(December 7, 2014) Below is an article by Ronald Williams, Jr. submitted for exclusive posting on PostalReporter.com

Dear Ms. Brennan:

Congratulations on your selection as the 74th Postmaster General (PMG). Your selection is extra special because you will be the first female at the helm of the United States Postal Service. First is forever, and that’s the way it will be written about you in the history books. Before we sip the juice, I wanted to drop you a line as a Blue employee. As PMG I expect your influence won’t be limitless, and you probably won’t be able to dive down to the street level and plug many holes. The practice of listening to opposing views will be essential for effective management. Keep honest, smart, and hardworking people in place to help you forecast and navigate whatever is over the horizon.

I symbolize the Paddle as a leadership metaphor to emphasize to you that I believe all levels of the organization are figurative river rapids. Sometimes operating conditions cause increases in water velocity and turbulence. In our business, when mail processing meets the 24-hour clock it can sometimes cause steep grades as we do our best to meet critical entry and clearance times on the way to delivery. The paddle might be recognized as an oar to others, but both terms have one thing in common, commitment to boat (organization) and crew (team). Teamwork is where the precision comes from. Often it is difficult to paddle through the situations unless everyone digs in. For the organization to be successful everyone must paddle. It will take craft, management, administrators, the goodwill of customers, and strong group leaders to guide all teams and build bridges across processes. Those who can’t relate to the paddle increase the burden on the others in the boat doing the work. It discourages the team, minimizes results, and slows the boat. Nothing will matter if we have the heart to succeed: not our shade of blue, not our education, not our bargaining status, not our ethic background, and surely not our middle class ranks.

Please encourage employees to adapt to the age we live in. Your postal address at L’Enfant Plaza is in a pretty big building and I hope you will frequently use some quiet time to step out onto the roof and glance over the panoramic view of USPS. While doing your big picture thinking don’t remain satisfied with what you already know. A renewed sense of urgency will require a mission of One Team, One Service. In this age of mail transport employee engagement will be critical if we are to thwart the real threat of competition, while focusing with laser-like detail on business-to-business collaboration. I’m thinking about Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, Uber, Lyft, FEDEX, UPS, Drones, and the many others industries constantly analyzing the marketplace and deploying technology to snoop on new opportunities, and guard against surprises. We already have the delivery infrastructure, and all other mail businesses in my opinion are auxiliary.

You must have the ability to see around corners. What will happen when mail slows down and facilities close? What will be the result of turning away existing customers? Surely inconvenient access will impact available services. Will small cuts lead to lacerations? Will you find a new competitive advantage when we lose revenue on a product?

Most recently on the floor employees are getting standup talks emphasizing Priority is the Priority. I say, “all mail is a priority, and Priority is still a Priority.” We must figure out how to efficiently deliver all classes of mail without trampling on the customers shipping dollars. A customer showed me their Priority Mail receipt for a recent transaction in San Diego, CA. They paid $5.75 for a Priority Flat Rate Envelope that was accepted on Tuesday 12/2/2014 in zone 92199 and it was delivered to zone 92123 on Thursday 12/4/2014. Priority Mail should have been across town the next day. It would be a safe bet to think that some First-Class letters, flats, and or parcels accepted at the same time were delivered before the higher priced Priority Mail. If I am a shipper using various classes of mail but charged more for slower service, I would consider demanding a refund, dropping high cost Priority shipping, or downgrading my mail to low cost First-Class rates for the same timeliness of delivery.

Drop in unannounced for a reality check of what is happening in the trenches. When you hit the workroom floor with your physical presence expect your oxygen mask to drop as you focus on the truths of what is happening at the base of the corporate pyramid. Problems down here must be solved without assigning blame. Our leaders can’t fool a floor worker. The floor worker knows when someone or something is not right, and when no action is taken to correct frontline problems. Employees working with a strap cutter in one hand and a stress ball in the other hand are also breakthrough productivity indicators you want to measure during visits to the trenches. Employees want senior leaders to see and hear about what is happening, then bigwigs get out of the way so the frontline can continue processing the people’s mail. When the bosses get back upstairs they are expected to work as hard to make sure employees have what they need to efficiently put in work.

Your legacy will no doubt be shared by your relationship with the employees first, and then the mail. The only people who easily welcome change are busy cashiers and babies with wet diapers. You will need mutual cooperation to move this large organization forward. The nature of our work is busy with deadline-oriented stressors making us feel blind folded, physically, mentally, and emotionally mutilated throughout all seasons but especially during peak season. Employees thrive on wanting to be kept in the loop with fresh up-to-date business information. Poor communication up and down the chain of command will prevent the real work from getting done. Promote the advantages of continuous employee training from the ground up to keep us ready to “deliver” or we will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential revenue. Keep the operational lines of communication open through daily briefings, feedback on performance, and regular hotwashing of impacts and outcomes.

Good luck Ms. Brennan as you continue to bind the nation, and grow the greatest Postal Service in the world.

Very Respectfully,

Ronald Williams, Jr.