Make your holiday weeks count with the Global CX Leadership Survey 2026

While you are reading this, I am probably sipping a cappuccino in Staffal, high in the Italian mountains of Aosta. We are here with Flowtrack, a Belgian holiday company, enjoying an active mountain family holiday.

Yes, it is holiday time for me. Perhaps it is for you too, although the fact that you are reading a blog about CX leadership might suggest otherwise. In that case, I invite you to read this article, complete the Global CX Leadership Survey 2026 and then put away your phone or laptop again.

Step out of the hamster wheel

The weeks in July and August are often a little quieter. Colleagues go on holiday, fewer meetings are planned and hopefully you have some time to step out of the metaphorical hamster wheel. It is a chance to think, look ahead and decide what deserves more of your attention in the months to come.

That is why I am launching the Global CX Leadership Survey 2026 this summer.

The survey takes around fifteen minutes to complete. The questions invite you to reflect on your own CX leadership: where are you doing well, where are you making a real impact and where might the story you tell yourself be slightly more positive than reality deserves?

Are you busy, or are you moving CX forward?

Your calendar is full, your inbox keeps growing and Teams meetings seem to reproduce overnight. You are busy all day, yet at the end of the week you may still wonder whether you have actually moved the CX agenda forward.

Over the past few months, I have spoken with many CX leaders, experts and consultants who recognise this feeling. I know it too, because I also get caught in the hamster wheel every now and then.

Long-term goals slowly disappear into the background. You “forget” to schedule that coffee with an important stakeholder, lose track of your communication plan or send one enthusiastic update about the CX transformation in February, only to realise in July that nobody has heard from you since.

Operational work simply has a louder voice than strategic work. Another meeting appears, an urgent email arrives and before you know it, your attention is once again directed towards everything that demands an immediate response.

An overly busy schedule creates overwhelm, and overwhelm often causes us to start with the easiest tasks. Sometimes that means spending hours responding to emails, which is essentially working through somebody else’s to-do list.

These quieter summer weeks offer a valuable opportunity to take back control.

Why CX leadership needs its own research

As part of my own strategic work, I have spent a great deal of time researching CX leadership. I interviewed CX leaders, explored the challenges they face and developed my new CX Leadership ANI model, which focuses on three essential elements: Authority, Narrative and Impact.

During this process, I discovered that surprisingly little research focuses specifically on CX leadership.

It reminded me of 2016, when I realised there was very little practical CX education available. My response was to create it myself. Apparently, that is what I do when I see that something important is missing.

Together with Martijn van Keulen, a true CX research specialist, I created the Global CX Leadership Survey 2026. The questions are based on the ANI model, the growth opportunities I see within our profession and the real-life situations CX professionals encounter every day.

While completing the survey, you will assess yourself, question some of your assumptions and hopefully experience a few valuable aha moments. I recommend keeping a notebook, iPad or reMarkable nearby so you can capture the insights that arise.

Building a global benchmark for CX leadership

Later this year, you will receive the results and have the opportunity to join a webinar in which I will share what we discovered and what these findings mean for you and the CX profession.

Together, all the answers will provide something that is currently missing: a global picture of where CX leadership stands, what CX professionals struggle with and where we should focus our attention if we want to strengthen our profession. I am also very happy that the CXPA will be sharing the research.

The survey is open to everyone working in CX, including practitioners, leaders, consultants, trainers and solution providers.

Your answers are fully anonymous and incredibly valuable. The questions help you pause and reflect, while the combined results give the CX community better insight into what is really happening in our profession. For me personally, this research is also an important part of my strategic plan for the next three years.

So please carve out fifteen minutes this summer and complete the Global CX Leadership Survey 2026.

From Staffal, with my cappuccino and a view of the Alps, I want to say thank you. Or, as they say here in Italy: mille grazie.

Do not let the quieter summer weeks simply disappear. Make them count!

Until next time, keep spicing up your Customer Experience leadership.