Letters

Welcome to Fall or, for those of us whose calendars are defined by baseball, welcome to The Off Season. Too bad it's come so early and will last so long.

A bit of explanation. The year, for baseball fans, is divided into 4 distinct seasons:

• Spring Training
  
• Baseball Season
  
• The Post Season
  
• The Off Season

Spring Training, where hope does, indeed, spring eternal, is mid-February through March. Baseball Season begins in early April. Its length depends on the prowess of one's team. For most, Baseball Season lasts into August or, if lucky, into September. If very lucky, it lasts to the end of September. For Cubs fans, it ends sometime in May. For Giants fans, it ended this year on September 24.

Then begins The Post Season, defined by October playoffs and Fox TV's insipid Joe Buck and the network's infuriating belief that a baseball game can be shown with a long string of closeups of fans praying. The Post Season culminates with the World Series.

If disgusted, a fan can move directly from Baseball Season to The Off Season. That's where I find myself. Sad, drained and wondering what-if.

Such is life of the baseball fan.

Speaking of letters from our readers (a whiplash-causing segue, to be sure), we offer the following:

Thank you for your column about 9/11. Being a New Yorker who saw the events first-hand, the photos you showed captured the day perfectly. I could almost smell the dust.

One part of 9/11 that I won't ever forget is how we slowly came back to reality. This shot of Mike Piazza says it all.

Thanks for keeping the memories alive.

Phil, New York


Your blog about companies trying to buy love was so true! My company does a lot of things to show us they care. We have all-staff meetings, company picnics, and holiday parties. But what matters most to many people here is when we get a personal note from our boss saying how much he appreciates what we're doing. It might only have a sentence or two, but it's hand-written. Nothing says 'I care about you' more than one of those notes.

Sarah, London


Here's something to share with your readers. (Do you actually have readers or am I the only one?) I work in an airport. I'm one of those people you might see in the terminal ready to help a traveler get from one place to another. My manager does a great thing. If she notices something any of us has done to really help a customer, she makes note of it and shares the story with our entire staff at our weekly staff meeting. Getting this recognition from her is more important (almost!) than getting a raise. (Don't tell her that. I need a raise!)

Jenny, Atlanta


Your blog about love at work was great! You are right about how important it is to be valued by your company. I work in a company in Santiago de Chile and it's the same here. I guess people are people wherever we live.

Pablo, Santiago


My manager doesn't have the first clue about how to make people feel valued. He's nice enough, but doesn't know how hard our jobs are. He also doesn't know why we struggle to get the work done. And then he's surprised when people leave.

David, Seattle


I would love to work for a real leader! You write about a leader having passion and having a vision. I've worked in banking for more than 20 years and have not yet seen a Real Leader. Can you please send us one?

Elizabeth, Boston


Our company has been floundering for the last few years. The economy is part of the reason. Our lack of leadership is another. We spend months planning. We're the best planners around! If there was an award for planning, we'd win it every year. Our problem is that we don't do a damn thing with our plans. We never start anything. No one ever says 'Go!' I hate it.

Michele, Toronto


You're a consultant, right? So you don't actually do anything, do you? Have you ever had to run a company? Make big bets and risk your reputation? Decide to invest in something you're not completely sure of? Lay people off?

Okay, so you have. Your bio says you've run businesses. Maybe you know what you're talking about. But let me make this clear: Leading is tough. Very, very tough.

Jim, Chicago


Let me get this out of the way: I'm an HR professional. I love what I do. I also agree with you about HR. It's not doing what it could or should do to help a company win, as you put it. Soon, there will be an app for most of what we do in HR. There will be an app to update your employee information, an app to select benefits, an app to provide feedback, even an app to begin the recruiting process. We have got to change HR so it can provide strategy about how people can, in your words, drive performance. We better do it soon, too, otherwise there will be an app for us.

Toni, Los Angeles


Your blogs are great! I don't always agree with them, especially when you write about politics. But what you have to say about what goes on at work makes a lot of sense. I finally know what you mean about 'the job' of work. It is a job! It doesn't have to be, but it is. Making work more meaningful -- even if you sweep floors or are the CEO (ha!) -- would be fantastic. Think of how much more successful every company could be if all of their people truly cared.

Kim, New Orleans


You Americans are crazy! It's just a job! You don't have to like it. You just have to do it. Then you can go home and do anything you want. What do you say to people who worry about the wrong things? Get a life? Okay, get a life!

Franco, Rome

Shana tova. May it be a sweet and healthy year and may your Off Season be short. See you next week.