Whether we’re talking about our customers or teams, loyalty is the currency of successful relationships. In the business world of yore, loyalty was one-sided, it was buy something or do something to get something. Today that quid-pro-quo style falls flat.

Just like Taylor Swift…brands who do well understand that having customers and employees is a privilege, and they aim for relational loyalty, not transactional relationships.

How do we put authentic loyalty at the heart of our businesses? What has changed about leadership as the world of work continues to evolve?

In this episode, I’m joined by loyalty and CRM expert and the founder of Incendio, Jenn McMillen. We talk about the shift in customer loyalty programs and what all businesses can learn from it.

Guest Bio

Jenn McMillen is the founder and Chief Accelerant of Incendio, where her specialty is increasing topline revenue by building and fixing customer programs. Her team helps companies solve and overcome their CRM, loyalty, and customer experience challenges. She is also a nationally known loyalty & CRM expert, recognized by the CRM community and her peers with major industry awards for programs such as GameStop’s PowerUp Rewards, which has more than 35-million members, many of whom pay an annual subscription fee for an enhanced experience. She has also created and/or run several well-known loyalty and subscription programs like myGNC Rewards, United Airlines’ Silver Wings Plus, Vail Resorts PEAKS, Payless ShoeSource Points, Neiman Marcus InCircle, and one of the first big national loyalty subscription programs in the 90’s, Blockbuster Rewards. For more information, go to https://www.incendioworks.com/ or connect with her on LinkedIn.

You know that job that makes you miserable, that boss who makes your life hell and that co-worker who’s difficult to work with? They are specially wrapped gifts that can work in your favor.

Hear me out…

Do these situations suck? Do they test our patience? Yes and yes. But, what you might not see in that moment are the skills, competencies, and empowering opportunities these difficulties give you. I mean, I can personally attribute starting my own business to my own workplace adversity!

Difficult bosses and peers serve as live training grounds for enhancing our emotional intelligence. They teach us to manage our emotions, respond rather than react, and navigate complex interpersonal dynamics. They can even help us understand ourselves better. Working with challenging individuals tests our limits, but that makes us more resilient and more effective as leaders and people.

So how do we reframe the way we see our workplace adversities? What are all the great things we can get from all the crappy stuff we go through in our careers?

Decisions, decisions…the hallmark of good leadership is swift and impactful decision-making. But let’s be real, amidst the whirlwind of emails, meetings, projects, and strategic pivots, the decisions we have to make can be so overwhelming, that we can decide not to decide at all.

Here’s the problem though, not making a decision can be just as detrimental as making the wrong one. It causes projects to stall, innovation to wane and it erodes trust and competence.

So whenever we’re holding off on making a choice - we have to be clear: is it a strategic pause to gather more info, or is it just avoidance? How do we use strategic non-decision to create better outcomes?

In this episode, I talk about the silent yet profound impact of not making a decision and how to avoid creating a culture of uncertainty.