TONE AND HABIT: January 2009

When US Airways Flight 1549 belly-flopped in the Hudson River, you had to be moved by the story, even watching for the 10th time on CNN. Everyone lived. It was good news, and this is one of those years when we need to hear more good news.

The mind likes to make metaphors, so it was easy to find a little parable of America in the "Miracle on the Hudson." America's economy is on a not-so-graceful glide path down. We hit a few geese — toxic mortgages, credit derivatives, etc. — and they mangled the jet engines of our financial system. Maybe we all went a little crazy with the borrowing, and now we're losing altitude.

Things will be OK, I think. This is a great country, and we're a great people. We'll stay afloat, use our heads, watch out for each other, and take care of the children first. You might take a moment and ask yourself, what you are personally going to do to help?

Here's what a few of the people on Flight 1549 did:

A man sent his wife a text message that read, "Planes on fire love you and the kids." A young woman gave a soft kiss to her fiance. When things look bad, you remember what is most important.

A man sitting in the exit row did exactly what a man in his position is supposed to do: He read the safety card instructions for the exit door and figured out how to open it.

The Airbus A320 did what it was designed to do — it floated. The crew activated a special ditching switch that sealed the valves and ventilation ports, making a watertight seal and giving people time to get out. Thank the manufacturers and the engineers for that, because they didn't have to make the plane that way. It probably cost more, but it was the right way to make it.

People were nervous after the landing, maybe close to panic, but they took care of each other. A mother cradling her 9-month-old son struggled over seatbacks trying to get to the exit, until someone shouted "Get the baby out!' and a man picked them both up in a bear hug and hustled them to the door.

They weren't all heroic, but they pulled together. One woman tried to get her luggage out of the overhead compartment until someone dissuaded her. One man lugged his garment bag out onto the wing with him. There was plenty of elbowing out on those cold wings, but when the New York Waterway ferries arrived, people made sure the children got on board first.

They had the right leader in the pilot's seat, too. As his passengers moved to the wings, Capt. Chesley Sullenberger III walked the aisles of the sinking plane to make sure none was left behind. As they boarded the boats, he held a metal clipboard and ticked off the names on the manifest, using the wheelhouse radio to get a count from the other vessels. A newspaper account described him later standing calmly in a waiting room at the New York Waterway terminal, gray hair unruffled, the tie of his navy blue pilot's uniform still straight.

It's a good parable, the Miracle on the Hudson, so I'm hoping that the national media will be riding this story for a while longer. Capt. Sullenberger should overcome his natural modesty and talk to us, because our leaders need role models like him. America should reflect on this story, because it's a parable that might teach us a little about how we get through the next couple years.

America's economy has lost 2.6 million jobs. We're running on a deficit of a trillion dollars. National Economic Council Director Larry Summers admitted Sunday on "Face the Nation" that the economy is probably going to decline for some time to come, no matter what we do.

It would be too easy right now to hunker down and say "I got mine, you worry about yours," and trample the weak. That reaction would be, maybe, our easy instinct.

I don't think we'll react that way. We're good people, and we're Americans. If things get worse, we'll know what to do, just like the passengers and crew of Flight 1549.

Originally published in the Tallahassee Democrat at http://tallahassee.com/article/20090120/OPINION05/901200311/1006/OPINION

If there is a book for communications professionals to read in 2009, and read again and again, it is Peggy Noonan’s Patriotic Grace: What It Is and Why We Need It Now. “Being able to persuade, to explain, to elucidate, and to lead truthfully, matters,” Noonan writes, and bless her for reminding us.

Noonan’s book, published before the outcome of the 2008 election had been decided, is an argument for greater unity in a nation that is facing turmoil. It’s a call for calm, wisdom and maturity, and a roadmap for credible and effective governance.

We’ll be inaugurating a new president soon, and he’ll be leading a nation that is still divided in thought and spirit. I’ll be learning from what he says and how he says it, because the content and manner of his communication will inspire many to heroism, just as it will infuriate many others.

Watch the effects on people, and make note of the emotional triggers for their varied reactions, because there will be lessons for you in how you communicate in similar situations. We’re not all responsible for leading a nation, but your business, city or neighborhood can be just as divided and difficult. The simple lesson, too often forgotten: we are stronger when we work together.

Noonan writes, “So: we have much to do. And it all starts with a greater civility, a greater respect, both a higher – and deeper – tone to our political conversation.”

We can start today.