This year I have interviewed more than 40 leaders who have been selected on the basis that they are perceived by the people who know them well to be customer-centric. Our consulting partners around the world have been the main source of connection with these leaders.
One of the common themes of these leaders is that they have a sense of purpose that they want to leave a much stronger and sustainable business through the culture they create – a customer-centric culture. Some of these leaders head up multinational businesses in various countries and regions of the world and remain in those countries for only 2 to 3 years before moving to another region. The typical tenure of CEOs in large publicly listed companies is only 3-4 years. So how do they leave a legacy?
The most customer-centric leaders know that they must embed this culture in middle management and up, down and across the business. It is only then that the business will survive constantly changing senior leadership. I have always believed that one of the keys to embedding is a valid measurement of customer culture across the organization. This creates tangibility, employee engagement with customers and targets for improvement. Measurement in tandem with rewards and recognition for customer-centric behavior and performance provides the virtuous cycle for a sustainable customer culture that drives ongoing superior business performance.
That’s why I, with my team, have invested so much personal energy into measuring and benchmarking customer culture behaviors that are the foundation for superior and sustainable business performance in today’s disruptive world.
The MRI tool, developed 10 years ago, now with a rapidly growing database is a key tool that customer-centric leaders can use to fulfill their purpose of embedding customer culture deep in their businesses that can be sustained long after they have left.
What is your leadership legacy?
MarketCulture Blog - Using a Customer Culture for Competitive Advantage 
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