Posted by Victoria Trabosh on Sun, Aug 29, 2010 @ 01:17 PM
Lesson #2 (1 through 10) 2010
What good can come from McDonald's? Does anyone YOU KNOW ever win those contests?!
Not that I don't try, but I'm always skeptical. Recently, I went to McDonald's for a quick meal. And no one does it quicker than McDonald's. I know better than to eat those sandwiches but my judgment to get a salad was swayed by the TASTE THE GLORY contest going on this past June/July during the World Cup.
Bought the Big Mac - enjoyed it tremendously (read my previous Part 1 of this blog if you're horrified and repulsed). But truly bought it because of the contest. I've never won anything at McDonald's but my reasoning told me that it didn't mean I couldn't win in the future!
I peeled the little 'Taste the Glory' sticker off and texted the required information. And received the most amazing text back: YOU WON A 32 INCH FLAT SCREEN TV.
Wonderful - but then began the difficulty. I couldn't register on my Blackberry. And when I returned to my office, I again wasn't allowed to register.
I called McDonald's 3 times over 2 weeks - always receiving the promise the technical department would get back to me. It didn't happen. So I decided to test the power of social media.
As painful as it was to turn on a company that had given me one of the best business lessons I've ever received (see part 1) I was furious.
And so I tweeted: @McDonalds we do it all for you? (NOT) -nothing from your support team about my sony TV win.& I thought just the fat content was bad!
A few of those types of messages (find me on Twitter @vhtrabosh) and @ Kty_McD showed up offering to help. She was an intern at McDonald's and said she'd find me someone to solve my problem.
Janice from McDonald's marketing group called. And she walked me through the process. I was told the TV would be shipped in 4-6 weeks.
Two weeks ago, a 32" Sony Flat Screen TV showed up at our home.
So what are the TOP 10 pieces of wisdom from this story (by way of some of their slogans through the years)?
1. 1992: What you get is what you want: Social media can be a powerful tool which can get you results.
2. 1976: You, you're the one: @Kty_McD is a terrific addition to McDonald's.
3. 1990: Food, folks and fun: People do win these contests and you could be the one to win it.
4. 1984: It's a good time for the great taste of McDonald's: Eating at McDonald's is not a bad thing - in fact, it's quite tasty and beneficial.
5. 1990: McDonald's - It can happen: Don't give up if at first it appears you can't win - do everything in your power and then choose to walk away if you can’t succeed.
6. 2000: We love to make you smile: Great customer service always makes a difference.
7. 1975: We do it all for you: Interns sometimes have a greater passion than the suits - and we can all learn from dedicated employees, no matter their status in the company.
8. 2003: I'm lovin' it: If you succeed in a tough situation, make sure you share the good news as readily as you did the bad.
9. 1975: We do it all for you: McDonald's is a great company. They've survived through bad press, poor decisions, complicated contests and underlying it all, must have had strong leadership at the top. Every great company goes through tough times - but great companies never stop trying.
10. 2007: Things that make you go 'mmm': McDonald's is a company that I'd like to know more about. I would enjoy coaching leaders in this company.
Never give up on your dreams. Obstacles can be overcome. And be appropriately appreciative of the people that help you along the way.
Posted by Victoria Trabosh on Mon, Jul 05, 2010 @ 01:44 PM
Did you ever as a teenager have a job that changed your life? A job, that as look back on it was like a great teacher in high school, and realize you’re better for having gone through the experience? McDonald's was that teacher and recently taught me another lesson.
Lesson #1 - 1973
I turned 16 and applied for my dream job – a counter person at McDonald's on State Street in Ft. Wayne Indiana. I got the job and after two weeks of doing a GREAT job, turned in my resignation. I was used to receiving praise for a job well done (thanks Mom and Dad). But our McDonald's was very busy – huge crews, great camaraderie – but not a lot of one on one with the managers. And I was certainly (by my estimation) not appreciated for my hard work. Huge disappointment. And quitting seemed to be the solution.
When I told my manager Sobi I was quitting he said, “Why are you leaving?” I said, “No one has told me that I’m doing a great job.” He gave me a deadpan look and said, “Let’s go clean LOT AND LOBBY” ehh. Back then, we had 3 sayings:
- If you’ve got time to gripe, you’ve got time to wipe.
- If you’ve got time to lean you’ve got time to clean.
- Double folding is our bag. (if that’s a bit harder to understand – go get a meal and see if your bag is double folded….I fear it may not be….)
Clearly Sobi was engaging in #1 and #2 of our sayings. No standing around at our McDonalds! As we began to pick up trash in the lot, he said, “Do you think you’re doing a good job?” “I do!” I responded. He looked at me and said, “Vicky, if you spend your whole life waiting for people to tell you that you’ve done a good job you’re not going to get very far in the world. Sometimes people are too busy or they don’t want to tell you. If you let that stop you, that will be your fault, not theirs.”
