Like rubbernecking past a car wreck, I can't resist octogenarian retired CEO Al Neuharth's weekly column every Friday in USA Today.Once more, the suntanned carrier pigeon from Somewhere In Florida has arrived in McLean, Va., delivering the latest received wisdom, pounded out by Neuharth on his fabled 1926 black Royal typewriter. This week, we're all about economic doldrums. "It happens every five years or so. A 'recession,''' Neuharth writes. (Rather dismissively, I might add, for those of us who just lost jobs!)
But he assures us that he's lived through a dozen recessions, and wound up just fine, thank you very much. (Of course, a ginormous retirement package eased the way a bit, too!) Neuharth then treats us to my favorite cultural reference: anything to do with South Dakota. "As a kid on the prairie of South Dakota, heart of the 'Dust Bowl,' I learned what 'tightening your belt' really means,'' he writes (by the light of a kerosene lamp, no doubt).
We learn that subprime meltdown and massive job losses or not, the advice of his widowed mother remains true: "Simply tightening your belt a bit is the best bet when times are tough."
Kind of a big warm fuzzy, no?
"Simply tightening your belt a bit is the best bet when times are tough." Treating employees as disposable helps a lot, too!
ReplyDeleteI grew up about 30 miles from Al's home town. There are a lot of good people out there, most of whom would laugh at some East Coast millionaire with a golfer's tan telling them to "tighten their belts."
ReplyDeleteHell, that's easy for Al to say. He has a staff of 3-4 paid by GCI to run his home and let's not forget the new Escalade GCI buys him every few years.
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