How to make a difference.

I shall be telling this with a sigh, Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
- from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

We all make choices in life. The decisions we make are usually based on our best judgment of probable outcomes. We can never fully know where those choices will lead. We can only hope that they will lead in the direction of goals we all share: of happiness, health and a satisfying life. Robert Frost’s poem is about one who looks back at a choice made between two paths. It is a beautiful illustration in its simplicity and reflection.

As we get older, I think, we consider choices we’ve made and the consequences of those choices over time. We can’t help wondering what might have happened had we chosen differently. How many of us can truly say, given the same circumstances all over again, we’d do things differently?
Still we know in our heart of hearts that it isn’t all about the decisions we make alone. So much of what happens is a result so many complex factors beyond our control. Ultimately we may recognize that there is a higher power and, with faith, we accept that we must do the best we can with the blessings we are given and meet the challenges as they come.

It seems that many people today are faced with incredibly difficult choices. Decisions that may have an impact on family, friends, communities and perhaps the whole world. Those of us lucky enough to reflect on the road not taken should remember how critical those crossroads can be in the life of a single person.

Wisdom is a remarkable thing. Share it and you may one day be a person upon whose influence one reflects. And you will have made all the difference. Isn’t that something? You will have made all the difference!

- Optimist Contributor Wes Morgan: orignally posted Nobember 17, 2010

The Dawg Pound

“Ya know I may be over-thinking this thing but there’s a rally downtown right after the football game and…I have a parking space but I’m thinking it might be difficult to get out. So, maybe we should take the Rapid Transit. We can pick it up at 117th and Madison,” explains Morin.

That’s fine with me. The public transportation allows us to get into the spirit of the day. Brown and orange is everywhere: sweatshirts, wool caps and face paint. “Go Brownies!” All over town, they are firing up grills and tailgating before the game between the old Browns (Art Modell’s The Baltimore Ravens) and today’s Cleveland Browns in their new 73,200 seat stadium (designed by HOK Sports and completed in 1999.)

As we made our way from the Terminal Tower downtown to the stadium with throngs of Browns fans, Pat and I compared notes on our advertising careers. We both worked in New York at J. Walter Thompson (at different times). Pat managed to leverage his Ohio State Law School Degree and charming diplomacy into a long care in the advertising business. Nearing retirement now, Pat is now founder of P.J. Morin Inc. I became a corporate communications specialist and later started my own business too. (Due in part to inspiration from P.J.Morin himself). It was a perfect day for football (sunny and in the mid-fifties). We are in section 108 near the 45 yard line. Great seats. Great day. (But not for the Browns.)
Ravens 37, Browns 27

With the score tied at 27 in the forth quarter, Cleveland WR Braylon Edwards dropped what would have been the go ahead 77-yard TD pass from Derek Anderson. The Browns never threatened again. Browns fans screamed “Bra-dy!” Bra-dy!” hoping popular backup QB Brady Quinn would replace Anderson. - paraphrasing USA TODAY Monday, November 3, 2008

At the end of the game, Browns fans dispersed, exasperated at the missed opportunities and disgusted with a 3-5 record. As they spill into the downtown area, the police and the barricades and the helicopters let you know the Obama rally will soon begin. Bruce Springsteen performed. He sang a half dozen songs including Thunder Road, an ode to Youngstown (an Ohio steel town), and folk ballad This land is your land. Bruce Springsteen let Clevelanders know he wanted change. “Today we are at the crossroads. It’s been a long, long, long time coming. I want my country back. I want my dream back. I want my America back.”

That was two years ago. Obama is President. The Browns have a new Quarterback and it’s still great to watch football on any given Sunday. Keep hope alive. Go Browns.

- Optimistic Contributor Wes Morgan: originally posted September 16, 2010

To Dream

Last week, President Barack Obama welcomed Broadway into the White house as part of a celebration of theater. The President made the following remarks on Optimism and Broadway.

