Ronald Williams, Jr. is an accomplished author who has written several books about the Postal Service and its challenges. His most recent book, “Personality and Distribution Center (P&DC): Surviving the Postal Paradigm,” is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the inner workings of the Postal Service and how it’s coping with a rapidly changing world. We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Ronald to ask him about his book and his insights on the Postal Service.
Can you tell us briefly about your book, “Personality and Distribution Center (P&DC): Surviving the Postal Paradigm;? What Inspired you to write this book? Make no mistake about it, I loved the work I did at the United States Postal Service (USPS). When I reflect on the business in hindsight I remember an organization where leaders valued mail and numbers over people. The work is essential and job is important because physical mail is considered personal and private, and it makes the postal service a communication superpower. The customers, employees, and business partners have to work together to provide a universal service to everyone in the United States. The job requires people of integrity, sound health, and postal pride in order to be efficient. Unfortunately, through processing, distribution, and on the way to delivering the mail I often felt like I had to tip toe carefully and quietly if I wanted to complete a successful career.
In your book, you explore the concept of personality within distribution centers. How does personality impact the functioning dynamics of a distribution center? The leadership model I encountered can best be represented by the phrase “the numbers don’t lie, that’s where management comes in.” A selfish style that puts the needs of the boss over the team sparking internal worries about danger within the unit instead of focusing on the external threats associated with competition from other businesses. Communication was heavily filtered, and executive leadership lacks direct access to candid feedback from employees about what’s really happening in the trenches.
The title “Personality and Distribution Center (P&DC) Surviving the Postal Paradigm” is a play on Processing and Distribution Center. My last day at the Postal Service I walked quickly to my car, adjusted my mirrors so I couldn’t see behind me, and turned up the music so I couldn’t hear the trash can lid closing on my ideas, laugh out loud. Over an 18-year period I found out that personalities of the leaders and their personal agendas was talked about much more than the processes we used to work the mail. Mail will be around a lot longer than any one person and over 245 years proves that. The P&DC was ground zero and I explain and illustrate how I was in the crowd but not part of the crowd. In my book I’m a tour guide that wants you to get on the bus so I can illustrate how employees need to work together to survive the current paradigm. BUY NOW ON AMAZON
There are many different job titles inside the Postal Service workforce. What type of work did you do? I was in the Mail Handler craft a national labor force of approximately 50,000 strong belonging to the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), and the AFL-CIO. Mail Handlers are the labor force behind the scenes in postal processing facilities. We do the labor-intensive handling of bulk mail work around the clock. The work is not limited to loading and unloading trucks, sorting and prepping mail, working conveyors, and operating powered industrial trucks. The job requires lots of repetition, lifting, bending, reaching, grabbing, and prolonged standing. There’s a great quote “ it’s easy to make a buck, but it’s harder to make a difference, and If you make a lot of bucks it’s easier to make a bigger difference.” As a Mail Handlers I didn’t make a whole lot of bucks, but I did work every day to make a difference.
The postal industry is known for its demanding and fast-paced environment. How can individuals maintain their well-being and manage stress in such an environment? Does your book provide any guidance in this regard? A demanding and fast-paced environment can best be translated as a deadline-oriented business at the Postal Service. Sometimes the stress of deadlines can lead to a mutual distrust environment between labor and management. The climate can turn toxic from the fear of the wrath of upper management which results in cheating, safety short cuts, and unethical behavior. In the processing center we use various types of automated machinery and the employees are pressured to produce the highest numbers. Example: Machines capable of processing 200,000 pieces of mail an hour might fail to meet that goal because of mechanical errors, equipment malfunctions, or personnel shortages. All are a reflection on poor management and taken out on the front-line workers in the form of a hostile working environment or threats of disciplinary action. My book provides an actual climate survey conducted that resulted in a significant workplace improvement. BUY NOW ON AMAZON
Personality and Distribution Center – Surviving the Postal Paradigm
It’s hard to explain the job inside a postal processing and distribution center to family and friends. You might have heard there’s is a financial problem at the post office, but it’s not the only drawback. Mr. Williams shares his activism on the job to bring much-needed attention to workplace working conditions. He outlines the ignorance of leadership, disrespect towards employees, and dereliction of duty in a grid-locked culture failing to address the dysfunctional workplace climate. BUY NOW ON AMAZON
Meet the Author
Ronald Williams, Jr. is a military veteran and retired postal employee who loved his job at USPS. He found out over his career that moral courage exhibited by postal leadership was a rare commodity. He clocked-in to work every day on a regular schedule energized to process and deliver America’s mail. Always at the workroom table with more than a fork but often disappointed about what was on the workplace menu. Read his book to find out what he experienced, the challenges at the Postal Service, and some solutions. This is Ronald’s third and final book about life inside the mail giant.
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Finally, where can readers find your book, “Personality and Distribution Center (P&DC): Surviving the Postal Paradigm,” and connect with you to learn more about your work? Readers can find my book on amazon.com in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. If interested readers can connect with me at PDC921@yahoo.com.
