WEEKLY WAITE-O-GRAM (RELEASE 54.0)

BLACK FRIDAY BACKSLIDING

With America's Black Friday creeping up to mid-day Thursday...and rapidly becoming a fixture on the Canadian retail calendar...it is perhaps time for the US to rethink Thanksgiving altogether. Let's face it, the current date (the fourth Thursday in November) wasn't selected until 1939, by FDR. Thanksgiving previously had been observed on the last Thursday of the month... but in some years, like 1939 and 2012, November has five Thursdays. With the country still suffering the effects of the Great Depression, Roosevelt decided to move the holiday up by a week to help out US merchants. In retrospect, Roosevelt was far too timid. He should have moved Thanksgiving all the way back to the second Monday in October... like the ever-clever Canadians subsequently did.       

GOODBYE COLUMBUS?

When you think about it, US Thanksgiving's timing makes no sense. First of all, it is on a Thursday. Any sensible holiday should be on a Monday. Second, Thanksgiving is supposed to be a Harvest Festival. The only things being harvested in late November are hot house tomatoes-- and, seriously, are you really grateful to the All Mighty for those? Third, eating two gigantic feasts, Thanksgiving and Christmas, so close together probably accounts for the American obesity rate being 41% higher than that of Canada. Fourth, the weather in late November is often dicey...not to mention icy. You may start out going over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house...but you'll likely end up in a snowbank. This is not to say there would be no downside. Columbus Day would likely have to go. Or perhaps be merged - Thanksgivingbus anyone?    

NOT TO MENTION 'GRANDMA GOT RUN OVER BY A REINDEER'

But think of the upside! US retailers would go into the black by mid-October... instead of late November. Electric utilities would experience a surge in usage six weeks earlier to power outdoor decorative lighting...leading to more clean coal and nuclear projects. Congress would have more time to deal with the Fiscal Cliff. And, best of all, we'd be surrounded everywhere we go for an extra six weeks with the sounds of Alvin and the Chipmunks... singing "The Christmas Song". In short, the Great Recession would end... the deficit would evaporate...and social security and medicare would be saved. Who knows, maybe this was the very economic plan Romney refused to divulge...until after the election.

MAYBE HE SHOULD HAVE CHOSEN WALTER ISAACSON?

A good deal of my work over the past several decades has revolved around the broad topic of reputation. Corporations, educational institutions, governments, individual leaders...all have a brand tied to their ability to deliver on what they promise with integrity. Reputation is like an exotic, delicate plant... it can take years to cultivate, but be destroyed overnight by a hard freeze (or a careless indiscretion). All of this came to mind with the recent Petraeus affair. As a West Point Grad and a General in the US Army, Petraeus was subject to a strict code of conduct. But even putting that aside, it is hard to imagine he wasn't given the same warning by his communications staff...that virtually all of us give to our clients and superiors - "Would you want your mother to read about this on the front page of the New York Times (or the Globe & Mail)?"  Perhaps because many of my clients have gotten older (and no longer have mothers... or have mothers who can read even the large-type edition of the Times), I have taken to putting the same point...in a different way. "What is it that you'd like to see in the first two paragraphs of your obituary?", I ask. Which is basically asking them how they'd like to be remembered - the legacy issue that has obsessed leaders throughout the ages. At the moment, the best General Petraeus can hope for is that he lives a very long time...and does some very noble things...circumstances that might... just might... push Paula Broadwell into the third paragraph.

SPEAKING OF REPUTATION...

I had the great pleasure recently of attending a ceremony honoring Moya Greene, former head of Canada Post and current CEO of Royal Mail Group in the UK. Moya, a former colleague at CIBC and my boss for almost six years at Canada Post, was being presented with the 2012 Hennick Medal for Career Achievement by York University. The award is presented annually to a "distinguished leader who has earned international recognition in the business and legal communities." Moya, who is a graduate of York's Osgoode Hall Law School, is certainly deserving. She was a tenacious and focused leader at Canada Post, tireless in her efforts to engage employees and deliver superior results on behalf of customers. Running a postal organization might be the single toughest CEO job in the world (although running a public university might finish a close second.)  The fact that Moya has gone on to the Royal Mail speaks to her reputation...and the fact that she was recently able to eek out a profit at a time when the US Postal Service was dropping a cool $15 billion...speaks volumes (in a time of shrinking letter mail volumes).  So well done, Moya... not at all bad for the first non-Brit (and non-male) to run the Royal Mail in its 300+ year history.

MAYBE YOU CAN WIN TWICE?

Moya got a laugh when she opened her acceptance remarks by saying, "When I was notified, I thought, 'but wait... I'm too YOUNG to win a Career Achievement Award!' ". And she might have a point. In her mid-50's...and having a track record of successful stints behind her, Moya may well have greater accomplishments ahead. But my advice is always "grab the hardware and run!"

PUTTING A STAMP ON A GREAT MAN

As Chair of the Canadian Stamp Advisory Committee, the folks who recommend stamp subjects and designs, I occasionally get to take part in special ceremonies around the introduction of a stamp. That was certainly the case this past week, when I got to participate in an event at the Canadian War Museum honoring Raoul Wallenberg, who will appear on a Canadian stamp in January.  Wallenberg, it will be recalled, was the Swedish businessman turned diplomat who was personally responsible for saving tens of thousands of Jews in war-time Hungary. He was captured by the Soviets and disappeared into the Gulog...his final fate unknown to this day. Canada some years ago made Wallenberg an honorary citizen... in the hope that the Russians would pursue the matter. They didn't (and still haven't). As 2012 is the 100th anniversary of Wallenberg's birth, it seemed  fitting to honor his heroic efforts with a stamp. In addition to the Swedish and Israeli ambassadors and Citizenship Minister Jason Kenney, representing Canada, the event was graced with the presence of Louise von Dardel, Raoul Wallenberg's neice. She helped with the "unofficial" unveiling of the stamp...and pronounced it very much to her liking.

TOUGH WORLD FOR TODAY'S GRADS

Our son Joseph today headed out for Washington, D.C., to take up a five-week internship at a policy center during a break between semesters. The opportunity is a good one and we are grateful that he's getting the opportunity. But, like many internships today, it is unpaid. When I was at university I returned home each summer to paid jobs, the first at a local seaside beach; the second at a local chain of newspapers. In each instance I was paid - indeed, I was paid enough (and university was that much more affordable) that I was able to cover off fully half my annual school fees. At the time, I of course thought I was underpaid...but today I realise just how lucky I was. So while I don't worry so much about my son specifically - we put long ago money aside for these types of things and he'll be staying with family friends in Washington, keeping his expenses low- I do think about kids like myself 35 or so years ago, who needed to make money summers to stay in school. Unpaid internships seem yet another subtle instance in today's world where the less affluent... potentially lose out. For a non-profit, it probably makes good sense. But I wonder if for-profit enterprises that offer only unpaid internships have thought about the potential reputational fall-out.

(The opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author, who is responsible for any errors, omissions, typos or references to chipmunks, living or dead. The Waite-O-Gram may be cascaded, forwarded or disseminated by post. If mailing, please use twice the normal postage - it won't get there any faster, but it will do wonders for their bottom line.)       

Comments

[Kevin Goheen]

Bob,

I agree with you about unpaid internships. Surely, these are in violation of labour laws!