Blog
PLEASE! Let Me Speak to a Human!
Do you remember when one could call a company and speak to a real human being ? What happened?
In our rush to reduce costs in the corporate world by slashing headcount we have arrived at a place where, if you have a question or a problem, there’s no one to talk to anymore. Organizations have rushed to implement chatbots, the majority of which are unable to answer standard questions, offering only boilerplate “non-help”.
The result: a race to the bottom with customer service standing at an all-time low.
This presents a wonderful opportunity: Any company that wants to stand out and develop a unique relationship with its customer base can now stand head-and-shoulders above the rest by employing human beings who interact with other human beings. The world has become increasingly frustrated and exhausted from useless and faceless technology that has failed to replace useful and friendly humans.
This presents a unique opportunity to become distinctive in the marketplace. Do you want to be different and better? If so, dust off the phones and bring back the people to answer them when customers call.
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Why It is so Hard to Change – Part 3 – The Copyfrog Effect
This is the third in a four-part series titled, "Why It is so Hard to Change". The Copyfrog Effect: How often have you sat in a meeting and listened to someone proposing an idea that you considered fatuous, while you remained silent? When we do this, we remain part of...
Thank You Friends!
This has been a big week for awards for the Secretan Center. We have once again been ranked in the "Top 30 Leadership Gurus in the World" and also in the "Top 30 Coaching Gurus in the World". This continues a trend we have been fortunate to enjoy for several years in...
Why It is so Hard to Change – Part 2 – Ego and Intellectual Arrogance
This is the second in a four part series titled, "Why it is so Hard to Change". The ego is an interesting paradox. On the one hand it receives more than its fair share of criticism for being too domineering, self-serving, narcissistic, aggressive, and more. On the...
Why It is So Hard to Change – Part 1 – Paradigms
Over the next few weeks I’m going to write a series of blogs about change. A quick scan of the human condition suggests that we need to embrace change in numerous areas—leadership, the environment, politics, healthcare, social justice, and so many more. And yet we...
How to Fix US Healthcare
There is a train coming down the track. It is called, "The Disruption of American Healthcare". Disruption will come from technological startups and innovation, like Aledade; from efficiencies; from clinical breakthroughs; from patient demands and their resistance to...
An Invitation to Study With Me
I would like to invite you to my home to study with me for three days. I have been running retreats at my home for many years, usually one in the summer and one in the winter. The groups are intimate—6-10 participants. The growing demand for these retreats (which we...
How Companies can Regain Trust
The greatest crisis in the world today is the crisis of trust. Flatly stated, we have lost trust in all four of our major institutions - business, government, NGOs and media. The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer puts it clearly: ...two-thirds of the countries we survey...
Why Love is the Ultimate Leadership Quality
I recently conducted a study of business literature and management journals to discover the most-often referenced "Top qualities of a great leader". Here, alphabetically arranged, is a composite list of what I found. A great leader, it is said, must be: Accountable...
Give the Gift of Love – “A Love Story”
Why do we aspire to love? Because, as Julian Barnes so eloquently states in his luscious book, Levels of Life, “…love is the meeting point of truth and magic”. Being in love—truly in love—is a magical experience that removes artifice and anything inauthentic....
Presidents and Their Influence on Leadership
The day after President Barack Obama was elected to his first term in office (November 5, 2008), I wrote the following blog. I offer it again here for your consideration, without comment. But I would love to hear your comments. ********************* I have a theory...
The New Year
For so many years I have lived by this mantra, a quotation by George Bernard Shaw. It is one of my favorites, and so ingrained in my DNA by now, that I hardly need to think about it - I just try (emphasis on TRY) to live it: This is the true joy in life, the...
A Love Story
Why do we aspire to love? Because, as Julian Barnes so eloquently states in his luscious book, Levels of Life, “…love is the meeting point of truth and magic”. Being in love—truly in love—is a magical experience that removes artifice and anything inauthentic....
