WAITE-O-GRAM (RELEASE 233.0)

SMOOTH AS (BROKEN) GLASS

CIBC's annual report arrived in the mail this week. You have to understand, I greet the arrival of an annual report much as my grandfather greeted the arrival of the Sears catalogue. While many consider these corporate reports the ugly step-sister of the publishing world, I see the beauty of corporate speak in all of its glory. To wit, CIBC Board Chair Charles Sirois penned these words: "One of the most important accomplishments for your Board in 2014 was managing the succession process for CIBC's CEO." Hmm. There is no question that the OUTCOME was well managed - new CIBC CEO Victor Dodig is a superb executive who deserved promotion - but the PROCESS was not a thing of beauty. Without pointing fingers - difficult to do anyway in a non-visual column - my impression is that Mr. Sirois unnecessarily muddied the succession waters by indicating at one point that the Board might look outside for a new CEO. To quote my old IBM boss John Thompson, himself a former bank chair (TD), "you don't look outside unless there is a crisis." Thanks to Gerry McCaughey's strong hand over his nine-year tenure, the word "crisis" had been all but erased from the CIBC vocabulary. And, as they say, all's well that ends well.

 

LAME DUCK OR DEAD DUCK?

With all of the early attention paid to the 2016 US presidential election and the October Canadian vote, the upcoming UK election in May is getting scant attention on this side of the pond. Yet it will obviously reverberate here - British involvement in the ISIS conflict; their relationship with the EU; their position regarding Putin's aggressive stance in the Baltics and the Ukraine - all have important implications. This week, in what I took to be a hint of desperation, David Cameron, Conservative leader of the governing coalition, announced that, if returned to power, this would be his last term. But why? I don't recall UCLA's John Wooden announcing that if they won another NCAA basketball championship...that would be it. Jean Chretien - a canny and vastly under appreciated Canadian Prime Minister - never did the same (much to the chagrin of Paul Martin.) And Cameron is only 48. When I was in England a couple of weeks ago there was definitely a sense that the UK election will be very close - possibly headed to another coalition. By telling the British voter that this will be his last dance, he runs a very real risk of being asked to step away entirely.

 

SINCE YOU ASKED...

On of the challenges of being a "trusted advisor" (as my website touts me) is that you have to accept the reality that your advice will not be taken. And then you have to pick yourself up and offer it again - as honestly and clearly as you can. Back in 1995, I was one of many individuals asked to weigh in on whether or not Bob Dole should make a run for the presidency in '96 vs. Bill Clinton. I was one of the very few who answered "no". My view was that he was an exceptionally strong and effective Senate Leader; a run for the presidency carried high risk, given the strength of the economy; he could better serve the nation - and his own legacy - by taking a pass. In retrospect I think my advice was sound - but also that Dole's decision to run was the right one for him. This is a man who never shied away from a fight, or long odds. He needed enter the fray...and did. That deserves respect. For my part, the lesson was to continue to offer an unvarnished, honest opinion - but always remember to respect the individual who actually has to enter the arena.

 

PR NIGHTMARE

The recent tragic loss of 150 souls on a Germanwings flight in France has understandably dominated the news of late. While air travel claims relatively few lives on a statistical basis, it captures the public's attention, in part because air travel is, let's face it, intuitively unnatural. Every time you take off you are - surprise! - a human, airborne. Sure, there is the magic of lift and wing design, thrust and all that - but for most of us it is getting aloft is as close to a miracle as we expect to get. So the media, including CNN, FOX, the BBC and CBC, are all over this, knowing we are fully engaged in the very drama and humanity of the situation. And I will say this - Lufthansa, the owner of Germanwings, has done an exemplary job of dealing with the scrutiny.  They did all of the right things in terms of dealing with the victims families and friends; their CEO was front and center from day one; they didn't try to slip punches in terms of taking responsibility. Yes, they will be criticised for not knowing more about the co-pilot's medical and psychological state (despite some very stringent privacy laws). And they will be questioned regarding not having adopted the two-person-in-the-cockpit protocol. But in terms of responsiveness and candor, they have done well. No surprise there from my perspective - when I was at CAE and we had them as a flight simulator customer, they were far and away among the top two or three airlines in the world in terms of professionalism. They'll get through this. And if you compare their communications response to that of Malaysian Airlines - enough said.

EUPHEMISM DEPARTMENT, PLEASE

Although fortunately without a fatal outcome, Sunday night's crash of an Air Canada A320 in Halifax left a little to be desired on the communications front. Some bright light spokesperson at Air Canada decided to call it a "hard landing". Which sounded like a minor bump ... until you saw pictures of the damaged aircraft, learned that the plane took down a power line on final approach and was ripped underneath by the antenna array as if by a can opener. When passengers later learned of Air Canada's "hard landing" characterization they were stunned - and they were not afraid to tell reporters that it was what it was... a crash.

ARE CANADIANS BAD TIPPERS?

I received a call from a Buffalo News reporter this past week - he had seen a story I'd done for Huffington Post awhile back on tipping at restaurants. "Are Canadians poor tippers?" he asked. I said all I could go on was personal observation, as well as feedback over the years from wait staff and hospitality folks in places like Florida, Arizona, California and Hawaii (where I had helped organize corporate events for IBM). And my observation was that, on average, Canadian do tip less than their American counterparts, perhaps on average 5% less. "Why do you think that is?", he followed up.  Well, I mused, it may be because wait staff in Ontario, at least, actually get paid minimum wage. Or it may be that our dollar is chronically weak against the U.S. dollar. Or maybe it was the influence of our Scotch-Irish forefathers. (I threw the last one in just to confuse the guy, not as an ethnic slur.) Anyway, the piece is schedule to come out the day the Toronto Maple Leafs play the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo. So if you're going to the game - and grabbing some wings before or after - leave a big tip and prove I had no idea what I was talking about! 

 

'PUSH GROUND, PLEASE'

My spousal unit, Karen Shigeishi-Waite, retires this week after 27 years with OTIS Elevator Canada, most recently as CFO. I am not happy about this. You have to understand that while she was working, she was too busy to pay all that much attention to what I was doing. She was often traveling or, when home, working long into the night. She was, in many was, the model for the book "I don't Know How She Does It" (which chronicles the hopelessly busy life of professional women trying to juggle family and career). The reality is that what I was really doing, when I wasn't away myself traveling on business, was watching Boston Red Sox or University of Wisconsin games on TV deep in the bowels of our home.  Or writing articles for Huffington Post and WAITE-O-GRAMS. She of course thought I was helping the children with homework...shoveling the driveway...or preparing dinner (thank God for frozen dinners!) Anyway, this week the gig is up. She will find that I am not helping the kids with their homework, but instead that that I am watching the Badgers in the NCAA Final Four... and the Red Sox's opening day. And she'll finally find out that the kids left for university years ago... 

AND FINALLY...

 

Go Badgers!

 

(The opinions expressed are solely those of the author, who is responsible for any errors, omissions or typos. The sharp-eyed reader will recall that Bob Dole declared in 1996 that he would only serve one term if elected - I confess I was too cowardly to offer an opinion as to whether or not this was a good idea. Every "trusted advisor" has his or her limits. With regard to Karen's retirement plans, she says she will be paying more attention to Waite + Co. This cannot be good. Finally, any reference to the CIBC annual report, the Sears catalogue and my grandfather should not be carried too far. They had indoor plumbing.)