Jo Fairley, one of the founders of the chocolate brand Green and Black, spoke at the Kirklees Business conference yesterday about how the business evolved "one square at a time". One of the keys to the company's success was her uncompromising attitude to customer service which involved personally picking up the customer service phone which was on her desk, listening and talking to customers, gaining direct feedback about her products, both good and bad, and then taking the appropriate action.
Within today's fast moving and frenetic business world, leaders surely need to give priority to listening to their key stakeholders to get the feedback that can help shape the future success of their companies. As Jo Fairley said, leadership is about communication, listening has a key part to play as well as "conjuring up a vision as to how your product makes the world a better place".
This suggests that direct contact with stakeholders provides valuable opportunities to both hear and inspire and should possibly be higher up the leadership bar?
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