Video Clip: Business Leadership Rackspace Style (Thanks to Rick Wilmot)

I've been interested in Rackspace since I went to look at their website a couple of years ago and a person - a real person - popped up in an instant chat window and asked if I needed any help. Those things can be really intrusive, but his approach was very laidback and non-salesy. I had a quick chat with him, explained I was a journalist and had heard good things about Rackspace and was just browsing out of curiosity. The 'real' customer service impressed me, as I've been arguing for years that what consumers and clients want is a return to service from real people, and that automation and call centres/centers have gone too far in depersonalising service.

Anyway, new Hub member Rick Wilmot has a link to this Fast Company clip on his site, where the Rackspace CEO and some of his colleagues are talking. The clip itself takes five minutes and is about a particular issue Rackspace faced - making a move to a depressed area in an attempt to help with that area's revitalization, in response to a plea from the mayor. No-one wanted to go there to work. The CEO thought it was a responsible thing to do to help revive a community. He won his people over to the idea. I like his grassroots leadership approach in this clip, though I think the clip itself is a tad confusing when the interviewer goes off-track and 'babbles' a bit about himself too much. Thanks to Rick for the link. His website is interesting. Click on his name, above, to visit.