The United States Postal Service is in Jack Potter’s blood. His father worked for the “mail” for more than 40 years, and wasn’t shy about expressing his opinions when Potter was named postmaster general in 2001. “He left us about a year ago,” said Potter. “But before that, he was truly the postmaster general, because whenever I made a big decision, he would let me know what he thought about it.” During his six years at the helm of what Fortune magazine ranked as the 61st-largest enterprise in the world, Potter has made no shortage of big decisions, and they’ve usually been the right ones. During his tenure, the agency has experienced growth in service, customer satisfaction, and productivity, and dealt with anthrax attacks and hurricanes. Potter knows that it wouldn’t be possible without each and every one of the 700,000 employees who all contribute to the success of an entity that handled 213 billion pieces of mail last year. American Today reporter Mike Unger spoke with Potter about his work and career at the United States Postal Service when he received the Roger W. Jones Award. |
October 9, 2007
Postmaster general delivers more than the mail
James Miller, chairman of the Postal Board of Governors, and John Potter (Photo by Bill Petros)
Q: How did the anthrax attacks impact you, and what measures have you taken to try to stop similar terrorist attacks on the postal service in the future?
A: I was out in Denver when I heard that we had lost someone. My first meeting was with our union presidents, because I wanted to convey to them that I was very concerned about what was going on, and convey that I was not an expert, nor did we have the expertise to deal with an issue of this magnitude. So we brought in all the experts. Anyone who had a question, we tried to get an answer. We brought in CDC, the DOD, anybody that could help.
From a long-term perspective, we wanted to make sure that we protected our employees, so we deployed a biodetection system, which is capable of detecting anthrax spores as well as 10 other agents. It’s a system deployed throughout our network, anyplace where mail comes in from an unknown recipient, it gets screened through an air sampling process and a water-based test.
It affected me personally because I visited one of the facilities and I was put on Cipro. We had gotten the word from CDC that we had nothing to fear in Brentwood [a Washington mail-sorting facility]. I went in and later on was put on medication.
Q: How have e-mail, text messaging, and all the other new communications tools people use affected the postal service?
A: Some of the things that were traditionally in the mail have migrated to the Internet. But we’re also finding that this network is very resilient in the sense that it touches every American and goes to every door every day. It’s amazing how people come up with ideas about how they can use this network to serve their businesses and provide goods and services to the American public.
If you look 10 years ago, no one would ever dream that to be in the DVD rental business you would have to use the mail. We have that ability to reach out and pick up from any customer in America, as well as to deliver to them. As much as we can sit back and say we want to stay in the olden days, the fact is the postal service has a long history of serving America, over 200 years. We were one of the first departments in the federal government, and it has evolved over the course of time. Today I think we’re a perfect complement to the Internet and modernization. If you talk to anyone in the marketing or advertising business, they’ll tell you that mail needs to be an integral part of anyone’s effort to market goods and services to people because it complements the Internet.
Yes there are things that have affected the mail over the course of time, but there have been people who said that the telegraph would eliminate the mail . . . There’s this long history of threats or challenges to the mail, yet every time there is one, people come up with new an innovative ways to take advantage of this network.
Q: What’s the most satisfying aspect of your job?
A: Seeing the faces of the folks who receive mail that they really want. There are many people in America who their only contact with the outside world is that letter they receive on a daily basis. It could be an advertising piece, but to them it keeps them connected with America. It’s really satisfying when I see our people doing a great job whether it’s after a hurricane or just bringing meds to somebody’s home [who] really needs it. On a daily basis I write letters to our employees who do heroic things. They’re the first to spot fires, they’re the ones who notice mail backing up and call 911 for help or reach out to a neighbor. We’re part and parcel of the community and every time that I see that value demonstrated, I take great pride in this institution.
