Success Requires a Team Effort

I get a huge kick out of the emails I receive in response to this column every week. Some weeks I get a lot; other weeks, not so much. The responses are all over the board. Some are one-word wonders. Others are pretty thoughtful reflections on whatever I’ve written, or corrections where someone thinks I’ve gotten it wrong. I’m happy to say that I get a fair number of pats on the back; but I also get some not-so-gentle push-backs. That’s OK. I have thick skin. I can take it.

Some people send personal anecdotes. Many of the responses are downright humorous.

Last week’s post about JeffCoin! netted me a logo from Jeff Bank (a community institution in upstate New York, it turns out) and a quarter with my face pasted on it (a surprise waiting in my office on Monday morning).

I really appreciate that people spend the time to read this column and that they make the effort to reach back to me when one of my posts strikes a chord, whether they agree with me or not. It was my hope when I started writing almost a year-and-a-half ago that it would be another way to connect with our clients and friends of the Firm, and I am grateful that it has turned out that way.

In the beginning, it was easy. As a matter of fact, the first column was actually written by a ghost writer. But then I realized, if this was actually going to be my Thoughts of the Week, I’d better be the one whose ideas they were and in whose voice they are written, so from Week Two on I took it upon myself to figure out what to write about and to write it.

Some weeks are easier than others. Whether it’s news, economics, family or something at Marcum, the topic is easy and the words just flow. And some weeks my schedule allows more time than others to actually think and write. Other weeks, major “writer’s block” sets in, as it did today. I’m still writing at 7AM, way past my Thursday night deadline. And other times I email my editor Julie and say HELP! I have no ideas and you have to bail me out, and she does. This was one of those weeks.

So Julie started this column last night, and when I woke up this morning it was me editing her for a change. But in the end, it’s a great collaboration.

So, with April 15 just around the corner and time running out on Busy Season 2014, I will use this week to say thank you for reading and to tip my hat to those who make getting this done on a weekly basis seem easy.

First to Julie Gross-Gelfand, thank you, thank you, thank you. When I write, you make it readable; when I’m stuck, you figure it out. And to Chris Pelosi, our Director of Online Marketing, whose job it is to take what we create and then get it in a format that is ready to be distributed every Friday at 10AM NY time, thank you, too. Chris would have liked this column last night, but when he gets in this morning he will take what should be a three hour process and get it done in far less time, making it seem much easier than it actually is.

I’ve always said business is a team sport, and with something that I thought would be a simple and fun thing to do, it has truly turned into a team effort. Thank you, team!