Kindness Advisory

Prefer to Listen?

I called Apple this week to fix an iCloud issue. Before connecting me to a live person, the automated system said something I've never heard before:

"Our advisors are here to help. Please treat them with kindness."

I stopped. A trillion-dollar company was asking me, the customer, to be decent to their people. Before the call even started. They had their team's backs before I said a word.

The bot did something else I didn't expect. When I asked to speak with a live person, it let me. No resistance. No "let me try to help you first." No four menus of deflection. I knew my issue was complex, and it felt like the system trusted me at my word. That small act of respect set the tone for everything that followed.

The first advisor was warm, patient, and honest. When she realized the issue was beyond her experience, she didn't pretend. She said, "Let me get you to someone who can help." No stalling. No ego. Just a clear priority: get this person what they need, even if it's not from me.

The senior advisor stayed on the line until we triple-checked everything worked. I left that call the most satisfied customer I've been in years.

But I keep coming back to that opening line. Please treat them with kindness. And the bot that simply believed me when I said I needed help.

I've had a manager who didn't do that. I brought something forward — a real issue, clearly articulated — and instead of trusting my read, it was questioned. Not to understand. To second-guess. It didn't just slow things down. It made me stop bringing things forward altogether. That's what happens when people don't feel believed. They stop talking.

Apple did the opposite. At every step — the bot, the first advisor, the senior advisor — the message was the same: we trust you, we've got you, let's fix this together.

I think about how rare that feels. In customer service. In management. In life. How often do we actually believe people when they tell us what they need? And how often do the people around us feel like we're in their corner… before they have to ask?

Thought for the Week: Two questions worth sitting with — who needs you in their corner this week? And are you in an environment where someone's in yours?