it's it's really important that folks stay connected regardless like it's great that the pendulum is swung back and people can see each other again in real life but with you know you hear the surgeon general's new warning of you know loneliness like people still need to be connected so I love to bring people together that have um obviously common interests related to the industry but
(04:11) then really kind of you know pull them through the screen and feel like they've had an experience with me so um it's really the work that lights me up I went to last month and it was absolutely amazing and I've made some great connections um being a female in in this industry and being able to talk to other folks like myself um you know get good ideas and just be able to like oh my gosh this is happening to me too kind of thing and it's really it psychologically the mental health of it it it's been
(04:47) real real important and I'm excited to be part of this group that's awesome I really pre I really appreciate hearing that because I hear that so often and you know it's nice to be in like-minded company that knows what you're going through and I saw that for years in person and it it didn't go away in fact it got worse in the virtual space because you have that isolation factor and you know you're trying to do all these things and the whole world had to change at the same time so you know to
(05:18) be in a room where you can have and this is something I really pride myself on Virtual or in person creating a comfortable atmosphere where you feel like you can exchange ideas do and have uh just a sort of um veil of trust that you know this is something that worked for us maybe you should try it or you know also walk away with the understanding of you know here's a way you may want to rethink that and people feel validated understanding what works for them as well as new new ways to try things so you know I I've always kind of
(05:52) felt like I want people to do three things when they spend time with me I want them to network I want them to learn something and I want them to have some fun and if I could do that then then that that's taking all the boxes for everybody that's fantastic well we're definitely excited about learning something from you today Valerie um so let's Dive Right In so can you kick us off by explaining to us what is heart- centered leadership sure so heart-c centered leadership is really an approach and
(06:27) it's a style of leadership that that um emphasizes that you have compassion and empathy and authenticity to really guide and Inspire um others around you so your teams your co-workers your you know I think it can go in leadership Beyond professionally and personally as well within your community within your family within your your own neighborhood so you know rather than just solely focusing on some of the more traditional metrics measured or related to success you know is you know profits uh productivity
(07:00) those types of factors this goes on a different track to emphasize really meaningful connections which is something that's really powerful and resonates with me for many years because there's so much power in the personal connection um and that style of leadership really Fosters then um a more positive culture and um prioritizes the well-being of the team members so you know right now there's a real focus on mental health and people are strugg Ling and there's you know there is sort of this isolation loneliness depression
(07:34) that people have when they're not when they're still working hybrid remote um and team leaders may not see it and when you're not in the same four walls you may not see if someone's struggling so it's more important than ever to have this this style of leadership allows you to really listen with a different um you know empathetic ear which I think in the customer service business empathy plays a hugee role so you can have empathy on on multiple levels obviously customer service leader always
(08:08) listening to the customer and you're training your agents to be put yourself in their shoes and be empathetic and try and solve problems and being empowered to do that but there's it it goes a little bit deeper so a heart-c centered leader truly wants to understand and learn and actively seek out um the feelings and the perspectives of their team they want to hear they want to hear with um empathetic ears and really you know you you know you know who cares about you right just just think about think about the three people right now
(08:39) and if you're blessed to have more than that that's great but just think about the one person that you could think of that truly cares about you you know unconditionally they care for you why is that do they seek to understand you do they listen to you do they help you see all sides do they take your you know do they take what you're saying to them and and then really consider it you know I it helped me uh many many years ago I mean I'm going way way back when I initially had the opportunity to have
(09:09) some leadership positions I would go into some meetings and think this is my decision but then I would listen to the other folks at the table and really have to separate that and even though there was times I didn't agree with what the right outcome should be after listening and considering everyone's opinions I was moved to say you know that's probably the way to go not not the way that I thought initially so it's really important that you you have sort of that de you know you you actively listen you
(09:38) create an inclusive um environment that where folks really feel supported it it's really important I know that I've been in in meetings and you know we with upper management and they when they stop and listen and think about it you know there's some good ideas that folks have listen and maybe let's let's discuss it and how can it be better and it it's a win-win situation because if you're being listened to then you know that they actually care about you and going back to what you said
(10:15) earlier uh why do these folks care about you and it and how do they show that and one thing is having that empathy and also having that you know listening you know we are given uh to ears in one mouth for a reason right so we can listen twice as much as we talk and I think it really plays into that uh that style of leadership uh just because you're a leader doesn't necessarily make you you know the person that has the best answers you're just the best person that you can hear them and then take those uh options and say okay let's do
