Details Details Details

Driving to work today I saw in large letters under a Dunkin Donuts sign, "ICE TEA." Seems harmless enough. Except for that fact that it's iced tea. Minor detail, right? I thought to myself, it's just Dunkin Donuts. That got me thinking however what that missing detail communicates about that "food" retailer. It's the ability to pay attention to detail that makes for good service and good products. Does anybody really care anymore?

This issue is much larger than Dunkin Donuts ice tea. The inability to mind such a visible detail suggests that the management at this location is also missing a lot of other details. When you're talking about something you're meant to put into your mouth, you don't want to imagine to what failing to pay attention may lead.

Someone I know has suggested that there is a real leadership issue in our culture. Nobody wants to accept the responsibility to lead. So, how about leading by example? It seems this approach is also lacking appeal. The best example of this can be seen on tv news shows (I use shows because reports suggest journalism which, in turn, suggests journalistic integrity and integrity has nothing to do with advertising revenue). Over the past decade or so, television reporters have systematically abandoned their posts as leaders by example. These mockers of journalism have also been reduced to mockers of our very language.

Grammar may not seem important, because, at the end of the day it really doesn't put food on the table or pay the rent. The ability to communicate clearly, on the other hand, makes life easier for everyone. Plus, if you're up for a job against someone who can communicate better and more clearly than you but who is less qualified, do you really think you stand a chance? Well, that is food on the table and rent. Moreover, in a climate where people are abhorrent to offend anyone, the ability to articulate sounds like a genuine survival skill-- particularly for someone in the public eye.

It seems that less and less often, people in a position to make a difference are willing to accept the responsibility of their status to lead by example. From athletes to television personalities, any cheap trick for attention precedes, as they say in the vernacular, "representing." I can sum this up in two names: Paris and Britney.

There are of course, great exceptions to this decline. I have to give Oprah kudos for her work, her demeanor, her deportment (does anyone have a clue what this even is?) and her enthusiasm for promoting literature. Ironically, I cannot claim to be an Oprah fan. I do however respect her. She commands respect and more importantly, she teaches people about self respect. She makes it look so easy.

Recently, medical or statistical evidence of how having overweight or athletic friends directly influencing our weight and activity levels caused quite a stir. Why does anyone think that it stops with weight? How you present yourself gives people around you license to present themselves as well or as poorly. If you're in the spotlight, this is doubly true.

So to all of you celebs whether you're local tv personalities or film actors or musicians or athletes, try for one minute of every hour to consider your status as a leader. Remember that every time you appeal to the lowest common denominator, you're lowering the standards for everyone. And to all of you people who don't notice your employees are exemplifying ignorance in your signage, well, good luck with that.