Good Morning,
I am sorry that I missed the Wardens
meeting at
We will soon have a new
Communications Director. He is Josh Gelinas, formerly the Aiken Bureau Chief for
the Augusta Chronicle. Josh will be your point of contact for getting out good
news about your institutions/divisions. I look forward to having this long
needed position up and running. We will provide more information after Josh is
on board.
As we move forward with several
significant efforts to improve and become a better agency, here is a reminder:
if we do the right thing, good morale will take care of
itself.
Keep pushing forward. I know of no
better way to generate opposition than choosing the right instead of choosing
the convenient. In any organization, some folks are fairly reliable barometers
for whether or not we have chosen the right. I call them the ‘low morale crowd.’
They are a small percentage and they do not represent 90% of any good
organization: the silent majority.
This silent majority is the real
morale crowd. Their morale is good because they are mission focused and moving
forward. And, they appreciate any effort to do the
same.
Much good is
sacrificed on the alter of good morale. I recall a prison system that received a
recommendation to begin searching all staff at the front
gates.
Immediately,
the cries of ‘low morale’ came forth. I am sure that calls went forth to
representatives and other politicians. Those politicians pandered to the vocal
few
and fought
against the recommendation. The recommendation was not followed. The families of
the victims will never know whether or not front gate entry searches
would have
prevented the disaster that followed when a gun was introduced into one of those
prisons.
The ‘low
morale crowd,’ that small but vocal percentage, will always be with us and they
will always complain about progress. In this or any organization, they
complain to
anyone who will listen: fellow employees, family, friends, politicians and the
media. They are full of criticism and void of ideas. They provide endless
streams of
information, but very little truth. They are full of conspiracy theories,
because they see themselves as the center of the universe for everyone. They
believe
themselves
to be the most wise and the most competent people in the organization: For these
reasons, they often firmly believe in their theories
and
misinformation, regardless of the
facts.
When I get their complaints via
anonymous letters, lawmakers, etc., I do two things. First, I look to see if
there is any truth or legitimacy to the complaint. If so, I address it
appropriately. Second, I generally marvel at the time, effort and
self-absorption represented by the complaint. I have seen, literally, pages of
misinformation put forth at great effort and with great passion. I often remark
that if these folks put one-tenth of the effort into their jobs that they put
into obsessing over the jobs of others, they would be the most successful folks
on the planet.
Keep moving forward. One way to know
that we are moving forward is to hear the familiar chorus of complaints from the
familiar places. Often, that chorus assures me that someone out there is doing
something right. It lets me know that we are focused on what is best for the
organization: we are focused on our mission and moving forward.
Have a Great
Week!
.
.