(10:59) it this way and you know it's basically like hurting I guess uh you know keeping folks on the right direction and uh great ways to win-win in in those situations so great so you know that's you very powerful Foundation to to a leadership style and uh you went over you know those defining characteristics um and then you know what's what do you think this leadership style resonates so well within the contact center industry in particular I think there's um naturally a bit of a disconnect between what upper
(11:44) management might think and what the agents on the floor can tell you so the leaders that go and walk the floor and really seek to learn and hear from the front line right the front line there's a difference between we all know what what a war looks like there's a difference between the front line experience and the people you know in the in the RO room drafting the plans like the best L plans don't always come to to fruition so the leaders that actively seek out and are engaged in listening and then not only that want to
(12:13) provide feedback want to provide want to support their agents right because happy agents have the best tools and they have all the pieces of the puzzle to to succeed they're empowered to um solve problems actively with the customer they are they have uh a lot of the traits that that this type of leadership it just bod so well with you have to listen not only to the customer needs but to your but to your um your team needs as well so if they don't have the right tools if you're not giving them the right support it's a
(12:46) really tough job those Frontline agents have a really tough job and then if they don't feel heard by their by their management and then they're getting getting beat up by every call and then they're getting measured on these metrics that some of them can be a little outdated like aht is the sole measurement is really not the right way to measure the effectiveness of a call because if they have to really get in there and do their job the nature of the calls have gotten more sophisticated over time because there's so many
(13:15) self-service platforms now if someone's actually calling nobody wants to call you I I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings but nobody actually wants to talk to those agents they want to do everything but just another just another painful contact center moment right yes right yes so the more that you can understand anticipate support their needs but also fix their problems they'll be happier and can't you tell when you have a happy person on the phone can't you hear the smile we all know that yeah it's interesting that you
(13:48) talk about the you talk about walking the floor when we do site surveys it's like a a an actual part of our evaluation is the break room the smoking dock the parking lot if you want to know what's going on and where the you know the real opportunities are doing side by sides is always helpful it's a part of that process but getting to understand the agents and their day and the difference between that first call and the thousandth call is really important some of the best leaders that I've seen in action in the space they
(14:19) try I've seen them try all different types of things to try and understand what's happening and some of the most powerful things we we have all technology in space like the space is especially right now with the explosion of AI and chat GPD and you can't even keep up with the technology but some of the most basic things that have been the most powerful that I've seen leaders do is just just keep a little just jot down like your top five drivers or call drivers today just today let's just take
(14:49) a a a snapshot what was the mo what were the most reasons that people were calling in and just keep a little list so it you're not it's those stories and hearing that on the that's what tells the story and now that helps the leader to make some changes or to support them I mean I don't think anyone goes to work and thinks I want to show up today and do a bad job I'm gonna get beaten up anyway by the customer and I want to no one goes and and shows up and thinks that they don't want to do their best right so
(15:19) right absolutely absolutely um and that that goes you know across the board even into the leaders themselves so the the leaders uh of of the contact centers you know they're trying to be the best that they can be for the agents and a lot of times what what happens from our experience is that we see uh leaders you know they're out there trying to put out fires and so they don't have the time to sit and really coach or they were thrown into that position as as a well-performing agent moving up into a
(16:03) supervisory position and they don't learn how to coach properly and and how to give get the most out of a coaching session itself right and so it's important to understand and have that empathy U not only for the agents but also for the managers that are out there on the front line trying to put fires out and also give the tools to the actual agents right uh so with that empathy you know from what I'm hearing from you is that it's it's hugely crucial in in the leadership style in in contact
(16:49) centers globally right um not just for the agents and and providing that service to the customers but also to the leadership um so you know are would you agree and what what would you say more about how crucial that is into the leadership platform well I think of course it's crucial but I think empathy is just one part of it there's other characteristics that make a good um heart-c centered leader so you want to also have compassion for for um for your team so you want to demonstrate kindness you want to show that you understand their
(17:26) concerns you want people want to feel heard they want to feel heard and seen so you want to tell them that you understand the struggles that they're facing you understand those challenges and you want to help them so you know by offering words of support and encouragement you can do that in a very meaningful way so um you know these types of leaders and this leadership style really goes above and beyond to really just lend lend a hand lend when when folks really need a hand up they're there they're there and you know there's
(17:59) like a one of my favorite sayings is it's never crowded it's never that crowded along the extra mile so think of the folks that go the extra mile think about sort of the traits that they have are they compassionate are they kind um uh and that's do they have a level of authenticity there is such a premium on being authentic in the workplace right now it's like a lost art um you know heart- centered leaders have sort of that honesty and that integrity and that authenticity and they're just genuine
(18:30) you know they're the real you know I say all the time like they're the real deal like you know who is I'm sure there's some leaders that are coming to the top of your mind like that don't have to go too far to think about who were the most important mentors in who made a difference to you think about leaders bosses teachers you know just folks in your life like what were these what were these traits and I'm I'm gonna guess if you really really thought about it that a lot of them are the ones that we're
