Why Momentum Gets Stuck

Jeannie Walters 0:00

I'm really glad you're here for this one because I think it's something that can make an impact. We are talking about momentum. This is something I see every CX leader wrestle with. It's not really a strategy problem or a budget problem. It really is a momentum problem. You might be stepping into a new role or a new quarter, or maybe you've just had one of those weeks where you're doing all the things and somehow you feel like nothing is moving. And you think, how do I actually make a dent? How do I move the needle? How do I do something where I lead that creates real visible impact? So today I'm going to give you a specific framework for doing exactly that in seven days. We're going to talk about seven days, not a quarter, not a year, not six months. By the end of this episode, you'll know exactly the moves to make this week. So let's get

Why Seven Days Works

Jeannie Walters 1:01

into it. First, let me explain why I think seven days is a great window to think about for this. Many CX leaders I work with, and I'm guilty of this too, we're big picture thinkers. We love to look to the vision of what we're building. We are talking about 12-month roadmaps or customer programs that are rolling out over several months. We have journey mapping initiatives that can take a while. And all of that stuff matters. It really does. But where things fall apart, that's the gap between the vision and today's to-do list. Seven days is short enough that you cannot hide behind planning. It forces you to ask, what's the one thing I should be doing right now to move the needle? And here's what I see over and over. When leaders commit to one intentional move in a week, it builds a kind of confidence that compounds. One good decision leads to another. Momentum is a real thing. So we're not trying to transform your entire organization this week. We're trying to get you moving with momentum.

Step One Orient Your Energy

Jeannie Walters 2:14

So, step one, before you do anything else, you need to orient yourself. This sounds obvious, but most leaders skip it. They jump straight into action, responding to whatever is loudest, fixing whatever's most visible, and they never stop to ask, where should I actually be pointing my energy? This is why we use the CXI Navigator framework. There is always work to do. There is always somewhere to focus. But the problem is prioritizing where to actually put the energy and work. In the CXI Navigator Framework, we have four sections: intentional success, customer collaboration, cultural commitment, and experiential innovation. All of these pieces are important to delivering a great customer experience that drives business results. However, we can't do everything all at once. If you are already part of our CXI membership, this sounds familiar to you, I'm sure. But maybe you are just hearing about this for the first time and you want to figure out where I should point my energy. Well, we have a solution for you, and that's our CXI Compass. If you go to CXICompass.com and take the 11 question quiz, we will tell you exactly where you need to focus. One of those four areas. From there, you could take seven days, come up with a plan, and then optimize that by experimenting in our seven-day trial of CXI membership. Want to check it out for yourself? ExperienceInvestgators.com/CXItestdrive . So spend a little time orienting yourself. That's the first step. Where should I put my energy to make the biggest impact? Where do we have gaps between that vision and the things that are actually getting done? How can I take one step forward that makes the most sense? We have to decide before we act. So that's the first step.

Step Two Find Your Focus

Jeannie Walters 4:26

Step two, once you're oriented, once you have that vision of which area you need to focus on, step two is literally figuring out how do you find that focus? How do you carve out the time needed? How do you make sure that you're not trying to do everything? One of the biggest mistakes I see is that CX leaders are constantly reacting. We are spread too thin. And some of us, I'm not gonna say who, but if this resonates, let me know. Some of us love to do a deep dive, don't we? We get into those rabbit holes with our data. We start wondering certain questions that may or may not apply in the moment. I am not discouraging you from exploring that curiosity. We have to have that. That's one of our superpowers. But just make sure that that curiosity is leading you to the correct path. Because sometimes curiosity can actually take us behind where we need to go. It can take us two steps back instead of that one step forward. So let's make sure that we are finding the focus. The other thing I want you to do is determine when are you actually going to think about these big moves? How are you going to use the time to make the impact? One of the best parts of our CXI Membership are our co-working sessions. We carve out time together. We give each other support and encouragement simply to get things done. If you had an hour this week, what could you do with it? If you had three hours this week, what could you do with it? Think about that and the actual impact that you want to report on at the end of your seven days. So write down what you want to do. Commit to it. That's your focus. So even if you don't take the compass, think about one core question. If I could only move one thing forward this week, what would create the most meaningful change for my team or my customers? Write down your answer, commit to it. That is your focus for seven days.

