Hold for Arrival: Gleason’s Trunk

Posted by jlubans on February 03, 2022

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Caption: “And Away We Go”, Jackie Gleason’s signature shtick.

Speaking of Lady Fortune, Jackie Gleason, a famed American comedian and actor, had a unique way of dealing with the ups and downs in his show biz career.
We are told that not long after making it big on TV and Broadway in the early 50s a friend observed Gleason packing a variety of tailored clothes into a battered old trunk.
When asked what he was doing Gleason had this to say: “Right now, I’m supposed to be playing burlesque in the Adams Theater in Newark,”
That made no sense; born in 1916, he’d knocked around show biz, vaudeville and burlesque houses for 35 years but now his name was in lights on Broadway. He’d made it!
Well, Mr. Gleason knew Lady Luck could knock him off Fortune’s wheel just like she could keep him on top.
Gleason explained that “if not for his run of unanticipated good luck, he might very well still be working in burlesque houses. He remained the same person even if he was now a coast-to-coast star.”
So, just in case (JIC), he sent that trunk across the Hudson River to Newark, with the tag: “Jackie Gleason, Hold for Arrival.”
His trunk was a pragmatic way of preparing in good times for the hard times lurking just around the corner.
If his luck ran out and he was back introducing strippers in a dilapidated burlesque theater, he’d be a well-dressed Master of Ceremonies, waiting for the next spin of the wheel.
Mr. Gleason stayed on top until his death in 1987,
There’s a country western song about life’s ups and down: “Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug”.
Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines based at Love Field in Dallas Texas no doubt heard that song while sipping his favorite adult beverage, Wild Turkey bourbon. His personal philosophy: “We figure there’s going to be at least two crises in every decade, and we’d better be ready for them. My slogan has always been, ‘We manage in good times so that we’ll do well in bad times.’”
It was his caution (and millions in JIC lines of credit) that had Southwest the first airline back in the sky after 9/11.
It’s not easy, this anticipation of bad times a’comin’.
When you’re on top, everything is looking rosy, the bluebird of happiness is flying over ever greener pastures, so why bother? Good times are here again, goes the song.
Remember Gleason’s trunk. Don’t wait until a crisis; you and the organization should take the time to think about what you will need to see you through and beyond.

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And, don’t forget Lubans' book on democratic workplaces, Leading from the Middle

© Copyright text by John Lubans 2022

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