Features
Mindset change: The Greater Works factor — Part 1
Democracy demands that we vote to elect a leader to govern affairs of state. We are quick to blame our leaders, but we hardly do introspection to determine our own attitude towards nation-building.
Someone said that we are a reflection of the leaders we have, and I cannot agree more with him.
The leaders are Ghanaians who lived among us—people we attended school with, people with habits similar to ours, and who are just like us on many fronts. We have bad leaders because most of us are not fit for purpose, and so when we elect a morally depraved one from among us, it is basically more of the same.
If we want good leaders, then we need to have a mindset change as a society so that whoever we elect as President is a person who has a high moral pedigree.
Pastor Mensa Otabil, leader of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), has been on a crusade to promote the wellbeing of the Black person. The church as an organisation has a philosophy of Practical Christianity, Human Dignity and Excellence.
This philosophy underpins the mission of the church, which is raising leaders, shaping visions, and influencing society through Christ. As a result, the yearly conference dubbed Greater Works Conference emerged.
This conference is geared towards changing the mindset of the Black man, especially Africans, to believe in themselves and that God is not a White man’s God, and that Christianity is not a White man’s religion, but for everyone who believes in Christ Jesus as Saviour of the world.
The annual conference, which takes place at the end of July and early August, is preceded by a 40-day period of prayer and fasting to heighten the spiritual awareness of members of the organisation, so they can fully benefit from the spiritual insights and teachings shared during the conference.
If we do not do away with the mentality that we are somehow inferior to the White man, we can never amount to much as a people. This is what the Greater Works Conference seeks to achieve because Jesus, who by the way was not White—contrary to what some portrayals suggest—and who was God in the flesh, declared that greater works will those who believe in Him do, according to John 14:12. It has nothing to do with the colour of a person’s skin.
Pastor Mensa Otabil, who has a PhD but rarely addresses himself as such, has demonstrated that there is no limitation to what an African can achieve. He has established ICGC, a church organisation that is global, and has also established a university offering training for the next generation of Ghanaian and African leaders.
There is evidence of him being the preferred preacher at international conferences over others from well-known countries.
A few Black people or Africans have broken through the glass ceiling—our own Kofi Annan, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Nelson Mandela, etc.—but there is more territory to conquer.
We have obtained independence, but we need to achieve the independence of the mind, where we will never see the Caucasian as superior to us or believe that everything foreign is better than what is locally produced.
We need to free ourselves from mental slavery, as declared by Bob Marley of blessed memory, where many have been made to believe that Jesus, God and the angels are white, but the devil is black.
This deliberate agenda of white supremacy to dominate the Black man by making him believe that he cannot amount to much must be quickly and deliberately dispelled from our minds so that we can see ourselves as capable.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
Features
Fix It Fast or Lose Them Forever: The Ever-Rising Importance of Service Recovery in Competitive Industries
Yes, in literature and in practice, differences exist regarding customer service, service failures, and service recovery.
But have you ever considered the latter (service recovery) and its potential impact on service experience, brand building, and sustainable growth?
Well, in today’s fiercely competitive service economy, customer experience has become one of the most powerful determinants of business survival and long-term success.
Across industries, from aviation and banking to telecommunications, hospitality, healthcare, retail, and digital platforms, customers now expect fast, seamless, and reliable service delivery at every touchpoint.
Yet despite technological advancements and operational improvements, service failures remain inevitable.
Systems experience downtime, deliveries are delayed, reservations are misplaced, payments fail, customer inquiries go unanswered, employees mishandle interactions, and digital platforms experience disruptions.
In the midst of these, what increasingly separates successful organisations from struggling ones is not whether failures occur, but how quickly and effectively they recover when they do.
Service Recovery
Simply put, it is the process of fixing a service problem and restoring customer confidence after a failure has occurred.
Examples of service recoveries are; an airline offering compensation after a flight delay, a telecom company restoring interrupted service and providing bonus data, a restaurant replacing a wrongly prepared meal at no extra cost, a hotel upgrading a guest’s room after a booking problem, and finally a bank reversing an erroneous transaction and apologising promptly.
As competition intensifies and customer expectations continue to rise, service recovery is rapidly evolving from a routine customer service function into a critical strategic capability.
Businesses are discovering a hard truth of the modern marketplace: fix customer problems quickly, or risk losing them permanently.
Customers are More Powerful Now Than Ever
Customers now possess more power than at any other time in business history. Digital technology, social media, online reviews, and mobile connectivity have fundamentally changed customer behaviour.
Consumers now easily compare competitors instantly, publicly share negative experiences, switch providers with ease, and influence the purchasing decisions of thousands of others online.
This evolution has made customer loyalty increasingly fragile. A single poor experience can quickly damage years of brand-building effort.
In highly competitive sectors where products and pricing are often similar, customer experience has emerged as one of the few sustainable competitive advantages.
Modern customers no longer evaluate organisations solely by product quality or pricing. Increasingly, they judge businesses by their responsiveness, reliability, transparency, empathy, and effectiveness in resolving problems.
