Episode 499: The Godfather of Customer Experience on Building Culture at Scale - Bruce Temkin

Sep 22, 2025

Bruce Temkin, the "Godfather of Customer Experience," dives into building cultures that scale while caring for customers and employees alike. A pioneer in human experience management, he shares his journey from engineering to founding the Humanity At Scale movement. Bruce emphasizes the importance of intentionality in culture, linking engaged employees to sustainable customer satisfaction. He offers practical advice on providing clarity amidst complexity and suggests reflection rituals for leaders, so they can navigate challenges effectively.

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INSIGHT

Make Humanity Repeatable

Humanity at scale means embedding humane interactions across teams so they repeat reliably.
Bruce Temkin argues scale requires designs that others can mimic for sustained impact.

ADVICE

Intentionally Define Culture

Be intentional about specific cultural tenets rather than vague statements about culture.
Reflect on micro-moments and adjust behaviors that amplify or negate desired culture.

INSIGHT

Employees Drive Customer Experience

Employee engagement is the primary driver of sustainable customer experience.
Fixing customer touchpoints without engaging employees gives only a short-lived improvement.

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In this episode of Above the Business, Bradley Hamner interviews Bruce Temkin, often referred to as the "Godfather of Customer Experience" and host of the Humanity At Scale: Redefining Leadership podcast. They dive deep into navigating complexity and uncertainty at scale, the power of reflection cycles, and how leaders can provide clarity to their teams—even when they don't feel clear themselves.

"Working above the business is understanding that whatever we do, whatever business you have, we're impacting people, we're impacting employees, we're impacting customers, and we're impacting the communities in which we serve."

Bruce Temkin is a pioneer in human experience management and trusted executive advisor. He helped define the fields of Customer Experience, Employee Experience, and Experience Management, reshaping how organizations serve their most important stakeholders. Bruce founded the Qualtrics XM Institute, co-founded the Customer Experience Professionals Association, led Temkin Group, and was Forrester Research's most-read analyst for 13 consecutive quarters.

Four Core Leadership Behaviors Bruce Teaches

Guide with purpose.
Embrace your values.
Cultivate lasting trust.
Act with empathy.

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