... CULTURE HAPPENS EVERY DAY IN TEAM HUDDLES, ONE-TO-ONES, CALL CALIBRATIONS, AND LUNCH BREAKS. AND IT STARTS WITH YOU.
We need then to simplify leadership, focusing on what actually works: hiring well, onboarding with care, coaching consistently, building trust, and shaping strong, inclusive cultures.
I built the book around a simple principle I learned studying design: KISS( Keep It Simple, Stupid). For in management, simplicity doesn’ t mean lacking rigor. It means stripping away the nonsense so people can flourish.
KEY MESSAGES FOR CONTACT CENTER LEADERS
Let’ s explore four core messages.
1. RECRUITMENT ISN’ T ABOUT FILLING SEATS
Contact centers often fall into the trap of speed hiring: fill the seat, get them on the phones, and hope for the best. This is a false economy: you spend more time onboarding, training, and coaching, and see a loss in efficiency and quality with a higher risk of drop out!
If you get recruitment right, every subsequent aspect of management- from development to performance to engagement- becomes easier.
Hiring isn’ t about finding someone who can answer a call. It’ s about finding people who fit your culture, align with your purpose, and have the right mindset. Skills can be taught. Willingness, curiosity, and attitude cannot.
Contact Center Takeaway:
Stop writing job ads full of clichés about“ rockstars” and“ dynamic go-getters.” Craft purposeful, authentic role profiles. Sell your culture, not your vacancies. And interview with the aim of discovering who candidates are, not just what they’ ve done.
2. FIRST IMPRESSIONS SHAPE RETENTION
Your onboarding experience isn’ t admin. It’ s a loyalty moment. New hires decide within the first days and weeks whether they see a future with you.
In the book, I share the story of how one company sent me a photo and bio of each team member before I joined. It was simple, personal, and made me feel part of the team before I’ d even started.
In contact centers- where the work can be intense and isolating- creating a welcoming, structured, and human onboarding process makes all the difference. It reduces anxiety, embeds your values, and builds belonging from day one.
Contact Center Takeaway:
Get the basics right: working tech on day one, clear schedules, meet-andgreets, and early conversations about your team values. Show new starters that you care: before and after they walk through the door.
3. FOCUS ON GROWTH, NOT JUST RESULTS
One of the most damaging things I’ ve seen in contact centers is over-prioritizing results at the expense of people. Metrics matter. But how you achieve them matters more.
Contact center performance obsession can lead to toxic environments where agents chase bonuses, hit targets, and burn out in the process. Leaders fall into the trap of believing that performance management is about discipline. But it isn’ t. It’ s not about pushing for today’ s numbers, planning ahead for the quarterly business review, or meeting financial markets. It’ s about investing in your people’ s growth, so tomorrow’ s( or next quarter’ s) numbers take care of themselves.
Contact Center Takeaway:
Use frameworks like the GROW( Goal, Reality, Options, Will) model, which is a really easy structure for holding coaching conversations. Have them in that order and you can’ t go wrong. Regularly coach behaviors, not just outputs. Recognize when people show initiative, resilience, or kindness: not just when they exceed their call handling targets.
LEADERSHIP
... CULTURE HAPPENS EVERY DAY IN TEAM HUDDLES, ONE-TO-ONES, CALL CALIBRATIONS, AND LUNCH BREAKS. AND IT STARTS WITH YOU.
4. CULTURE IS NOT AN HR POSTER. IT’ S HOW YOU SHOW UP
In contact centers, culture happens every day in team huddles, one-to-ones, call calibrations, and lunch breaks. And it starts with you.
But too often, culture is reduced to corporate statements on wall decals. These decals can help imbed mission statements and ideologies, but by themselves are worthless. Culture isn’ t pictures on your walls; it’ s how you treat each other: your integrity.
If you say you are a motivated team, be a motivated team. If you say your company cares about people show it.
Culture lives in the small, consistent actions leaders can take: celebrating wins, making time for check-ins, calling out good behaviors, and showing vulnerability when it’ s needed.
In a world of hybrid working and remote teams, your presence and authenticity as a leader is more important than ever.
Contact Center Takeaway:
Don’ t rely on annual engagement surveys to tell you about your culture. Ask your people. Every week. Create rituals of connection. Celebrate effort as much as outcome. And be willing to own your mistakes.
WHY SIMPLICITY WINS IN CONTACT CENTERS
I wrote this book because I saw too many managers overcomplicating people leadership, turning it into a rigid process of appraisals, RAG( red / amber / green) KPI statuses, and compliance conversations.
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