Why Service Recovery Matters More Than Ever
Failures are no longer viewed as isolated operational incidents, especially in competitive service sectors. They are moments that directly influence customer trust, brand perception, and future purchasing behaviour.
Research across service industries consistently demonstrates that customers are often willing to forgive mistakes when organisations respond quickly, communicate honestly, show empathy, and resolve issues effectively.
Conversely, poor recovery experiences frequently create stronger dissatisfaction than the original service failure itself.
For many businesses, the greatest reputational damage does not arise from operational errors, but from delayed responses, poor communication, lack of accountability, and unresolved customer frustrations.
This has elevated service recovery into a central component of customer relationship management and competitive strategy.
Speed, a Competitive Weapon
In the modern service economy, speed is no longer merely operational efficiency; it is a basic customer expectation.
Consumers increasingly expect: immediate responses, real-time updates, fast complaint resolution, and proactive communication. Delays are often interpreted as incompetence, indifference, or organisational inefficiency.
Consequently, organisations are redesigning their service recovery frameworks to prioritize rapid intervention and customer reassurance.
A cursory assessment revealed that some businesses now operate dedicated customer experience teams, 24/7 support systems, AI-powered service platforms, automated escalation systems, and real-time issue monitoring dashboards.
The ability to resolve customer problems quickly is now a major source of competitive differentiation.
Technology Is Transforming Recovery Strategies
Technology is fundamentally reshaping how organisations manage service recovery. Across industries, companies are leveraging artificial intelligence, customer analytics, chatbots, predictive monitoring systems, and integrated digital support platforms.
These tools allow organisations to identify service failures earlier, monitor customer dissatisfaction, automate responses, personalize engagement, and accelerate resolution timelines.
Some organisations now proactively contact customers before complaints are formally lodged, using analytics to identify service disruptions in real time.
This means that the future of service recovery is increasingly preventive rather than purely reactive.
Service Recovery as a Brand Strategy
Forward-looking organisations are now treating service recovery as part of brand management strategy rather than operational damage control.
The logic is straightforward because, acquiring new customers is expensive, dissatisfied customers influence others, and loyalty is increasingly experience-driven.
Businesses are therefore measuring customer satisfaction, response times, complaint resolution rates, customer retention, and net promoter scores more aggressively than before.
In many industries, service recovery performance is now discussed at executive and board levels because of its direct relationship with profitability, reputation, and long-term growth.
A call to action
As industries become more digital, interconnected and customer-driven, service recovery will likely become even more important.
Therefore, organisations that succeed in the future will likely be those that respond rapidly, communicate transparently, empower employees, leverage technology intelligently, treat customers fairly, and place their (customers’) trust at the centre of recovery strategies.
Remember, customers now have more choices, less patience, and greater influence than ever before, a clear message to forward-looking organisations that when service breaks down, recovery is everything. Fix it fast or risk losing customers forever.
Writer: Mohammed Ali
Conflict at work is more common than you might think. According to 2022 research by The Myers-Briggs Company, more than a third of the workforce reports dealing with conflict often, very often, or all the time in the workplace.
Addressing a dispute might feel tense or awkward, but resolving the conflict is typically well worth it in the long run. Whether you are trying to mediate conflict between colleagues or are directly involved. Last week we looked at three and this week is the remaining four steps you can take to manage workplace conflict.
4. Find common ground
The best way to handle workplace conflict is to start with what you can agree on. Find common ground between the people engaging in conflict. If you are directly involved in the conflict, slow down and focus on results instead of who’s right.
If you are the mediator for conflict resolution between coworkers, observe the discussion and help point out the common ground others may not see.
5. Collectively brainstorm solutions
When deciding how to handle workplace conflict, it can be tempting to problem-solve on your own. Sometimes, it feels easier to work independently rather than collaboratively. However, if you want to achieve a lasting resolution, you will need to motivate your team to get involved.
Brainstorm possible solutions together, and solicit input from everyone involved on the pros and cons of each option until you settle on a solution that feels comfortable to everyone. This will help all team members feel a sense of ownership that can help prevent future conflicts.
6. Create an action plan
Once you have created an open dialogue around workplace conflicts, it is time to resolve them. Just like any other work goal, this requires creating a concrete plan and following through.
Create an action plan and then act on it. It does not matter what the plan is, as long as you commit to it and resolve the conflict as a result.
7. Reflect on what you learned
All conflicts offer an opportunity to grow and become a better communicator. Identify what went well and what did not.
Work with your whole team to gather learnings from the conflict so you can avoid similar situations in the future.
News3 days agoGhana’s Chris Koney participates in high-level dialogue at Africa Forward Summit 2026
- News1 week ago
Isaac Adongo defends BOG Governor, says Ghana “in safe hands”
- Features3 days ago
Fix It Fast or Lose Them Forever: The Ever-Rising Importance of Service Recovery in Competitive Industries
