Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: orkrious who wrote (251283)	7/21/2003 3:23:32 PM
From: Box-By-The-Riviera™	Respond to of 436258

Feature Story Date : July 21, 2003 There Is Still A Sense Of Humour At The Financial Times, But They Do Not Want You To Know It. Last week the Financial Times published a very funny article. This was quite an event so Minews, who likes to be even handed about these matters, e-mailed the editor to ask if we could re-produce the article. It was only fair after the Feature we carried on June 12th suggesting that the F.T. was its own worst enemy as it had eliminated the specialist writers on resource and other industries which were its strength in the past. No answer came from the editor, but we were directed to ‘Syndication.’ Minews pointed out that the offer to carry this article was a favour to convince waverers that the F.T. did, in fact, still have a sense of humour. Wrong tactic. No sense of humour in Syndication. Pay us £250 and you can publish it. On the basis that such money would be better spent on a suitable charity we can direct readers to it. It was the Monday Feature by Lucy Kellaway dated July 14th and entitled “Hi Jimmy, our two hearts are beating as one.” The Jimmy in question is one Jimmy Lee who is a big cheese at J.P.Morgan Chase, the big gold derivatives traders – vice chairman, in fact. And he had sent out a memo to a thousand of his minions, a copy of which, not surprisingly, was forwarded Lucy. When she first saw it she was sure it was spoof. Private Eye has produced nothing of a similar standard for many a long year. But when she contacted the bank to check she found it was genuine. So genuine in fact that a lot of pressure was put on her not to write about it. Lucy Kellaway, however, is made of sterner stuff. As she says, she is a connoisseur of the internal memo and wanted to congratulate Jimmy Lee on writing one of the finest examples of the genre she had ever seen. Minews has not seen the memo which was sent out to celebrate J.P. Morgan Chase’s second Global Leadership Day, but apparently it kicked off with the following gem. “It is my core belief that there’s no leadership without followership.” As Lucy commented “It’s a core belief of mine too. I also believe that there is no night without day, no inside without outside, no Snickers without peanuts.” Instead of realising that he had achieved success by attracting attention to the first paragraph of his worthy memo and retreating to the bank, Jimmy Lee then took a further step into the mire. He went on to say that it was all about “leading from the heart” and set out four ways in which his colleagues could make good use of this vital organ. 1. Spend a minute this week helping someone at work who is having a hard time figuring out their job, or their life, or both. 2. Remind yourself that you work for one of the most storied and recognisable companies in the history of banking…. You are lucky. You work for a great company. We have a great CEO. Count your blessings. 3. Call a client and tell them you love them – that we are there for them- that we are in this for the longer term, not the next bit of business – for the duration – for ever. They won’t forget you made this call. 4. Call a friend or family member who maybe isn’t as fortunate as you and share some of your optimism and hope with them. It will be good for both of you. Without bothering to point out to the great man that there are no such words as ‘followership’ or ‘storied’ Lucy Kellaway responded to each of these patronising and humiliating suggestions with a light and deft touch. Yes, she knew someone at the F.T. going through a messy divorce. They had not discussed such matters before, but she would put aside a minute to sort him out. Yes, the recipients of the memo should indeed count their blessings that they were still in employment, unlike so many of their former colleagues. Yes, she could imagine her reaction as a client of the bank getting the following telephone call. "Hi! Jimmy here from JP Morgan Chase. How are you? Look erm, I just called to say that I, er, love you. Really, I do. This is a very long term thing for me. My feeling for you is for ever." As to the fourth instruction from vice- chairman Lee, Ms Kellaway suggests that such a call would go down really well with someone working at McDonalds. She then compliments him on his sign-off : “When we say JP Morgan Chase – you say PRIDE.”as being world class, before moving on to question why Jimmy Lee’s underlings tried to prevent this inspirational message reaching a wider public. And this is where she moves in for the kill.with the question. "Could it be," Lucy Kellaway asks, "that they thought that if your competitors got hold of your unique philosophy of followership, they would copy it and you'd lost your competitive advantage? Or maybe they thought everyone would die laughing."