Simon Sinek said, “A community is a group of people who agree to grow together.” I think that describes the CX profession, and especially the CXPA, quite well.
There’s a lot of value in connecting with other CX professionals, whether those connections are made through the CXPA or not. As you know, this CX profession is relatively new, having been formalized and validated five years ago by the formation of the CXPA. (Yes, I know, you may have been a CX professional longer than that.) Given that, plus the challenges newbies to this field experience (were you plucked from another role to tackle CX?), connecting with other CX professionals who have faced the same opportunities, challenges, and victories as you have is actually quite rewarding, for a variety of reasons… not the least of which is, as Simon states, growing together.
I can sum up the benefits of connecting with other CX professionals in two words: (1) education and (2) support; in some ways, they can both be lumped together and defined as: learning from each other, having someone who understands what you’re talking about and who can answer questions about the same challenges or experiences you’re having, bouncing ideas off each other, sharing failures and best practices, mentoring someone with less experience or knowledge, having a shoulder to cry on and also one to pick you up and help you along, and more.
We are all still learning! Even after almost 25 years in this space, I learn new things from other CX professionals every week. As this field and this profession evolve and as we continue to define what it means to be in this CX profession, know that your professional connections become even more important. Take the time to reach out to other CXPA members, join the discussions on the Discussion Forum, share your experiences and best practices or offer up resources that have worked well for you, and ask questions of the CX Experts. Get involved and connect with other CX professionals. You will not regret it!