Nils was interviewing with a company who wore their Net Promoter Score as a badge of honor. The CEO was adamant they would hit the NPS target every quarter and Nils felt like it would be a great opportunity to join a customer-focused company, so he excitedly took the role. It wasn't all smooth sailing. Over to Nils.

I joined the company in February, and the Q4 NPS results came in. They had declined slightly from Q3, but it wasn't a cause for concern. Then, in April, we received our Q1 NPS results. They were the lowest in the company's history; the score had been cut in half! Improving the NPS score became an 'all hands on deck' project, with a project team that included the co-founders, the head of sales and the head of marketing.

We dove into an analysis project to dig deeper and uncover what was going on. NPS measures promoters, passives, and detractors using a numerical scale. Apart from the number, it was unclear what separated a passive from a detractor. We had an optional question field which asked the customer to share more to help us understand the explanation for their answer. The small amount of qualitative data collected was cryptic, at best.

I took the lead on the project and scheduled ten interviews with our customers. We offered an incentive for their time, which was a $100 gift card or a donation of the same amount to the charity of their choice. Most customers were happy to give us an hour of their time, but the added incentive of feeling good about a charitable donation was a helpful nudge. The co-founder and I would tag team on the interviews - one person captured notes while the other asked questions, then we would swap roles. Each new meeting had a new document, jam-packed with notes.

It took us eight weeks to finish the customer interviews. The documents were very detailed, so I attempted to pull the themes into a spreadsheet and then start deciphering the responses. We had finished the process, so the co-founder had to dive back into other priorities. I was left with a mountain of data to sift through, and there was one big problem - I didn't have a clue where to start.

I was stuck.

A few more weeks passed and It was the end of Q2. The leadership team wanted to see action and results. They would check in on the project and ask how things were going. I deflected their questions, citing customer issues and 'needing more time' to dive into the details. I kept myself busy, putting out the typical fires that come with running a Customer Success team because there was always something going on. I was lying to myself. The truth was I didn't know what to do next.

Around this time, one of my CSMs gave me the StrengthsFinder book, so I read it on the train as I traveled home. I explored the framework. It said "Acknowledge the areas you don't have as dominant strengths and focus on what you're naturally talented to do and you'll be successful. When you focus on strengths, your chance of success grows exponentially." It made a lot of sense and gave me a glimmer of hope, so I invested $15 in taking the strengths assessment.

I got my list of top five strengths, and my dominant strength was Maximizer. The description said, "People with the Maximizer strength see strengths in other people before they see it in themselves." 'Aha!' moment number one. The maximizer Strength explained why I love being a leader and a coach. I would overinvest my time in the team to develop them because that's where I felt the greatest alignment and passion.

I continued reading… "People exceptionally talented in the maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb." 100% me. It continued, "Maximizers love to help others become excited about their potential." Yes, yes, yes! After I had finished reading the description, I realized I was a natural Maximizer. Before learning this description, when people asked me what I was good at, I would tell them I liked being a manager and helping people. Now, I had a crystal-clear description of what I was most talented to do.

What a breakthrough!

A few days later, I had a one-on-one with the CSM, who gave me the book. She shared her strengths profile with me, and her number one dominant strength was strategic. We read through the description for the strategic strength together, "People exceptionally talented in the strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues." She was an expert at this. We kept reading… "People with dominant strategic talents have the ability to sort through the clutter and find the best route." The mountain of customer feedback for the now overdue NPS project came to mind.

We continued reading, "This is not a learned skill. It is a distinct way of thinking, a particular perspective on the world as a whole. This outlook allows them to see patterns where others simply see complexity." I saw complexity in this mountain of data and Joan could see patterns looking at the same thing. Continuing, "Mindful of these patterns they can envision alternative scenarios of asking, 'What if this happened?' This recurring question helps them see, plan, and prepare for future situations. They see a way when others assume there is no way. Armed with a strategy they strike forward. People with strategic talents bring creative anticipation, imagination, and persistence to the groups and projects they complete. They can quickly weigh alternative paths and determine the one that will work best and most efficiently. They find the best route moving forward."

I was overwhelmed, swamped and beating myself up. As a leader of Customer Success, I should have been able to deliver the project. I loved being on the phone talking with customers, but after that I would think, "What am I supposed to do? I don't get it." The pressure of the project was mounting, and the co-founders wanted to see results. As I talked to the CSM, I told her, "I'm struggling. I don't know what to do with all this data." She looked at me with big eyes and said: "This is my favorite kind of project to work on." I blurted out "What? Are you serious?" We teamed up to deliver the project. She drove the analysis, and we loved working together.

When I told the team what was happening, one of the co-founders didn't understand why the CSM was going to run this project instead of me. I was the leader of the team. I took some time to explain it to him using the strengths theme descriptions, but he didn't quite follow. I was comfortable with that - because, in hindsight, my responsibility was to deliver the project in the most efficient way possible. We delivered, my CSM had the opportunity to flex her strengths, and we turned around NPS by the next quarter, thanks to the initiatives she helped us put in place.

This project was one of my greatest accomplishments as a manager, and I had a critical breakthrough learning from this experience: aligning people's strengths to their work can yield incredible results. As leaders, we're expected to have all the answers and 'figure it out'. My ego told me "You're the leader. You should be able to do this. Why can't you do this?" I realize that I could never deliver the project to the same level without my CSM's help. I am OK with that because I am not naturally talented to sift through a mountain of complex customer data.

You don't have all the answers, but you do have a strengths framework to guide you to the right person for the job.