Leadership Is a Muscle – And Tough Conversations Are the Workout with Stephanie Walters, Customer Experience Head for Contact Centres at Emirates

In this episode, Stephanie reflects on a pivotal leadership mistake: avoiding the difficult conversations.

With decades of experience managing global contact centre teams and millions of customer interactions each year, Steph knows that delivering great CX starts from the inside out. That means leaders have to create cultures of safety, accountability, and, yes, honest feedback.

She shares how she learned (the hard way) that shying away from uncomfortable conversations can fracture trust and stall team performance. And why facing them, with empathy and courage, is the key to building teams that thrive.

You’ll learn:

• Why leadership behaviour is the blueprint for team behaviour
• How to build psychological safety without dodging the hard stuff
• The difference between feedback that’s kind and feedback that’s just nice
• How emotionally intelligent conversations become easier with practice

This episode was recorded onsite at the Contact Centre Symposium. The leading conference for Senior Contact Centre leaders in NSW.

Apply for your place for 2026 now: https://ashtonmedia.com.au/symposiums/contact-centre-symposium/

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