Customers First Podcast

In this episode of the Customers First Podcast, Dr. Andy Neillie joins Tacey to discuss effective leadership qualities. We explore the distinction between managers and leaders, the importance of company culture, and the concept of servant leadership. Dr. Neillie shares his four Cs of good leadership: conviction, competence, character, and covenant. We emphasize the need for balance and building trust with the team. The episode ends with a reminder to create exceptional customer experiences and a free ebook offer on leadership communication skills.

0:00:15 Introduction to the Customers First Podcast

0:02:43 Dr. Andy Neillie's doctorate on leadership and its challenges

0:04:11 The differences between a manager and a leader

0:06:07 The role of influence in leadership

0:09:24 The impact of leadership on company culture

0:11:25 The significance of servant leadership in effective leadership strategies.

0:13:59 Conviction: Thinking bigger, broader, and further for effective leadership

0:16:31 Character: Fair-mindedness and servant leadership

0:19:33 Balancing empathy and performance as a leader

0:22:00 Leading with a focus on success, not friendship

0:24:22 Making trust deposits consistently to build strong relationships

0:31:43 Closing Remarks and Thanking the Guest

In this episode of the Customers First Podcast, your host, Tacey Atkinson, welcomes Dr. Andy Neillie to the boardroom. Andy shares his journey of becoming a high-performing leader, starting with a negative experience with a boss early in his career. This experience drove his desire to understand what makes a great leader, leading him to pursue a doctorate in leadership, specifically exploring the connection between ethics, morality, and leadership.

Tacey emphasizes the distinction between managers and leaders, highlighting that leaders deeply understand how their actions and decisions impact customer experiences. While managers focus on tasks and goals, leaders take a more holistic approach by inspiring and guiding their teams. Tacey and Andy agree that leadership is not limited to certain organizational positions; anyone can influence and inspire others; it doesn't have to be someone in a leadership role.

The conversation then delves into the common confusion between leadership and management, with many people perceiving leadership as more glamorous and desirable. They then cover the mistaken belief that a large social media following equates to leadership and the importance of leadership in shaping company culture, emphasizing the need for leaders to embody core values and hold themselves and others accountable.

The concept of servant leadership, where leaders prioritize the development and success of their team, is explored. Andy presents his Four Cs of Good Leadership: Conviction, Competence, Character, and Covenant. Conviction involves looking beyond immediate responsibilities and considering the bigger picture, industry trends, and the future. Competence refers to executing tasks and making decisions during risk and uncertainty. Character is crucial, with fair-mindedness and servant leadership practices being essential. Lastly, covenant represents the balancing act between formal and personal relationships as leaders, finding the equilibrium between achieving results and showing empathy.

Andy emphasizes the need for balance in leadership and the importance of not prioritizing one aspect over the other, stressing the importance of leading the team to success rather than seeking friendship. Success should be shared and celebrated by the entire team and company. Building trust with the team is vital in effective leadership, which requires consistent effort over time.

The conversation concludes with Andy expressing his excitement for the future of his business over the next ten years, as they have developed a clear message and taxonomy of leadership that can help others improve. Andy emphasizes his belief that they are vessels responsible for carrying a message to the masses and that authenticity is valuable in delivering that message. The guest, Dr. Andy Neillie, expresses gratitude for being on the podcast and offers a free ebook on leadership communication skills, which covers the three crucial leadership conversations. Listeners are encouraged to visit leadershipmaterials.com for the ebook and to rate, review, and connect with the show on social media.

Andy's Contact Information:

Website: https://neillieleadershipgroup.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyneillie/

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user47764574

Free EBook: Three Imperative Leadership Conversations

Tacey's Contact Information:

https://linktr.ee/taceyatkinson

Thank you for tuning in, and I look forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.

Remember:

Customer-Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.

Now Go Spread the Magic!

Join Tacey and her special guest, author, podcaster and international speaker, Ben Baker, as they discuss today's topic: "Storytelling Must Start on the Inside of Your Company First."

Tacey and Ben discuss how communication at every level of the organization is critical for everyone to understand and positively impact your business goals. Your team needs to understand what the top of the mountain looks like, how they affect that result, and what is in it for them when you achieve it. From your hiring process to the customer experience, excellent communication is the key to every step toward obtaining that success.