“Over the years, musicals have also been at the forefront of our social consciousness, challenging stereotypes, shaping our opinions about race and religion, death and disease, power and politics. But perhaps the most American part of this truly American art form is its optimism.” - President Obama

My Mom, for years, was an accomplished director in community theater in the greater Cleveland area. A career highlight was a production of Man of La Mancha in a little theater called Clague Playhouse. I was still in High School at the time, but couldn’t help being impressed by her attention to detail and her command of the material. Rehearsals were thorough and all the players were well prepared for opening day. Her direction, notably the brilliant collaboration with her musical director, resulted in rave reviews. I remember it like it was yesterday, even though in reality it was easily more than thirty years ago.

If you know the play, you know it is a great inspiration and inspires Optimism. Don Quixote spends so much of his time chasing windmills (he says are dragons) and accepting the Knighthood (Knight of the Woeful Countenance) with a shaving basin (he believes to be a golden helmet) and befriending Sancho Panza (as his loyal servant) in a series of fantastic adventures. Though delusional, our hero helps the entire cast of characters (and indeed the audience) realize that pursuit of a dream can have an incredible and profound impact on all of those around you. The director (my mother) knew, all too well, of the power of this message.

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

Today, I realize how important and exponentially large that selfless contribution to community theater really was. Theater really does encourage people to believe in themselves and stay positive.

“Broadway music calls us to see the best in ourselves and in the world around us — to believe that no matter how hopeless things may seem, the nice guy can still get the girl, the hero can still triumph over evil, and a brighter day can be waiting just around the bend.” – President Obama

- Optimistic Contributor Wes Morgan - originally posted on July 30, 2010

I’m my own best friend.

My wife is an awesome baker. (She is an awesome person too, but that is another topic.) What she does with baked goods is magic. She is an artist. Scones, Muffins, Lemon Squares, Biscotti, Cookies for any occasion – you name it. The skill, as near as I can tell, requires a delicate balance of following recipes and knowing when to add a pinch of this or a touch of that. It is part art and part science. Every detail gets tender loving care. I often hear her quietly having what sounds like a conversation in the kitchen. She might be on the phone, but frequently she’s just talking her way through another culinary creation.

“Bing, who are you talking to?” I might ask.

“Oh, I’m just talking to myself. I’m my own best friend, you know.”

It’s kind of a routine banter we have but it never gets old. We are both amused in that moment and generally move on with whatever we are doing in separate rooms. Pretty soon the smell of fresh baked product is filling the air. How great is that?

My wife is on to something I think. Whatever you do and whatever you set your mind to, it pays to be your own best friend. If you follow that simple rule, soon you might just fill the room with something fresh that will make those around you smile.

 

I love you Bing.  

Marketing Pep Talk

Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

This is the definition of marketing approved by the American Marketing Association. I am proud of my membership in this organization and my ongoing commitment to the profession, however that being said, we are a confused bunch. This definition confirms it. Can you imagine someone using that jumble of words in an elevator speech? Would a lawyer, accountant or plumber have that much trouble articulating his/her line of business?

Ironic as it seems, marketing people struggle more than most when it comes positioning themselves. We want a seat at the table when the company is hammering out its strategic plan. Indeed, a few enlightened companies do have a Chief Marketing Officer on the team with the CEO, CFO and others. But that CMO is the exception - rather than the rule - most of the time.

Ask any successful marketer about their career path and I would wager you would discover one of two things:

1)    They came by marketing from a different professional discipline – like sales or operations or even engineering.

2)    They have had to reinvent themselves many times over because their career growth in their chosen profession has required them to change.

Because of those two common career journey scenarios, it is often difficult to coach or teach people what it takes to be a great marketer. Marketers need to be smart, intuitive, analytical, inquisitive, curious and fearless. Maybe most of all, Marketers need to be resilient.

Not everyone will get it. Sometimes the bean-counters will prevail in a battle over short and longer term thinking. Sometimes marketing is marginalized, downsized and downright dismantled. But every now and then, when the stars line up just right, Marketing wins! That’s when breakthroughs happen. That’s where I want to be. Are you with me? 

Follow your passion.

So, it’s a new year and I’m going to start things off right with a breakfast meeting with two trusted advisors and friends. Dan is a business development specialist at one of this town’s most respected advertising agencies. Scott is a veteran agency manager with operations and account management background and I am revisiting my undercapitalized marketing communications start-up. We are all feeling the pinch in a challenging economic environment. In spite of setbacks in the past year, each of us is cautiously optimistic.

