The visiting ambassador

(Blogger's note: I wrote this early in the week but didn't get around to posting it until I was getting ready to leave Kankakee.)

This seems a bit strange.

I’m at the center of the deadline storm again, as dozens of writers, editors, photographers and designers flit around in the daily frenzy of putting out a newspaper.

It’s a place I’ve been often. It’s a place I’m comfortable and feel at one with the universe.

What’s different this time is that I’m not actually doing anything.

Oh sure, I’ve got plenty to fill my time. I spent half of yesterday meeting with staffers at the Kankakee newspaper, and it’s taken most of this morning to catch up on writing notes from my sessions. Also, I’ve had a few follow-up talks today and have sat down with an editor for nearly an hour.

But now it’s deadline, which is my time to slip away and get some logistical stuff done while the daily miracle is immaculately conceived.

So this is consulting. It’s about what I expected, except there isn’t quite the icy chill of resentment among the staff I’m visiting. In fact, they’ve been pretty receptive, likely because Rich has spent the past year softening them up to the readership efforts we’re pushing.

Up until the moment I walked into the newspaper, I was holding off any predictions on what I would actually do here. I felt that preparing a presentation or building up expectations would be a waste, since I’ve never really done this before.

What I found was a staff that was ready to improve and generally confident in the readership goals, but they were, like all journalists, exhausted by the thought of constant change.

While I’ve done a little coaching, I have mostly spent my time being a sounding board for the reporters and editors who have sat down with me. A few are defensive, but most are just caught up in their unique frustrations and want to gripe about it to someone from outside.

At times I’ve felt like a psychiatrist, especially when I say, “That’s a good question. What do you think?” At the same time, I’m fighting my natural desire to constantly interject my own ideas for how to solve a problem. It’s not the world’s easiest balance, and to be honest, it sometimes makes me feel lazy. But I’m here for a whole week, so I’m sure it’s best to let people warm up to me a bit before I sound like I’m telling them how to do their jobs.

Hey, at least I haven’t been run out of town yet.