Timestamps:

01:14: Ben's Story

03:28: Storytelling Starts on the Inside

09:54: How the Internal Storytelling Effects the Customer Experience

12:52: The Impact Ineffective Communication Has

15:53: The Importance of Good Communication in the Hiring Process

22:34: Don't Create a "Have and Have Not" Culture

27:08: Ben Spills the Tea

Ben's Contact Information:

Website: yourbrandmarketing.com

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/yourbrandmarketing

Link to Ben's free ebooks: https://yourbrandmarketing.com/ebooks/

Tacey's Contact Information:

https://linktr.ee/taceyatkinson

Thank you for tuning in, and I look forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.

Remember:

Customer-Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.

Now Go Spread the Magic!

Join Tacey and our special guest, Jeff Sieh. Jeff Sieh is an international speaker and visual marketing consultant specializing in Pinterest, Instagram, and video. He is also "Head Beard" at Manly Pinterest Tips, where he is the creator and host of The Manly Pinterest Tips Show. Jeff has worked with and produced visual content for various companies, including Guy Kawasaki, Social Media Examiner, Tailwind, and Kim Garst.

Today's topic, "Using AI to Enhance Your Employee and Customer Experience," allows us to discuss ways to use AI for multiple purposes to improve both your employee and customer experience and free yourself up to spend more time building those magical connections to grow your business and reputation.

Jeff has embraced multiple AI platforms, allowing us to incorporate them into our daily routine easily.

Timestamps:

00:37: Jeff's Story

05:19: Jeff's Current AI Favourites

12:57: Passing Fad?

21:39: AI-Powered Recommendation Tools

25:54: Jeff Spills the Tea

Jeff's Contact Information:

Website: https://jeffsieh.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsieh

Instagram: @jeffsieh

Tacey's Contact Information:

https://linktr.ee/taceyatkinson

Thank you for tuning in, and I look forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.

Remember:

Customer-Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.

Now Go Spread the Magic!

Join Tacey and her Special Guest, Mary Ellen Mansfield as they discuss the importance of knowing your financials to know and understand your business.

Mary Ellen has 25 years of bookkeeping and accounting experience, primarily in Higher and K-12 Education. Throughout those years she focused on serving her internal customers (professors, teachers, coaches) by demystifying financial information and taking the stress out of monitoring the department budget. She understands that not everyone is comfortable handling numbers and provides a no judgement approach to all conversations.

Four years ago Mary Ellen established her own bookkeeping business as a side hustle and has been nurturing that effort while still working full time. As she moves more fully into her Natural Accountant LLC, bookkeeping business, she brings that same non judgemental approach to her new, solopreneur clients.

Timestamps:

01:39: Mary Ellen's Story

08:42: Understanding Your Business' Numbers and Financial Health

15:57: Tips for Entrepreneuers to Stay on Track

17:45: Things to Avoid in Business

22:20: Mary Ellen Spills the Tea

Mary Ellen's Contact Information:

Website: www.bookswithmem.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bookswithmem/

Instagram: @naturalaccountant

Tacey's Contact Information:

https://linktr.ee/taceyatkinson

Thank you for tuning in, and I look forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.

Remember:

Customer-Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.

Now Go Spread the Magic!

Join Tacey and her Special Guest: Founder of Radar Consulting and Author of Lean & Agile Mastery: Mastering the 5c's for Customer-Centric Success.

Today's Topic is: Lean & Agile: Getting Everyone on the Same Train. Gene walks us through the importance of smashing down those silos and having all teams get on the train toward the customer's ultimate satisfaction.

Timestamps:

01:17: Gene's Story

04:26: Lean & Agile Working Together

12:32: The 5c's

13:14: Customer Centricity

15:32: Collaboration

23:51: Continuous Improvement

Gene's Free EBook: Lean and AgileTransformation: https://leanagilemastery.com/

Gene's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/genelee0923

Tacey's Contact Information:

https://linktr.ee/taceyatkinson

Thank you for tuning in, and I look forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.

Remember:

Customer-Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.

Now Go Spread the Magic!

Join Tacey and her Special Guest, organic content marketing & SEO expert, Lauren Gaggioli. Today's topic is Using SEO to "feed Uncle Google" what he needs to drive business to your site.

