Me and General Jones

It was some time in the 80’s. I was invited to be an opening session speaker at a YPO meeting in Aspen Colorado. The YPO is the Young Presidents Organization. It’s membership is made up of presidents or CEO’s under age 40 with companies doing over a million dollars. They come together once a year in what is called a “University” to expose the youngin’s to any new ideas that might help their development. Got it?

I had participated in a few of these Universities to explain the new ways that managers might work with their employees. My subject matter included getting along with unions, how worker participation can boost the bottom line, and managing self managing work teams. This invitation to Aspen was the first time I was asked to participate as an opening day presenter. My subject was about new developments in how to manage a more participatory work place. (I am reconstructing all of this from memory so forgive me if I miss some details.)

I arrived in Aspen the day before the meeting started and ended up with a severe altitude headache. The local doctor suggested I get out of the altitude. He did give me something to get me through my presentation. I hadn’t paid much attention to the opening session until that morning over coffee. I looked at the program and sure enough there was the name of the opening speaker, General Jim Jones, Commander of NATO. As I remember it his subject was something about an adequate defense policy. Keep in mind this was still very much the cold war era.

My God, I thought to myself, how am I going to compete with this guy all tucked out with ribbons and all. This is one of those numerous situations in life when one asks himself the question, “how did I ever get into this”? I thought maybe I could just be sick and leave. No, I never liked playing chicken. So I decided to go ahead with the speech I had planned.

General Jones turned out to be a far better speaker than I figured a General could be. His talk revolved around the importance of a national defense policy with a strong emphasis on our relations with the NATO countries. I was surprised by the intensity of the question answer period. The Young Presidents had a real interest in what was going on in the rest of the world and that was beginning to eat into my allotted time. I thought, “Oh well, you don’t get four star Generals too often at meetings, so these folks really are intrigued with him,” and in some ways so was I. He was forthright, acknowledged what he didn’t know, and repeatedly emphasized the importance of diplomacy as a better approach than a shooting war.

After the Generals standing ovation and a short intermission, I was introduced as the author of “Ten Thousand Working Days” and “a guy who knows a lot about work from the shop floor up.” Recognizing the fact that I was just a guy from the Bronx, and feeling like a Karaoke singer who was just asked to follow Elvis Presley, I shared some of my union vs. company “war experiences” with them. That got a solid laugh. I figured “Okay, I can get through this”.

I spoke of the many new labor management developments that were playing out at the time--quality circles, self managing work teams, employee ownership, and the development of democratic workplaces. All of which was nicely received. There was an extensive question and answer period during which time I noticed that the General had stayed for the whole session. That was another one of those eye opening moments when you realize that your prejudices just caused you to underestimate a person. Happened to me on any number of occasions. (Including a meeting with Senator Taft of Taft Hartley fame.)

After the session concluded to a polite applause, the General made a point of shaking my hand. He said he had really learned a lot from what I had to say and thought at least some of the ideas I spoke of could be applied to the military.

General Jim Jones is Barack Obama’s nominee for National Security advisor.

Thank you Kate N.H.W.Y.