BOOK REVIEW: Coffee with Cleo by Cleophus P. Franklin, Jr.

I just read a fantastic book by the one and only Cleophus (Cleo) Franklin Jr. It's a collection of stories and parables, filled with wisdom. Insights from his family (both older and younger) as well as his own accounts of overcoming and growing throughout a life well-lived.

The book begins with a quote from Shakespeare, "No legacy is so rich as honesty."

And that's the perfect beginning; as I should disclose that Cleo was my boss a lifetime ago when I was a territory manager at John Deere. I found that quote to be perfectly fitting; and it hints as to why Cleo and I liked each other from the start. For better or worse, we're naturally transparent people.That makes it easy to get to know somebody.

I was barely into the first chapter, when I had to laugh when I read "Simply put, I am not a patient man." I laughed because I also think that Cleo and I share this struggle!

But more importantly, it reminds me of an event that endeared me to Mr. Franklin early on. ...but I have to provide a little context to fully explain why this was so meaningful to me.

Prior to my John Deere era, my first job after college was at Converse. Yes, the shoe company. While there, on a performance review, I was given a stinging remark that I did not accept and will never forget. It read something like this, "One problem with Scott is that he always looks too laid back. Maybe it's like a duck paddling more beneath the surface but he certainly doesn't look like he's working hard at times."

I was angry. I can promise you that I was working hard; and I had the results to prove it. I had initiated engineering projects that saved millions of dollars that made my tiny salary seem like quite a good investment. But for some reason, instead of talking numbers, my boss was slapping my wrist, in an official HR document... and not for performance... but for my personality. As a young person in their early 20's, I was being told that my personality wasn't suited for the professional world. Leaving me with a decision, do I change to fit in?

Fast forward about seven years or so, and Cleo is my boss at John Deere. I was a territory manager covering the state of Tennessee. In addition to sales, we were also being measured on how well our John Deere dealers were contacting customers for product recalls. As I was frustrated by my dealers' reluctance to do this well, I actually ramped up a system of sending letters to the customers myself for my territory. Mail merges, hundreds of letters, sent out on a regular basis. Once I worked out my system, I took it further - and worked with my fellow territory managers (who also worked for Cleo) to send letters to their dealers as well - all across the southeastern US. Now, we were talking thousands of letters.

Around this time, Cleo visited with me for the first time to make the rounds with my dealers. We traveled the state and visited with the interesting cast of characters that my dealers certainly were. We were able to discuss my letter campaign, and the percent of customers across the southeast who had received their recalls had increased from 70% to 99%. Not too shabby.

When we had our next meeting with all our territory managers, Cleo just starts laughing in the middle of the meeting. He then told our group, "I've just traveled with Mr. Burleson. I don't know how many of you guys really know him, but he's aggressive as hell!"

This was more than a compliment. Because he had taken the time to get to know me as a person, he understood my effort and intentions. He appreciated the results. And it wasn't just that I just didn't have to change from an introvert to extrovert, but that I was appreciated for being who I was. Without knowing it, he had answered the question that had bothered me since that stinging performance review comment from years earlier. I would not be altering my personality, nor would I apologize for it. It was a meaningful moment for me along my career path.

Here's what I hope to accomplish by telling this story. Just as I've shared a story of how Cleo personally helped me in my career, in "Coffee with Cleo", he tells similar stories about the sources of his own inspiration, which I very much enjoyed. He shared stories bout those people that we all have, those who've helped us along the way. And it's a fine tribute to them all.

I highly recommend "Coffee with Cleo." Find it on on Amazon here.

Also: I can confirm that he has the quickest trigger on a jump shot that I've ever seen. On one of our trips with our regional territory managers, we found ourselves on a basketball court. I told Cleo that if I knew him during his college playing days, I would have nicknamed him the "Truth!"