56: Building Leaders in Your Team with Meredith Molloy

Charlotte Ward: 0:13

Hello and welcome to session 56 of the Customer Support Leaders Podcast. I'm Charlotte Ward. This week we return to daily episodes with the topic of building leaders in your team. So stay tuned for five leaders talking about that very topic. Today I'd like to introduce you to a chat I had a little while ago with previous podcast guest Meredith Malloy. I asked Meredith about building leaders in her team. Let's jump right into it.

Meredith Molloy: 0:46

I think that it is sometimes a stereotype, or maybe not so sometimes, maybe it just is a stereotype that customer support is an industry and a business where if you're an individual contributor, that sort of is all that it is. And I always think that's such a shame for that stereotype to be out there because there is so much that anyone with a support background can do. And I think one of the many paths that someone can take is to transition towards leadership roles within within support. And I think that there's always that handful or the one or two people on your team that you're just like, this career path is actually for you. Like this, this is your thing, which is always those are like, I always like call them like the unicorns, like in my mind, like those are the unicorns. How do you spot them? How do you spot a unicorn? Aside from you know, like really, really like pretty hair and like a unicorn of the horn. Yeah. How I spot them, those unicorns that I have that I have had the the pleasure of managing, you know, they are the ones that can immediately empathize with a customer. They are able to create amazing, genuine connections.

Charlotte Ward: 2:16

And you think that you think that's what marks them out for leadership then, that they have that natural connection with the customer experience?

Meredith Molloy: 2:23

I think it's it's one foundational piece of it because they're able to create these genuine connections with customers as you move into support leadership that is, you know, without a doubt, very people management heavy. Having that ability to connect with others and and grow through genuine, valuable connections with others is a skill set that translates to being a people manager. Um, because at the end of the day, what what we all do within support, but especially ICs, what they do is so challenging. Um, sometimes having to play therapist to the customers that they're talking to. Yeah. Um and and in return, sometimes as a people manager for those teams, you have to sort of put a faux therapist hat on and be able to connect with them as humans. A company's employee experience is almost always in direct reflection of their customer experience. Or as a support leader, cultivating those that you see might be strong support leaders later in their career. You know, I think leading them and coaching them with a mindset of how can they, you know, provide a really great employee experience for their people? Um at the end of the day, that that will end up reflecting in in the customer experience.

Charlotte Ward: 4:03

Very true. I could I couldn't agree more actually. How do you um advise those unicorns to advertise? I'm going with it. How do you advise those unicorns to advertise their unicorn status?

Meredith Molloy: 4:20

Yeah, yeah. Proactivity is huge, you know, aside from being able to connect with customers, having the proactive drive to be the one that like raises your hand and puts yourself out there, volunteers for, you know, random side projects, showing a want to continually learn, because a huge part of being a leader is continually learning. Um, and so I think uh another trait and something that that that as a leader I recognize future leaders in is that that want to to learn more, to to do more. The type that asks questions, that is really inquisitive, um, and that is genuinely interested and wants to better to better the experience. I definitely do not advocate for those that want to be leaders just because it sounds great, or just because there's a bigger salary in it. Um, I think when when thinking about wanting to move into leadership, finding those like real genuine reasons why, um, and advocating for yourself and letting it, you know, be be seen and heard um that you want to do more.

Charlotte Ward: 5:41

Yeah. So so not the unicorn on the edge of the forest in the in the leafy glade, but actually the you the unicorn that's out exactly. Out in the open on top of your mountain, hopefully.

Meredith Molloy: 5:54

Exactly. Exactly. See, it all it all comes full circle.

Charlotte Ward: 5:57

It's it does come full circle.

Meredith Molloy: 6:00

When a direct report initiates these conversations, it's amazing. Um, and it's always amazing to to be like, oh my goodness, like you really want to do this, and let me find the resources to give you to like have you start to start the path to get there. It's just as rewarding for a leader as it is for the individual.

Charlotte Ward: 6:23

Yeah, yeah. That's a unicorn that comes up and offers to uh, I don't know, plow your field for you or something. I think we better stop this here. That's it for today. Go to customersupportleaders.com forward slash fifty-six for the show notes, and I'll see you next time.