(18:55) talking about right now right right absolutely like who inspired you and why like you know we we talk a lot about what's our why in this industry what's our why we to find our why what's what's the SED to to um to this type of style you know like what what drives you what motivates you what are your values you know Mission critical like as an individual as a leader across the across the organization all these things connect and tell a story um and then in terms of you know like a heart heart- centered but also a servant
(19:31) leadership approach which we hear a lot of Buzz around that term as well absolutely uh so with managers and leaders listening right now how do you suggest that they if they want to shift to this heart-c centered leadership role what what are kind of their first steps that they need to do um so I think the first step is realizing and and um stepping into the fact that you want to make changes and that you want to be more engaged with your team and having a meeting with them and explaining to them that you are want to be more open and
(20:08) receptive to their feedback that you um want the team to feel this sort of inclusion and that you want to create an atmosphere where they feel safe and valued and trusted and they feel secure and really bringing out the dirty laundry and putting it on the table rolling up their sleeves and get to work absolutely absolutely that sounds great um Neil were you going to say something I was when you you said that bringing everything out on the on the table I always feel those the more opportunities that we have to talk in
(20:43) that open type have that dialogue I'm always saying how everybody always feels better after a qbr or an MBR right because we've all gotten together we've you know we've aired the Grievances and we're action oriented and so you don't let all of the the negative vibe that people may be feeling about their relationships with their peers or co-workers or bosses are no longer hindrances to actually doing good work and moving the ball forward for the customer for the business or whatever so
(21:12) it just it just triggered that thought when when when you said that as something you know near and dear to to to my heart is that that the conversation seeing people and and being action oriented without the cloud of of of you negative interpersonal relationships right communication is huge communicate communicate communicate overc communicate and um you know that culture really of trust Community collaboration connection all of those things that we put together and then to feel like like you know you just kind of
(21:46) touched on this that there's no repercussions we just have to address it like this is a problem let's acknowledge it and let's move forward and um you know having that sort of culture that that's that that's not even I'm sorry not only um expected and welcome but Valu yeah for sure absolutely absolutely um well Valerie you know it's been enlightening talking to you u i I've learned a lot and I hope that we can um count on you to join us again for our quality perk session um and um you know the one thing
(22:28) uh that you know really the context of the contact centers and how it can really uh enable um great experiences not only employee experiences but also customer experiences um is is what you're what you've um shared with us about the heart centered leadership so uh you know lead more with the heart I love it and um you know I don't know if you would like to share any last thoughts ideas uh with our with our audience here sure well I like to wrap things up with a great big bow so why not um I think that like you can't go wrong when you
(23:16) focus on the the the well-being of others right so when you really put yourself and put others first you know you can't really go wrong when you're thinking of them and they're thinking of you you'll never go wrong in that space so you know have the that purpose sense of purpose and being driven over uh you know overall sense of meaning and your why and just really trying something new and not being afraid to show people that you care because somebody might really need to hear how much you care today so
(23:48) don't be afraid to tell them so I'll I'll leave you with that I'll I'll make this little challenge little ripple effect I like to I like to start chain reactions if you will um tell someone one on your team and in your life today that they're special and why that's what I'll ask you to do that's my challenge goes a long way doesn't cost anything it's gonna make you feel good it's important how you feel you'll feel lighter after you do it they'll feel better you if you have the chance to
(24:16) make someone's day you should absolutely I agree even even if you're walking down the street I'll smile at somebody and it's just it's it makes a difference it makes a difference um if I'm at a restaurant and I get great service I make a point to actually write on the my receipt great service so and so was wonderful um and because of the fact that they're working hard um they're they're trying to do the best that they can in in the service industry and it really uh is something for contact center
(24:54) agents as well I I when I'm talking to a contact center agents and again again I'm in the industry I don't particularly Love talk you know calling in and talking to to the nobody does an AG but if they do a great job I will tell them I've even come out and told them you know I I work for a contact center quality monitoring company and you've done a fantastic job so I've really tried to try to do that and um call it call it when I C see it and that's with everybody employees friends uh spouses family
(25:32) members uh wonderful guests like you Valerie so sweet so kind yes I love I loved our conversation and I hate to say it but you know this basically wraps up our discussion right now but that doesn't mean we can't have a part anytime be my pleasure went too fast cheers exactly and for next time um I'm hoping to have some additional female um women leaders in the industry as well we're kind of doing a a u minseries on women in the contact centers so I am um excited if you're anybody that's watching listening on our
(26:14) podcast please reach out if you'd like to uh share anything that you're working on uh we'd love to have you uh every single time so until then cheers and remember leadership is as much about emotion and empathy as it is about strategy and execution so keep that in mind thanks guys bye bye thank you have a great day bye bye thanks so much