The View From My Window

I found a site where people share the view from their window. I took a photo I shot out our window of the blizzard we had in March. I contributed that to the site.

This is the view...


Twenty years ago, June and I bought a 4-foot, live Christmas tree, placed it in a wooden tub at our front-door stoop, and decorated it for three weeks of enjoyment. After New Year’s Day, we struggled to plant it in the frozen ground of our front yard where it grew to 20 feet high. We decorated it for 10 years, until we could not reach its upper branches.

In mid-March—a kind of snowfall that you pray for on Christmas Eve—fell heavy and wet on every shrub and tree. Our grown-up little Christmas tree was exquisite, its branches barely bending. As I walked by it to retrieve the morning newspaper, I stopped to marvel at its beauty and reflect on the pleasures it gave us for two decades

My greatest pleasure is, though, to share this gift from Mother Nature.

To make an Arrogance cocktail, add Seven Deadly Sins and shake

Few persons can name the Seven Deadly Sins; fewer can define them. After reading the morning paper’s accounts of bad things happening in my town and in the world, I’m convinced that at least five of the sins, perhaps all seven, are the not-so-secret ingredients of a deadly cocktail called Arrogance

Consider these items from this morning’s paper:

* A corporate CEO pays directors $25,000 and expenses for four two-hour meetings annually; they in turn OK the CEO’s $12 million in pay and perks for “reaching goals.” CEO feels, “I earned this, I’m the boss, I own two degrees, worked my way up and put up with lots of stuff. I deserve 12 million bucks, maybe more.”

* A state governor is ousted for accepting dozens of golf junkets and Caribbean cruises, courtesy of shadowy statehouse hangers-on, a.k.a. lobbyists, who also shower assemblypersons with a baskets of goodies and, in turn, earn big bucks from their employers--corporations and PACs.

* Sports and entertainment super-stars do stupid things but gain big, black headlines in supermarket tabloids and broadcast media. A few end up in the pokey, many are dethroned, but most survive after rehab and tearful apologies, then treated to blacker headlines, humungous contracts and a free upgrade to mega-star.

Enough! By day’s end, the print/ broadcast folks will have reported a dozen more events spawned by arrogant behavior. Is not this arrogance truly a composite of the Seven Deadly Sins as delineated by Pope Gregory the Great—lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride?

A resounding yes, including sloth and wrath.

I’m compiling a list of 10 candidates for annual induction into an Arrogance Hall of Shame. Send me your nomination (s) please.

So When Did We Quit Listening?

My college journalism professor once told our class, “Half of all the problems we face stem from poor communications?”

After graduating and after 14 years’ experience with a global manufacturer and a large ad agency, I ratcheted up Prof. Maguire’s percentage to 75; after 35 more years’ heading
an ad/pr/research agency serving 100-plus companies and institutions, I nudged it to 99 percent. No enterprise or institution can succeed without a solid communications strategy.

We live, work and play in a new world. Everything is rush-rush, instant gratification, multi-tasking and computer-speak that dominate our lives 24/7. We recall the thesis of the hit stage-play, “Stop the World, I Want to Get Off.”

My prof said further, “Communications must be honest, complete, consistent and two-way.”

He relished explaining two-way—the need to give and take, share and truly listen. Historians agree that the communications explosion of the Fifties surpassed all of the communications recorded in the six centuries after Gutenberg invented moveable type, and was punctuated by the quantum leap of media and marketing forces, especially “new consumerism” and that upstart new medium—television.

Communications in the final four decades of the 20th century constituted a super explosion, but most was one-way—lots of powerful, high-pitched pitching and sound bites that left no time for and no interest in listening.

Enter the 800-pound gorilla—the Internet and its trappings. It has for all time sealed the fate of the listening art. Stroll through any business or office or visit a family at home, and you won’t find discourse or listening; the young and the old are hunched over tv and computer screens with eyes glazed in a 2007 version of the Cone of Silence featured
in the “Get Smart” tv series.

I embrace high-tech. I’m a .com devotee and a tv news/ sports/PBS junkie. Still, we all should ponder the need for a proper balance in the communications mix.

Is anybody listening? And if not, is it a major concern? What should one do?

Perhaps the societal pendulum, as it has done throughout history, will swing back to a more halcyon mode? Business, education and media deep-thinkers may get the message and help turn things around? Maybe we all will quietly turn down and even turn off the gadgets.

Then read, talk and write again. Yes, and listen.

Mentors -- The Ultimate Career Boosters

A good education, solid grades, compelling references, a nice personality, strong resume, intelligence, all requisites for landing a rewarding job or for being promoted. But there’s another career booster that trumps all of above—being mentored

A mentor is a person, usually older than you, who perceives something good in you-- honesty, talent, likability, work ethic. Then subtly does things to help you along. Chances are the mentor was also helped by another mentor, and he or she is paying back

To explain, I was fortunate to have had mentors during early school years, college, first job, second job, community activities, and more. At the time of my being mentored, I was not even aware I was being mentored. Reflecting upon this much later, I had had at least a dozen mentors--teachers, ministers, family members, business executives and U.S Navy superiors.

To the extent that I have had a good life, I owe all to my mentors. I never thanked all of them, a horrible regret. I believe they knew they influenced me, which is my only consolation.

Lesson learned: Be aware that a mentor may be watching you, encouraging you and subtly doing little things to help you reach your goals. Listen to them, respect the experience they want to share and somewhere down life’s path, thank them.

Welcome To The Covey Chronicles

Writing is what I do. I have also been immersed in graphic art, photography, market research, media, fund raising, community activism. I’d like to share this experience, solve problems for all and help newcomers to the field.

The Covey Chronicles will include essays on proper grammar and rhetoric, the creative process, mentoring, case histories, campaign successes/ failures, working with the media, top 10 lists like pr gaffes and grammar goofs, do’s and don’ts of marketing research, and lots more, all dealing with business and inter-personal communications.