Step Three Make One Decision

Jeannie Walters 6:41

Step three, you are going to make one intentional decision. Remember, I said intentional, and I want you to think about this as an intentional leadership decision. No matter your role, no matter where you are, what is the one decision you can make? This is not reactive, this is not urgent, this is not whatever landed in your inbox in the morning. This is about you are pursuing something with purpose because it matters and you see the vision, you know what the impact can be. So let's talk about what this looks like in practice. It could be something like getting crystal clear on what success looks like for you and your team, and then actually defining that. Remember, we cannot deliver what we don't define. And yet, so many organizations, so many CX teams never take that step to define what they're doing. They don't define what success looks like. They just react, react, react to all those inputs. What I'm asking you to do is commit to that one intentional leadership decision. This could also be something like creating or revisiting your customer experience mission statement to make sure that it still is serving as that North Star for who you are to your customers, the promise you've made and how you want them to feel. Or this could be about having a conversation that you've been putting off, trying to get that buy-in and making that business case that you need in order to get the resources and investments that will help you succeed and make that bigger impact that you want. It doesn't have to be big. In fact, the best first moves usually aren't. We have to take some baby steps. We have to start crawling before we walk and walk before we jog and jog before we run. So let's make sure that we are starting with something that you are confident you can make a move on in seven days. When I work with leaders within our CXI membership, whether that's through our live Q and A's, our co-working sessions, or the one-on-one advising sessions every quarter I get to have with our members, I start seeing what momentum does and what happens when we lose that momentum. That momentum can be very strong when we're very motivated in the beginning, but then we we fall into reacting yet again. That's why it's so important to not only find the time and find your focus, but also commit to that leadership decision. This is not a perfect plan. This is about your next intentional move. So let's bring this all together.

Wrap Up And Seven-Day Challenge

Jeannie Walters 9:29

Three steps to make an impact in seven days. One, you need to orient yourself. You need to get your map, you need to understand the framework you're operating from before you start moving. Number two, you want to find your focus. You want to make sure you are defining the time and the energy that you're going to need to get this done and be realistic about that for the seven days. Ask where your effort will have the biggest return right now and narrow in on that. And then number three, make that one intentional leadership decision. What is the outcome? What are you going for? And what is the impact that that will have? Do that this week. That's it. It's not that complicated, but it does require us to slow down in order to speed up. We need to build our own momentum. Nobody is going to give it to us. Nobody is going to say, you're doing a great job. I'm going to give you a little carrot. We have to make sure that we are building momentum based on impact. You know what it feels like when you make that positive impact for your organization. You know what it feels like when you see the light in your leader's eyes light up and respond to what you're saying. You know what it means when you hear that some of the outcomes that everybody has been worried about are starting to change for the better. That's what I want you to focus on. Figure out what is that thing that will make you feel that way and what can you do in seven days. If you really want to commit to this, take our seven-day free trial. We're offering this right now to podcast listeners like you. Don't forget CXI stands for customer experience investigation, but we believe the I also stands for a lot of other things like innovation, imagination, and inspiration. So if you are looking for momentum, I really encourage you to try out the seven-day test drive. When you do that, you can take the compass as your first step, take that compass quiz, find out where you should put your focus, and then within the actual membership, you have access to courses, workbooks, one-on-one time with me, and all sorts of things. I really encourage you to check it out. All right, so are you ready to take the challenge? Seven days, one intentional move, one impact that you are going to create and commit to your momentum. Let me know how this goes for you. I can't wait to hear what you do. All the links I talked about are in the show notes, and you can always find us at experienceinvestigators.com . Thanks everybody. If you're ready to turn insights into action, join CXI Membership, our community for customer experience investigators just like you. Get the tools, support, and inspiration to move from ideas to true impact. And don't miss my book, Experience is Everything: Making Every Moment Count in the Age of Customer Expectations. Available wherever you order books. Until next time, keep asking questions, keep improving, and keep leading with experience.