Future customer contact success requires investing in resilient leaders, not just tech. Leaders must balance AI adoption and workforce transformation while supporting staff to ensure great customer experiences.
CCA Inspire: Leadership for a Changing World
Leadership training for customer service, customer experience and contact centre professionals
CCA Inspire is designed for anyone stepping into a leadership role or growing into bigger responsibility within customer contact environments.
It moves beyond traditional management training to develop the capabilities that matter most when you're leading under pressure: resilience, emotional intelligence, clear communication and the confidence to make high-impact decisions in uncertainty.
Delivered as a blended experience, the programme combines expert-led virtual sessions with a high-impact in-person day. This approach gives delegates space to reflect between sessions and the chance to put their learning straight into practice where it counts.
Programme at a glance
What
3 sessions across September 2026
2 virtual sessions and 1 immersive in-person experience
Who
Designed for customer service, customer experience and contact centre leaders
Led by Emma J Bell, Chloe Strauss and Chris White
Price
£995 + VAT for CCA Members
£1,495 + VAT for Non-Members
The Challenge
Leaders in customer contact are under increasing pressure. They’re asked to hit performance targets, support their team and keep outcomes consistent, often in fast-changing and high-pressure conditions. They handle the difficult conversations, manage wellbeing, and hold steady when everyone is looking to you for direction. Yet much of the training available doesn't reflect the realities of the role. That's exactly what CCA Inspire was designed to address.
Who is it for?
CCA Inspire supports individuals who are stepping into, or growing within, people leadership roles. The programme is particularly designed for managers in customer contact environments who are navigating performance targets, team wellbeing, difficult conversations and uncertainty.
The programme suits:
- Team managers and emerging leaders in customer contact
- People stepping into a leadership role for the first time
- Established leaders looking to strengthen their capability
- Leaders moving into bigger responsibility
What you'll gain
- CCA Inspire will allow you to:
- Lead with greater confidence and clarity
- Handle difficult conversations with less friction
- Steady your team through pressure and change
- Build trust and engagement that lasts
- Apply practical approaches to the situations you meet every day
What previous delegates say
Meet the Experts
Emma J Bell
Emma is a resilience coach, author, and speaker who founded The Global Resilience Project after serving as a senior partner at Scotland's largest law firm. Following a 35,000-mile journey interviewing 50 extraordinary individuals thriving through extreme adversity, she uncovered the "9 Secrets to Thriving" featured in her work. For over 17 years, Emma has blended practical research with professional coaching to help business leaders overcome unhelpful habits and build lasting resilience.
Chloe Strauss
Chloe Strauss is a leadership development expert and executive coach who helps leaders improve business outcomes by connecting behavioural science with commercial impact. Renowned for balancing psychological safety with strategic challenge, she designs tailored, evidence-based programs using tools like CliftonStrengths and the Gallup Q12®. With deep commercial acumen and extensive global experience, Chloe partners with diverse leaders across many sectors to drive meaningful, sustained behavioural change.
Chris White
Chris is a leading international UK Government Crisis Negotiator and FBI National Academy graduate with a 30-year law enforcement career. He uniquely combines top-tier crisis experience with corporate board-level expertise, focusing on the critical human factors of communication, resilience, and leadership. Operating globally in highly sensitive environments, Chris delivers highly sought-after insights that bridge high-stakes strategy with corporate business success.
About CCA Inspire
Hear from the experts behind CCA Inspire. Chris White previews his in-person workshop on the skills of the hostage negotiator and Emma J Bell introduces her virtual session on building mental and emotional resilience, both designed for customer service leaders.
Programme Overview
Click to view the individual session details
3 September 2026, Virtual
Led by Emma J Bell, bestselling author, speaker, coach and resilience specialist
High-pressure environments create real risk of burnout for leaders and teams. This session is designed to help build the personal resilience and emotional awareness needed to sustain high performance without compromising wellbeing or team engagement.
Delegates will learn practical strategies to recognise pressure and burnout before they impact performance, develop the emotional intelligence required to lead with empathy while maintaining focus on outcomes, and explore how to build team cultures where resilience is built in rather than dependent on individual capacity.
What You'll Explore
- Building personal resilience and emotional awareness
- Recognising and responding to pressure and burnout
- Leading with empathy and emotional intelligence
8 September 2026, Virtual
Led by Chloe Strauss, leadership development expert and executive coach
Strong leadership begins with understanding what you naturally do best and how you can use those strengths to create greater impact. By developing deeper self-awareness and recognising the unique talents of others, leaders can build more engaged, collaborative and high-performing teams. CliftonStrengths provides a practical, evidence-based framework to help leaders understand and apply their strengths to enhance individual, team and organisational performance.
