Scott McKain

Most try to stand out—the iconic stand FOR what matters.
Forbes "10 Best of Year Biz Book" author on CX & leadership.
Hall of Fame speaker. In 2 Herzog films.

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

During a recent presentation, I shared a powerful lesson from my time with Jesse Cole and the Savannah Bananas.

Their philosophy is simple: 𝗙𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁.

Every decision from the two-hour game clock to the way they eliminate friction in the experience is designed around one question: "𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙁𝘼𝙉𝙎 𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙎𝙏?"

That level of discipline is the real lesson for all of us in business.
Extraordinary customer experience doesn’t happen by accident—it happens when every step is intentionally built around the people we serve.

I also wanted to share that Jesse Cole wrote the foreword to 𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 and I’m incredibly grateful to him for his generosity and support.

#CustomerExperience #BeyondDistinction #Leadership

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

We often hear leaders say, “𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁.” But I think there’s a simple test if we really believe them.

𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙩, 𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚?

If people are truly our most important asset, we should be helping them grow. Educating them. Training them. Giving them the confidence and opportunity to become better. That’s how culture is built.

I recently had the opportunity to discuss this with my friend, Seth Dechtman. If you'd like to hear the full conversation, you can watch the podcast here: https://t.co/jeJfErv0WF

What does your organization do to show your people that they truly are your most important asset? Let's discuss this in the comments below!

#Leadership #CompanyCulture #EmployeeExperience #BusinessDistinction #BeyondDistinction

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.

Every conversation. Every email. Every phone call.
Every moment when a customer, client, or prospect interacts with someone from your organization.

And here's the challenge: Your customer doesn't know which interactions you consider “important.” They simply remember how they were treated.

That's why creating an exceptional customer experience can't be the responsibility of just the customer service team.
Every person who interacts with a customer is shaping the experience.

The question now is: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮?

#CustomerExperience #Leadership #BusinessDistinction #CustomerLoyalty #BeyondDistinction

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

We often hear businesses say, “Our customers are important to us.”
But I think there’s a simple test for whether we really believe that.

𝗗𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁, 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲?
I had a call with an insurance company recently. I was placed on hold for 30 minutes, listening repeatedly to a message about how important their customers are.
And I couldn’t help but think: "If my call was that important, why would you put a customer on hold for half an hour listening to the same announcement?"

This is where values become real.
Your customers don’t experience your mission statement.
They experience your systems. Your processes. Your people. Your decisions. And those experiences tell them what you truly value.

Too many companies have lost the distinction they once had because their actions no longer match the values they claim to live by.
It’s not enough to have values. You have to live them. Because your customers will always judge your values by the experience you create for them.

Now let me ask you: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴?

#Leadership #CustomerExperience #BusinessDistinction #CustomerService #CompanyCulture #BeyondDistinction

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

𝗚𝗹𝗮𝗱. 𝗠𝗮𝗱. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱.

I’m glad because I see so many people committed to doing meaningful work and creating better experiences for their customers. I’m mad because too many organizations still treat customer experience as someone else’s responsibility instead of making it a leadership priority. And I’m excited because change creates possibilities we couldn't have imagined before.

𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦.
𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵.

So perhaps the better question is: 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙩?

I choose to embrace the future, and savor the ride.

#Leadership #BusinessDistinction #BusinessGrowth #BeyondDistinction

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

“𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.”

We’ve heard it often. But perhaps we should ask a different question:

What are young people looking for in the work they’re willing to do?
The answer may challenge some of our assumptions.

Let’s Bust another Business Myth this Monday.

#MythBusterMonday #Leadership #MythBuster #BeyondDistinction

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

@BradSugars Spot on!

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

One question to take with you: where in your business is someone being perfectly polite and profoundly useless?

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

Yes, really! In Werner Herzog's "Stroszek" (Roger Ebert named it one of the "50 Great Films" in cinema history), I played the villain: a banker who stays unfailingly polite while repossessing a man's home.

Since then, I've built my career on helping companies and leaders avoid becoming him.

Courtesy isn't true caring. Customers know the difference.

Customers want an Ultimate Customer Experience® delivered by those who will go #BeyondDistinction.

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

The banker had all of that. What he didn't have was anything he stood FOR beyond the process.

That's what I write about: how organizations move from standing out to standing FOR what matters.

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

He never raises his voice. He says all the right things. He follows the process perfectly. And he ruins a man's life.