I seriously took that to heart and realized I could become someone through hard work or wait to become someone because someone else said I was good enough. I’ve opted for knowing myself more than waiting for another to tell me. I’ve also learned to tell others when they’ve done a terrific job.
I stayed at McDonald's and saved enough to go to Purdue in January 1976. I was part of the All American Team. I was a Swing Shift supervisor. And I took everything good from the company that was offered.
I’ve never lost my taste for McDonalds – literally and figuratively. And yes, I know that fat content is high….but did you know a little fat makes for a shiny coat??!
Though I never worked at McDonald's again, I’ve eaten there regularly over the years. Secretly “shopped” the store and looked critically at what was happening (I still do this!) Fretted about the bad reputation they’ve acquired over different issues, watched Supersize Me in horror, and from time to time sworn off their delicious but fatty food. I bought and retain my McDonald's stock. STILL wear my Ronald McDonald watch that I won in 1977, have all my original plush characters, and generally support them.
As I travel the world, I always find the local McDonald's from Australia to Italy to Russia to Israel.
You now know it’s dear to my heart. And my psyche. In the last couple of weeks my faith was shaken in this great organization but it has been restored. More soon.
Posted by Victoria Trabosh on Sun, Dec 27, 2009 @ 02:30 PM
My work in Rwanda has changed my life. The Itafari Foundation and its work are a
gift and a challenge.
My perspective on
what is possible, the true meaning of the strength of the human spirit, my understanding
of inhumanity and its consequences: these ideas are no longer esoteric. (Though I still know so little). But I also clearly know that if we choose to
step out, before we are “ready”, we can accomplish the extraordinary.
This morning in the New York Times Magazine, the profiles
were the stories of people who died in 2009 who changed the world in one way or
another. I was reading about the passing
of Alison Des Forges in February 2009 as written by Elizabeth Rubin.
In the 1980’s Des Forges joined Africa Watch and was one of the first to warn
of the coming cataclysm in Rwanda. Her
personal friends died in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. While she tried to warn the U.S., the Europeans,
and the U.N., her voice was faint in warning in comparison to the world’s
conversation that the genocide was an African problem. She must have suffered deeply knowing she was
unable to force a world to turn and look upon its rwandan brothers and sisters.
After the genocide she continued her work in Rwanda. When the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda was established, she traveled back and forth to the court in Arusha,
Tanzania to serve as an expert witness and strategist for the prosecutors. A five foot lion of a woman. And one of whom I had not heard except in
context to her book Leave None to Tell
the Story: Genocide in Rwanda –
Human Rights Watch et FIDH – 1999 – ISBN 1-56432-171-1.
Her comments were equally critical of all sides,
including the Rwandan Patriotic Front which overthrew the genocidal leaders and
went on to establish a stronger more peaceful country. Her criticism lead to her twice being refused
entrance into the country. I understand the
reasons by the Rwandan government and yet know that the result of her work has
helped Rwanda in the long run.
The same can be said of the movie Hotel Rwanda. It turned out (sadly) that Paul Rusesabagina was
not the man portrayed in the movie, yet the movie led to a great awareness of
the genocide. The movie allowed all of
us to look back on the horror that was partially created through our lack of
action. And because of that, I have no
criticism of the portrayal at the time.
So I do what I know I must do. Take the best, and leave the rest. Des Forges was not perfect. The movie was unknowingly flawed in its
portrayal of an ordinary man. Yet, we
cannot ignore what comes from extraordinary efforts to change the world.
Instead of dismissing someone or something in its
entirety, we should continue to have conversation. Enlighten those who are in the dark. Thank those who take a lonely stand. Be thoughtful in our approach to what is
foreign to us. And know we must never
give up on what we are most passionate about.
We must never believe that we can’t make a difference. That it’s too hard. That no
one cares.
That no one cares. Impossible in its logic. If you care, that is enough.
I enter 2010 with a renewed sense of what is
possible. 2009 was a very tough
year. I was unable to go to my beloved
Rwanda. Yet our work continued unabated
through the Itafari Foundation. Good and
compassionate people stepped up to make a difference. I am also blessed to call some of some of the
finest people I have ever known my friends, though they live 10,000 miles from
me.
Happy New Year. Be renewed.
Set impossibly high goals – and then work (not hope) to reach them. Can you imagine what the new year can bring? I can.
It will bring the extraordinary – and it will be accomplished by you and
me.
Posted by Victoria Trabosh on Sun, Nov 22, 2009 @ 01:35 PM
Four
soldiers. Three I know well. One I haven’t met, yet. They cover WWII, end of the Korean War,
peacetime for the United States in 1987 and now, the Iraq war.
