The countdown to ICMI Contact Center Expo is on, and this week we’re excited to spotlight Karin Hurt, a dynamic speaker at our upcoming event.
Karin Hurt, CEO of Let's Grow Leaders and a renowned leadership expert, will lead a half-day workshop titled "Courageous Cultures: Encourage Courage and Solve Better Problems Faster" (Pre-09). Known for her insightful approach to leadership and team development, Karin helps organizations build cultures where people speak up, solve problems and innovate together.
To give you a compelling preview of her workshop, we interviewed Karin to share her insights on the event, leadership strategies, and more.
An Exclusive Interview with Karin Hurt: Insights for ICMI Contact Center Expo Attendees
You’ve attended Contact Center Expo several times. What advice do you have for first time attendees?
Hurt: Show up interested and interesting, courageous and curious— talk to “strangers.”
I spoke at my first Contact Center Expo in 2014 and I still hang out with several amazing human-centered leaders I met there (several have become long-term clients, collaborators, and good friends). The ROI on that first conference was huge— and I showed up not knowing a single person attending.
Besides yours, which session(s) on the agenda excites you the most?
Hurt: I’m particularly interested in Kyle Scheele’s program, “Becoming an Idea Factory” because it’s so aligned with my Courageous Cultures research and techniques (and a perfect paring to the deep dive pre-conference workshop I’m conducting on Tuesday. And, to see my good friend Nate Brown’s keynote. He’s one of the folks I met at that first ICMI conference and we’ve been collaborating ever since!
Who should attend your session and what can they expect?
Hurt: This advanced program is perfect for you if you’re a contact center people leader (or ops support/HR executive) genuinely interested in building an innovative, high-performing culture.
You’ll learn easy-to-use tools and techniques to empower solutions-thinking and customer-focused problem solving; how to respond to wacky ideas without crushing your team's hearts and spirits; and techniques to encourage courage and deeper dialogue up, down, and sideways. This half-day program is more than just a learning experience--it's an interactive journey that will challenge and equip you with tools, best practices, and daily habits to lead a cultural transformation in your organization. Come if you’re ready to show up courageous and curious ;-)
Your session will focus on the four steps to building a courageous culture. Can you give us a little sneak peek and share your top tip for cultivating a high-performance, courageous contact center culture?
Hurt: If you want remarkable ideas you can actually use, psychological safety is important but not enough. It’s a combination of strategic clarity and psychological safety that leads to remarkable, usable ideas. If you’re curious about this concept, you can take a quick peek at my popular TEDx on this topic as a warm-up.
Join Karin this October at Contact Center Expo
Date: Tuesday, October 22
About Karin Hurt
Karin Hurt helps human-centered leaders find clarity in uncertainty, drive innovation, and achieve breakthrough results. She’s the Founder and CEO of Let’s Grow Leaders, a global leadership development firm known for practical tools and techniques for human-centered leaders. A former Verizon Wireless executive with more than two decades of experience in sales, customer service, and human resources, Karin is known for growing courageous leaders, building great cultures, and inspiring high-performance teams. Since 2013, Karin and her husband, David have grown tens of thousands of leaders on every continent (except Antarctica) with their leadership development programs and keynotes. They also provide clean water to the people of Cambodia through their Winning Wells philanthropic initiative. Karin is an award-winning author of five books, including: Powerful Phrases for Dealing with Workplace Conflict: What to Say Next to Destress the Workday, Build Collaboration and Calm Difficult Customers (May 2024) Courageous Cultures: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers, and Customer Advocates She is the host of the popular LinkedIn show, Asking for a Friend and is the advice column, Courage Coach. She was recently named by Inc. Magazine as a Top 100 Great Leadership Speaker.