Most companies think customer experience means politeness. Scripts. Smiles. "Your call is important to us."

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

We’re often much harder on ourselves than we are on anyone else.

We replay the mistakes. Question the decisions. Worry about what we should have done differently. But perhaps today is a good day to remember that growth doesn't require perfection.

Be gentle with yourself. You are allowed to be learning.
You are allowed to have difficult days. And you are allowed to rest without feeling guilty about it.

Give yourself the same patience and understanding you so freely offer to others.
Sometimes, moving forward begins with giving yourself permission to simply be human.

Wishing you a peaceful and restorative Sunday.

Happy Sunday Everyone!

#SundayReflection

[Indiana Edits 🏆 @indiana_edits]

Personally I’m grateful to live in a world where a 38-0 game feels disappointing 👍

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

One of the most frustrating experiences in business is solving the same problem over and over again.

We fix the symptom. The issue returns. So we fix it again.
And again.
At some point, we have to ask a different question: Are we actually solving the problem, or simply managing its symptoms?

The real challenge isn't always finding a solution. Sometimes, it's identifying the primary problem in the first place.

That requires slowing down. Asking better questions. Listening to the people closest to the problem. And having the discipline to look beneath what is immediately visible.
Because solving the wrong problem, even brilliantly, still leaves the real problem unsolved.

What problem in your organization might deserve a deeper look?

#Leadership #ProblemSolving #BeyondDistinction

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

Every organization eventually faces a storm.

A difficult economy. A disruptive competitor. A major customer leaving. A mistake that becomes public. A transformation that changes the rules.

When that happens, it's tempting to focus on the leaves, visibility, attention, short-term results, and proving that we're still relevant.
But storms don't test the leaves. They test the roots.

What do you stand for when keeping your promise becomes expensive?
What happens to your standards when the numbers are under pressure?
How do you treat your customers and employees when doing the right thing becomes difficult?

It's easy to talk about values when everything is going well. The real test comes when standing by those values costs us something.
That's when conviction becomes more important than tactics. And perhaps that's the kind of distinction that can't be copied.

#StandingFor #BeyondDistinction #Leadership

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

Great leaders don't need to go undercover. They need to stay close.

Just wanted to share one of the things that struck me while watching Carlie Irsay-Gordon on the sidelines was how much a leader can learn simply by being present.
Not taking over. Not second-guessing every decision.

Just paying attention to what is really happening. Because leadership from a distance can create assumptions. Proximity creates understanding. Proximity isn't micromanagement. Proximity is intelligence.

The best leaders don't need to disguise themselves to discover what's happening inside their organization. They stay close enough that the truth doesn't have to find them.

What about you?, how do you stay close enough to understand your organization without getting in the way?

#Leadership #LeadershipMatters #BeyondDistinction

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

Listening beyond words means paying attention to what customers are telling us, even when they aren't saying it directly.

Proactive customer evolution means taking those signals and looking ahead. Because customers don't stay the same. Their expectations change. Their priorities shift. Their world evolves.

The organizations that remain relevant aren't simply reacting to what customers need today.

They're paying attention to what customers will need next.

#ListenBeyondWords #ProactiveCustomerEvolution #Leadership #BeyondDistinction

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

“You want something done right. Do it yourself.”

I understand why that sounds like good advice.

As leaders, we often have high standards. We know how we want something done, and sometimes it feels faster to simply do it ourselves. But is that really leadership?

Leadership isn't about doing everything yourself. It’s about teaching, trusting, and building confidence in your team.

This week, I wanted to take a closer look at a belief many of us have heard, and why it may be holding leaders back.

Let’s bust another Myth this Monday!

#MythBusterMonday #Leadership #BeyondDistinction #LeadershipMatters

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

#Colts massive investment in corners isn’t aging well.

Just like everything else about the team…

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

Sunday gives us a chance to step away from the noise.

The goals will still be there tomorrow.The challenges will still need our attention.
But today, perhaps we can give ourselves permission to slow down long enough to remember what matters beyond the next deadline or decision.

Leadership isn't only about moving forward.
Sometimes, it's about making sure we're still moving in the right direction.

Wishing you a peaceful and restorative Sunday.

Happy Sunday everyone.

#SundayReflection

[Scott McKain @scottmckain]

I really think the podcast drove this — @TheTimDurham

[Alexander Rossi @AlexanderRossi]

Up 57% from 2024 is unreal. Thank you @FOXSports @IndyCarOnFOX