From The Archives: 56: Building Leaders in Your Team with Meredith Molloy

Ever wondered what distinguishes a true leader from the rest? Join me, Charlotte Ward, as I unlock the secrets of leadership potential within customer support teams alongside Meredith Malloy. Discover how to identify the "unicorns" among your team—those rare individuals who possess the natural empathy and connection skills that are foundational to effective leadership. Meredith sheds light on how these talents can transform into impactful leadership roles, enhancing both employee and customer satisfaction.

Meredith also offers invaluable guidance for those aspiring to lead, stressing the importance of proactive engagement and a genuine passion for growth. She emphasizes the need for continual learning and curiosity, advocating for leadership driven by authentic motivation rather than mere title or salary allure. Together, we explore the journey of nurturing future leaders, providing them with the necessary resources and support to thrive. Tune in to learn how spotting and cultivating leadership talent can bring about positive, far-reaching changes within your organization.

Transcript

Charlotte Ward 0:14

Hello, welcome to the Customer Support Leaders podcast. I'm Charlotte Ward. Today we're listening to one of my favorite episodes from the archives. 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 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.

Meredith Molloy 1:37

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 and the horn? Yeah, how I spot them? Those unicorns that I have, that I have had the pleasure of managing. You know they are the ones that can immediately empathize with a customer.

Charlotte Ward 2:15

They are able to create amazing, genuine connections.

Meredith Molloy 2:27

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

Meredith Molloy 2:30

I think it's one foundational piece of it, because they're able to create these genuine connections with customers.

Meredith Molloy 2:33

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 grow true, genuine, valuable connections with others is a skill set that translates to being a people manager, because, at the end of the day, what we all do within support, but especially ICs, what they do, is so challenging, sometimes having to play therapist to the customers that they're talking to, 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. 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 at the end of the day, that will end up reflecting in the customer experience.

Charlotte Ward 4:03

Very true. I couldn't agree more. Actually, how do you advise those being able to connect with customers having the proactive drive?

Meredith Molloy 4:31

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 to continually learn, because a huge part of being a leader is continually learning. And so I think another trait and something that, as a leader, I recognize future leaders in is that want to learn more, to do more, the type that asks questions, that is really inquisitive and that is genuinely interested and wants 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. I think, when thinking about wanting to move into leadership, finding those like real, genuine reasons why and advocating for yourself and letting it you know, be seen and heard that you want to do more.

Charlotte Ward 5:41

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

Meredith Molloy 5:56

It all comes full circle. It's it does come full circle 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?

Charlotte Ward 6:19

it's just as rewarding for a leader as it is for for the individual yeah, yeah, that's a unicorn that comes up and offers to uh, I don't know plow your field for you. I think we better stop this here. That's it for today. Go to customersupportleaderscom forward. Slash 56 for the show notes and I'll see you next time.