Conscious Leadership for Customer Experience, Employee Experience and What Really Moves People
In The Human Experience, Kris Wauters challenges traditional approaches to leadership, customer experience (CX), and employee experience (EX), inviting readers to embrace chaos as a messenger rather than an enemy. Drawing from over 30 years of real-world scars and stars in CX and EX, Kris explores how disconnected people, average experiences, and stalled growth act as silent killers in organizations. He exposes the "tower trap" of rigid structures that inevitably crack and reframes the "dragon" of chaos as a guide to raw passion, empathy, and truth.
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The book is structured in three parts:
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Part I: Customer Experience delves into customer centricity as a journey, not a goal, covering strategy, culture, insights, design, measurement, governance, and turning promises into values and actions.
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Part II: Employee Experience bridges CX to EX, examining strategy, culture, and the employee lifecycle.
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Part III: Human Experience elevates to the core of what moves people, exploring emotions, consciousness, human skills (hard or soft?), and the distinction between leadership and management.
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Through vivid stories like Lena's drill and hole, Sarah's whiteboard war, and Anna's "fewer things to apologize for" moment, Wauters provides practical frameworks, maturity assessments, workshops, and a 9-step blueprint for alignment. Key takeaways include the magic triangle of voices (VOC, VOE, VOP), the maturity curve for profit, and the cycle of ask, listen, act.
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Dedicated to his daughter, this book is a call to conscious leadership: pause in the gap, master human skills, lead with selfless service, and create playfields where people rise. Surplus proceeds support NPH and family-style homes for vulnerable children.
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A must-read for leaders, managers, and anyone seeking to make every interaction human—from Fortune 500 giants to five-person shops. Available worldwide in print and digital formats.
Turn On The People In Any Organization
Gung Ho! is the book that gave my company its name—and its heartbeat.
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More than 30 years ago, Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles wrote this simple, powerful parable about turning on the people in any organization. Through the story of Peggy Sinclair, a struggling plant manager, and Andy Longclaw, a wise mentor, they distilled three timeless principles inspired by nature and proven in real-world turnarounds:
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The Spirit of the Squirrel — Worthwhile work: people thrive when they understand the purpose and feel their contribution matters.
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The Way of the Beaver — In control of achieving the goal: give clarity, autonomy, and ownership—then get out of the way.
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The Gift of the Goose — Cheering each other on: celebrate progress, give genuine recognition, and build a culture of encouragement.
These three cornerstones are at the core of everything we do at Gung-Ho. They live in our workshops, our leadership programs, and the way we help organizations create conscious cultures where people feel seen, valued, and inspired. When combined with the deeper human and conscious leadership insights from my own work (including The Human Experience), they become the practical engine for turning CX and EX into lasting results.
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Gung Ho! is short, story-driven, and surprisingly actionable—a classic that still feels fresh today. It’s the perfect companion for leaders who want to move from average to extraordinary, from compliance to commitment, from control to inspiration.
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A must-read for managers, executives, CX/EX professionals, and anyone who believes people are the real source of performance.
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Available worldwide in print, audio, and digital formats.