Making sure we can secure a table and have access to intranet I arrived early. The agenda for the meeting is loose but we’re all interested in comparing notes on businesses, colleagues and career paths ranging from entrepreneurial to job opportunities. We’re not kids anymore. We all have contacts, networks and plenty of sources of information. We share a few stories about hits. misses and prospects.

“We pitched that business and we were sure we had the inside track. We didn’t get past the phone screening.”

“That job description seemed to have me in mind. They wanted a senior marketing person with the ability to think strategically and lead a team. I didn’t even get an interview.

“ Human resources must have been looking for a reason to eliminate me. There is no other explanation.”

“They aren’t even really looking for marketing at that company. They are just looking for a 25 year old, probably a good looking female to handle social media and a little bit of graphic design work.”

Not complaining, but we each show some insecurities and vulnerability. We are professionals with accomplishments in advertising and marketing communications. We’ve won awards, new accounts and promotions. By any measure, each a success. Yet, the world is changing. Life experience is valuable, sure. But so is youthful vigor- maybe companies are looking for people with skills more easily found in a generation that grew up on video games, the internet and smart phones.

The breakfast club had us lingering longer than a truly efficient business meeting should last. But we were enjoying the fellowship. As we started wrapping up the session, Scott shared a story about some work he had been doing. He talked about painting, power-washing, sealing, clearing, laying ceramic tile and woodworking. He showed us a couple of before/after shots he saved on his iPhone. “This is the kind of work my father did,” he said with a grin. “I’ve been doing this kind of thing since I was 15,” adding “…and it is so gratifying in two important ways: 1) The joy of seeing a satisfied customer and 2) the good feeling you get from a job well done.”

Dan and I looked at each other. “Oh my goodness. Scott, you are really passionate about this kind of work. Aren’t you?”

“You bet.”

With that closing line we left the restaurant and went our separate ways. Dan and I knew what maybe Scott knew all along. You have to follow your passion.

The Story of my Stork Club Ash Tray

The Stork Club was a nightclub in New York City from 1929 to 1965. After 1934, it was located at 3 East 53rd Street, just east of Fifth Avenue. The building was demolished in 1966 and the site is now the location of Paley Park. It would have been a perfect place for an advertising executive in the heyday of the ad profession. I was working in New York in the 1980's. My office was just a short walk from this location. I always knew, even before the popular Mad Men series, that I missed that time in America when night clubs and martini lunches were pretty routine, smoking was commonplace indoors and entertainment included a meal out with cocktails.

“You know Dave, I really would like to own an ash tray from the Stork Club.” I remember remarking while visiting with my college chum one weekend afternoon day. He lived with his wife and dog (a boxer) on Avenue A in lower Manhattan. It was around 1988 I think.

Dave looked at me with amusement and gestured for me to follow him. It was a warm Spring or Summer day. Dave always knew the city better than me. He grew up in NYC. He was adventurous when it came to living in up-and-coming neighborhoods. I followed him to a shop that sold restaurant décor items, the bric-a-brac that often hang from walls and ceilings to enhance a theme, add charm or visual interest. To my surprise, in the window amidst a variety of serving trays, dishes, coffee pots and vintage posters and signage was a Stork Club Ash Tray.

It cost me $30, but I simply had to have it. Today, it is still a prize possession. It’s a nod to a simpler time, post WWII when my father started his business (1951) and raised a family with children born in 1944, 1952, 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1959. I love that ash tray. (I don’t smoke cigarettes but am fond of a good cigar from time to time.) The Stork Club ash tray is also a reminder of a time in my own life when I could casually identify something I wanted and a good friend could lead me right to it. Almost like magic.  

Isn’t that remarkable? That ash tray in the store window was already at least 20+ years old. And another 25+ years have passed since. It is still a symbol for me and one of my very favorite things. Thanks Dave! (You cheap bastard. You could have bought it for me. Ha. Ha. Ha. Still, that purchase, when we were young men, making our way in the world, is one of the best investments I’ve ever made.) It brings a smile, fond memories and a kind of respect for an entire generation that came before us. Happy New Year 2012.