Was that OK?

In her commencement speech at Harvard yesterday, Oprah Winfree shared an idea that she called “the most important thing she has learned in her career….”  If you work in a contact center – then please watch the video and think about how important it is to what we do as leaders.  “People want to be validated.”

Actually this is a concept that I learned from John Maxwell several years ago in his book “25 Ways to Win with People.”  Although it does not happen every time, I try to live by this concept on a daily basis).  He said that he seeks to say something positive to a person in the first 30 seconds of every conversation – to validate that person – and he seeks to make it personal.

Oprah’s concept is a simple yet powerful one to, not only contemplate, but to make a part of who you are.  My challenge is this – watch the video and read the script.  Then try the concept for the rest of the day.  Seek opportunities to validate people for their accomplishments.  And don’t forget to do it with people that need it most – the people that may be doing just what is expected – not just those that are exceeding expectations.  If we can find ways to validate and improve the 3s, 4s and 5s, we can move them to 5s, 6s, and 7s – and imagine the impact of that on your contact center.

Quick Idea: Seek to validate three people in the next hour!  They want to know, “Was that OK?”

You can view the entire speech here - or click through to 20:14 for the section where she spoke about this subject.