As CEO of iContact BPO since inception, I’m proud of the 2000 jobs we’ve created within South Africa’s economy and the leaders I have helped to develop along the way.

I’m Clinton Cohen, CEO of iContact BPO, a South African business process outsourcing and customer experience company established in 2015. iContact BPO employs approximately 2000 people across our operations and we’re expanding our international delivery capability in response to client demand.

iContact BPO provides outsourced customer experience and business processing services to organisations in international markets. Our core services include multi-channel customer care, collections, customer win-back and back-office support, across sectors including financial services, retail, healthcare, telecommunications, hospitality, e-commerce and consumer services. Our delivery model helps clients to improve customer service, retention and operational efficiency, while protecting the brand experience their customers receive.

Our business has grown from its South African base into an international BPO operation. Our established South African delivery footprint includes Johannesburg and Cape Town, while our international growth has included servicing clients and partners in major offshore markets. Earlier this year we expanded into the Philippines.

As CEO I’m responsible for the strategic direction, growth and performance of the business. I work closely with our leadership team on international business development, client relationships, operational strategy and the continued evolution of our service offering. I also spend time in our source markets meeting clients and partners, understanding their operational and customer experience challenges and ensuring that iContact BPO develops around what they genuinely need from an outsourcing partner.

For me, business leadership means holding several responsibilities at once: building a commercially sustainable company, delivering measurable value to clients, creating employment and developing people.

My vision for myself as a leader is to make myself less necessary. I want to pass the baton to the young people in the business, by developing them into the next generation of business and national leaders, whether they join us as an agent, team leader or manager.

For South Africa, my vision is more fundamental but also far bigger. We are deeply rooted here and this is our home. I envision a country where reliable basic services and functioning systems create the foundation for better education and skills development, which enable employment and entrepreneurship. I want iContact BPO to play a meaningful part in getting us there.

I’ve tried to lead by doing. This means hard work, long days, ambitious projects and being willing to get involved when the business or the team needs me.

I also believe strongly in radical candour: celebrating the wins, confronting the bad and the ugly and having courageous conversations that help people improve.

When something goes wrong, our team’s response is collective: we pull people together, understand what happened, fix it and learn from it. Maybe that’s why I’m so proud of developing leaders inside iContact BPO.

If my leadership inspires anyone else, I hope it’s because they see that leadership means doing the work, telling the truth and helping other people become better leaders.

Recreational activities

Spending quality time with family and friends, time outdoors in nature, reading fiction and non-fiction and sports