What You'll Explore
CliftonStrengths is a development tool used by 37 million people around the world to enhance performance, engagement and wellbeing outcomes. Leaders joining this session will -
- Gain a deeper understanding of their natural talents and how these shape their leadership approach.
- Use CliftonStrengths as a practical language for understanding and leading diverse teams.
- Explore how their strengths can influence behaviour, decision-making, and communication during periods of change and pressure.
- Build greater self-awareness of the leadership behaviours that help them perform at their best and support others effectively.
- Identify opportunities to recognise, develop, and leverage the strengths of others to support engagement, collaboration, and performance.
24 September 2026, In-Person Experience
The ability to communicate clearly and confidently in challenging situations is one of the most valuable skills a leader can develop. Whether you're managing conflict, handling difficult conversations or leading through uncertainty, effective communication helps build trust, strengthen relationships and improve outcomes.
This immersive in-person session focuses on communication, negotiation and leadership under pressure. Led by Chris White, a hostage negotiator, the session brings communication under pressure to life through practical techniques and real-world insight. The principles that apply in extreme pressure situations translate directly to everyday leadership challenges. You'll explore negotiation, listening and conflict management skills that can be applied to your leadership and workplace situations, while also connecting with peers facing the same pressures in your sector through a dedicated networking experience.
What You'll Explore
- Communicating with clarity under pressure
- Building trust through listening and empathy
- Managing conflict and difficult conversations
- Applying negotiation techniques to everyday leadership
The Inspire Experience
The programme concludes with an immersive in-person experience where learning comes to life through practical application, discussion and peer connection.
Delegates will take part in a dedicated networking lunch, share experiences with fellow leaders and leave with a recognised certificate and a valuable network of peers across the customer contact profession.
Pricing
| CCA Members | £995 + VAT |
| Non-Members | £1,495 + VAT |
Group booking options are available on request.
How To Book
Reserve your place today or contact the team to find out more about the CCA Inspire programme and how it can support your development.
Frequently Asked Questions
CCA Inspire is a leadership development programme for managers and emerging leaders in customer contact. It builds the capabilities leaders need most today, including resilience, trust, effective communication and leading through uncertainty. The programme is designed with input from organisations across the CCA network and led by expert practitioners with direct experience.
CCA Inspire is designed for managers at any stage of their career who want to strengthen their leadership approach. It suits people stepping into people leadership roles for the first time as well as emerging and mid-level leaders navigating increasing responsibility within customer contact teams.
CCA Inspire suits first-time managers well. The programme supports people stepping into leadership as well as those growing within it, and its focus on practical challenges rather than theory helps new managers apply what they learn to real situations straight away.
CCA Inspire develops the capabilities leaders need most today: resilience, trust, effective communication and leading through uncertainty. Participants leave able to lead with greater confidence and clarity, handle difficult conversations, support their teams through pressure and change and build trust and engagement within their teams.
CCA Inspire is delivered as a blended experience across three sessions. The first two sessions are virtual, on 3 and 10 September. The programme concludes with an in-person experience on 24 September, led by hostage negotiator Chris White, which brings the learning to life through practical application.
The CCA Inspire fee covers all three sessions, including the in-person day with its dedicated networking lunch and a certificate presentation. CCA members pay £995 plus VAT and non-members pay £1,495 plus VAT. Group booking options are available.
CCA Inspire focuses on practical leadership challenges rather than theory, and is led by expert practitioners with direct experience. It is designed with input from organisations across the CCA network and combines virtual learning with an immersive in-person experience, giving leaders the chance to learn alongside peers facing similar challenges.
Participants leave CCA Inspire able to lead with greater confidence and clarity, handle difficult conversations more effectively and support their teams through pressure and change. They also build trust and engagement within their teams and gain practical approaches they can apply to real leadership situations straight away.
Yes. CCA Inspire includes a dedicated networking lunch as part of the in-person experience on 24 September, giving participants the chance to connect with peers and share perspectives. The blended format also creates opportunities to learn alongside other leaders facing similar challenges throughout the programme.
No, CCA membership is not required to attend CCA Inspire. Members pay £995 plus VAT and non-members pay £1,495 plus VAT, so membership reduces the fee. Group booking options are available. To discuss attending or booking, speak to Programme Manager Katie White.
CCA Inspire - Latest News
Cookies
CCA uses cookies to enhance your experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on cca-global.com.
Please read our cookie policy for more information ACCEPT & CLOSE