Leadership in Customer Service Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership in Customer Service - Article Example There are so many kinds and interpretations of a leader, but which one does it take to make a customer-service-driven business successful? Leadership needs to have a vision of what is wanted to achieve. Leaders possess not only this but are driven by passion—the strength and the energy to work against the odds to achieve the vision (Williams, 2005). Great leaders delegate and empower. Leaders do not just pin point on people and tell them what to do instead they create structure, allocate responsibility, help create systems, provide support and training and resources, and empower subordinates to make decisions thus making them feel significant in the business group. Through empowerment, a leader is set differently from an authoritarian. A leader does not dictate but respect employees and treats these people as customers as well. Great leaders sometimes have to take tough decisions but there's always respect for the subordinates (Williams, 2005). Workers are encouraged to: participate in the action plan; develop awareness of the goals; participate in the change plan; have reasonable expectations and attitude. Communication flow is always open to a leader and is never one way. Successful business leaders are always keeping their people informed thus key performance indicators are displayed; targets are set, accomplished and celebrated. Everyone is made to feel as part of a community to create a sense of unity (Williams, 2005). A leader motivates people to do what is important and leads an example. There's a famous story about a group of visitors to Disney who was walking in the Magic Kingdom when they saw a grey-haired man walk out of his way to pick up a piece of litter. One of the members of the group approached the man and asked, "How many custodians are there here?" The man replied, "45,000". The guest was surprised at so many.