Lauren shares insight to the importance of keywords and SEO to help everyone become more visible to the bots.

Timestamp:01:08: Lauren's Story

Timestamp: 08:48: The what and why of SEO

Timestamp: 14:05: Google wants to help you

Timestamp: 18:33: How to Keyword Research and Why

Lauren's Contact Information:

Website: https://laurengaggioli.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurengaggioli/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurengaggioli/

AHREFS:https://ahrefs.com/keywords-explorer

Tacey's Contact Information:

https://linktr.ee/taceyatkinson

Thank you for tuning in, and I look forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.

Remember:

Customer-Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.

Now Go Spread the Magic!

Join Tacey and her Special Guest, Katie Brinkley, Owner & Social Media Strategist at Next Step Social Communications.

Today's topic is "Bringing the Social, Back to Social Media"

Katie discusses how social media can be an incredible tool to help find new leads, build community, grow sales, and bring the social back to their social media.

Timestamp: 01:38: Katie's Story

Timestamp: 05:43: Common Mistakes

Timestamp: 11:43: Show up Differently on Each Platform

Timestamp: 16:29: Posting & Ghosting

Katie's Contact Information:

Website: https://katiebrinkley.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiebrinkley/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamkatiebrinkley/

Tacey's Contact Information:

https://linktr.ee/taceyatkinson

Thank you for tuning in, and I look forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.

Remember:

Customer-Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.

Now Go Spread the Magic!

Join Tacey and her Special Guest, Chris Hood, author of "Customer Transformation" and digital strategist, has over 35 years of experience in online development. He advises businesses on innovation, and has written the book: "Customer Transformation, A 7-Stage Strategy for Customer Alignment and Business Value.

Today's topic is "Happy Customers = Business Value"

Chris discusses revolutionizing your business strategy to exceed customer expectations and achieve sustainable growth, through the power of empathy, innovation, and digital acceleration.

Timestamp: 01:41: Chris's Story

Timestamp: 04:38: Culture

Timestamp: 11:30: Technology

Timestamp: 14:33: Business

Chris's Contact Information:

Website: https://chrishood.com

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrishood/

Link to book: https://www.amazon.com/Customer-Transformation-strategy-customer-alignment/dp/B0CC7XVLRW

Link to free assessment: https://chrishood.com/Customer-Transformation-assessment/

Tacey's Contact Information:

https://linktr.ee/taceyatkinson

Thank you for tuning in, and I look forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.

Remember:

Customer-Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.

Now Go Spread the Magic!

Join Tacey and her Special Guest, Author, Speaker, Co-Founder & CEO of GreenPal, Bryan Clayton.

Today's topic is "Are You Prioritizing the Customer?"

Bryan discusses how to get the right team in place & aligned to your goals while driving everyone towards making the customer the top priority. From hiring to termination, every design made with your team, ultimately affects the customer.

Timestamp: 01:32: Bryan's Story

Timestamp: 10:51: Aligning Your Team to Your Business Goals

Timestamp: 16:19: Customer at the Core

Timestamp: 22:15: Finding the Right People

Bryan's Contact Information:

Website: https://www.yourgreenpal.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-clayton-a96b33214/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bryanmclayton/

Tacey's Contact Information:

https://linktr.ee/taceyatkinson

Thank you for tuning in, and I look forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.

Remember:

Customer-Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.

Now Go Spread the Magic!

Join Tacey and her Special Guest, 40 Year Executive Leadership, Entrepreneur and Author, Roy Osing.

Today's topic is "Be Different or Be Dead."

Roy discusses the importance of breaking out of the "sameness" that business have excepted as the norm and standing out to be the ONLY ONE doing……(fill in the blank). We discuss practical ways to make that happen and touch on some of the points from Roy's many books.

Timestamp: 01:22: Roy's Story

Timestamp: 06:20: Be Different or Be Dead conception

Timestamp: 13:47: Audacious

Roy's Contact Information:

Website: https://www.bedifferentorbedead.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/royosing/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/unheardofways/

Tacey's Contact Information:

https://linktr.ee/taceyatkinson

Thank you for tuning in, and I look forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.

Remember:

Customer-Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.

Now Go Spread the Magic!