Paul Harvey died this weekend. There are any number of finely worded obituaries you can read about the man whose “rest of the stories” and “good days” punctuated the breakfast tables of my childhood. What I think should be noted is that this 90-year old, who was often cited as the oldest living radio personality and one of the most effective pitchmen ever, was really quite progressive. It occurred to me as I thought back on his show that Paul Harvey was blogging before there were blogs. His daily news and comments with segues to commercial content, all packaged by his folksy delivery — you could have transcribed it and probably have had a great blog but you’d have missed the author’s voice and unmistakable inflection. Plus he respected advertising, famously quipping, “I am fiercely loyal to those willing to put their money where my mouth is.” Good day, indeed.

Our first client was/is a Cadillac dealership. On the wall of one of their conference rooms is a framed document with advertising copy in it. Yep, ad copy. A copywriter’s dream come true — that their words would live on, framed inside conference rooms across the nation. But this is not just any pedestrian copy (I can say that as a copywriter myself). “The Penalty of Leadership” was a legendary Cadillac print ad that ran once in 1915 in the Saturday Evening Post. The words were crafted by Theodore MacManus and they never specifically mention Cadillac.

In 1967 Cadillac revived the campaign by sending scrolls of the copy to customers nationwide, including Elvis Presley. The King so identified with these words, he framed them and hung them up on the walls of Graceland where they still reside today.

Maybe I’m just being sentimental as I’m in the midst of reading The King of Madison Avenue, hearkening back to the long, descriptive, and often poetic ads of David Ogilvy, but copy like this is wonderful. It not only sings but it sells. And not just a car but a lifestyle — an ethos. It paints a picture so clear and vivid in a day where there the only tools for doing so were carefully scribed words on the printed page — long before the colored lights of television and all of the new media that has followed.

Here is the ad, in its entirety.

THE PENALTY OF LEADERSHIP

In every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work. In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction. When a man’s work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. If his work be mediocre, he will be left severely alone – if he achieves a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a-wagging. Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting. Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build, no one will strive to surpass or to slander you unless your work be stamped with the seal of genius. Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious, continue to cry out that it cannot be done. Spiteful little voices in the domain of art were raised against our own Whistler as a mounteback, long after the big would had acclaimed him its greatest artistic genius. Multitudes flocked to Bayreuth to worship at the musical shrine of Wagner, while the little group of those whom he had dethroned and displaced argued angrily that he was no musician at all. The little world continued to protest that Fulton could never build a steamboat, while the big world flocked to the river banks to see his boat steam by. The leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy – but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant. There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as human passions – envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing. If the leader truly leads, he remains – the leader. Master-poet, master-painter, master-workman, each in his turn is assailed, and each holds his laurels through the ages. That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live – lives.

Last week at the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet, former UI president David Skorton was asked how his love of jazz has influenced him. “You don’t know what’s going to happen but you have to improvise to find your way through it – like in the current economy. We don’t know how it’s going to end but we have to try something.”

As a trained theatrical improviser myself (long story for another post) I can tell you that I have always felt that improvisational skills strangely translate to the business world. Being on stage without a script or sheet music to follow brings terror but also a certain calm if handled correctly. The secret, as Dr Skorton described, is that you have to jump in and keep an open mind. On stage the golden rule is to say ‘yes’ to others’ ideas as it always keeps the story moving forward.

Now more than ever it seems that folks are being called on to improvise. In our world of careful analysis and review, many are shell-shocked because the playbook has been chucked out the window. Even the experts are flummoxed (see current debate over stimulus plan). What we need is action. Management guru Tom Peters is fond of saying that we need a “bias toward action.” His “Ready – Fire – Aim!” philosophy asks us to throw something up on the wall and see what sticks. If it doesn’t work, we know that much and can try something else. FYI – Tom didn’t say this in response to the current economy. He said it 16 years ago.

Someone else with words of wisdom in dealing with a struggling economy was Franklin Delano Rooselvelt, who famously said: “It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”

Finally, we should all heed the advice of Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher: “We have a strategic plan. It’s called doing things.” Amen, Herb. We can and will get through this. But we cannot be paralyzed by it. Above all, we must remember to try something.

Photo credits – foreverdigital (Skorton), Flanders DC (Peters), Public Domain (FDR), JC Howes (Kelleher)

Henry Ford once said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” Like Henry, the 25,000 car dealers here at NADA are here to keep their minds young – which is even more important as we face new media and an economy more challenging than ever.

It’s not just the dealers, though. If you look at the habits of successful people, we all know that they are lifelong learners. On Saturday Ford CEO Alan Mulally addressed the group and talked about his career change a couple years ago when he joined Ford after a storied career at Boening. Airplanes he knew; cars not so much the CEO humbly said. So what did he do? It’s pretty simple. He called up some of his dealers and went to work on the showroom floor selling cars. I say simple but I think that this is a pretty impressive and humbling act and shows that Alan is at least working at keeping his mind young.

Every business has a story to tell.