Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, recently revealed his top ten leadership secrets to Forbes Magazine. I found this one particularly insightful:

9“Everyone has to be able to work in a call center.”

Complaints can be devastating in the age of viral tweets and blogs. Bezos asks thousands of Amazon managers, including ­himself, to ­attend two days of call-center training each year. The payoff: humility and empathy for the customer.

I couldn’t agree more. Few people in any organization hear the true voice of the customer like those in call centers.