I’ve had many years in my career where I’ve had to make follow up phone calls to CEOs and other company executives. Whether it was a cold call, or a follow-up call that they were expecting, I can honestly say that 95% of the time, whoever answered their phones lied to me terribly about their availability. Here’s how the conversations usually go: Me: “Hi, is John Smith available?” Receptionist: “Umm… he’s on another call right now, can I help you instead? ” Or “He’s in a meeti