My father, my
husband, my son, a soldier in Iraq.
Yesterday,
November 21, 2009 would have been the 86th birthday of my father. Yesterday, my
husband went with me to buy items to put in a care box that we would send to
Iraq. Yesterday, I called my son and
apologized for not sending him more care boxes to remind him of how much we
loved and missed him during his three years of service away from home. Yesterday, I baked in earnest and worried
about the tastiest of the cookies I would be sending to a soldier serving in
Iraq that is a stranger to me.
Soldier #1
My father
gloried war. His time in the Army during
WWII was truly the highlight of his life.
He suffered from diabetes in his later years which blinded him. He did an oral history of his entire life
which became a family book. In it, he
devoted 25% of the book to his time growing up in New York, less than 1% to his
family, his children and his marriages of 45+ years, and about 74% to his time
in the service. When he proudly handed
me the book, I began to read it and exclaimed to him, “Are you kidding
me??? A few paragraphs to Mom and your
three children???” Slightly embarrassed
he took it back and added a few more lines.
His life history was more defined by his time in the service than
anything else that ever happened to him.
Soldier #2
In 1957, my
husband enlisted in the Marines. Meeting
him in 1980 gave me a totally different perspective on what it meant to serve
in the armed forces. The few. The proud.
The Marines. While my Dad loved
to talk about being a soldier and killing and patriotism, John’s ability to
serve and the way he discussed it have always been more about the duty and
respect he had for doing his job well, rather than glorifying himself or
war. His life is defined by a lifetime
of experiences, including his military service.
Soldier #3
In 1986 my
son (step) fulfilled his dream to join the Army with the intention of joining
the military police and eventually becoming a police officer. He was at Ft. Benning in Georgia. We missed him like crazy and I had every
intention of sending him boxes and boxes of cookies, favorite foods, silly
remembrances and lots of letters to remind him of how he was loved. And though he was deeply missed and loved by
us, you wouldn’t have known it by my expressions through the U.S. Mail
Service. Some letters, a couple of
boxes, but pathetically less than my most noble of intentions. His military experience shaped his life as
well and began his journey to work in law enforcement.
He called me
once from basic training to talk about a man who came to talk with them. This man wrote a book called “What a Soldier
Gives”. Tim insisted I read this book
and he sent it to me. The story was of
this man’s journey in the army during the height of the Vietnam War. What a soldier gave during the conflict. It was unflinching in its honesty and did not
glorify war. But the dignity of what
this man had given, at great personal cost, was evident. I was so moved, I wrote to the author, told
him the impression he’d made on my son.
And thanked him for his service.
His story and his wisdom stayed with me.
Soldier #4
And so
yesterday I baked cookies for a young man or woman who may not have anyone
sending them anything through the holidays.
My investment club of 20+ years has decided to support some soldiers
through one of the member’s connections.
Her nephew’s company in Iraq has soldiers in it that for whatever
reason, receive very little from family back home. So we’re “adopting” some of them for the
holidays.
We received a
list of items they need – from beef jerky to Tylenol, from socks to Q-tips. And of course goodies. Nothing says home like home baked
goodies!
John and I
were shopping yesterday, and while I was baking I remembered it was my Dad’s
birthday. I called Tim to tell him what
we were doing. And to apologize for not
being there for him in a way that would leave me with no regretful thoughts. He was gracious and happy we were doing
something for another soldier. But I did
tell him he was one of the reasons I felt compelled to help. That he deserved more then when he as a
soldier, and that if I could pay it forward, I needed to.
What a
soldier gives. None of this has to do
with my personal feelings about the conflicts our country is currently involved
in. It’s about remembering someone far
far from home that needs to know they are not alone. That what a soldier gives, is not wasted or
forgotten. And we need to bring them
home alive and well.
If you have
the opportunity, give back. Support
someone you love. Support a stranger in
honor of those you love. And know that what a solider gives can be honored by
what you do – even if their individual service is long past.
With luck and
good packing, our Christmas boxes will arrive intact. The cookies will not have crumbled. And a soldier will feel a little closer to
home.
Posted by Victoria Trabosh on Fri, Jul 03, 2009 @ 06:45 PM
You cannot bring about prosperity
by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the
strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage
payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class
hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot
keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot
build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and
independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they
could and should do for themselves. Abraham Lincoln
Do you lead from strength, courage, integrity
and insight? If so, continue on.
If not so much, reread what was written well
over 100 years ago. It's no less relevant, no less true, no less
important now than it was then.
Behavior matters. Make your behavior
matter in a way that matters to you. And even, dare I say it:
change the world. Happy 4th.