Limping on Water

““Hire as few of the best people available, pay them well, give them equity and autonomy in an ethical company and leave them alone.””

“Chiseled into our heads every year at our management meeting was Murphy’s reminder that we could make honest mistakes, or miss our budgets, but if we put the company, or ourselves, in disrepute, there was no second chance at Capital Cities.”

“I continued to sell a simple principle. We all prosper when the company’s earnings grow and then rain down in the form of profit sharing. Some of our personnel immediately recognized the attractive monetary rewards linked to cost controls, while others who were less attentive, considered them a nuisance. That is, until new information about earnings increased the price of their stock and the value of their profit sharing. That snapped them to attention.”

““I can accept mistakes, but do not ever lie to me or anyone else in the company. There is no second chance here.””

“Tom Murphy chose his targets patiently and carefully, reviewing their profit and operating histories. And when he moved forward with an acquisition, it was because he was confident that his team could successfully infuse the Capcities philosophy and business savvy into the new assets.”

“I can still hear Dan Burke in his famous budget sessions, “You can’t control revenue, but you can control costs,” or “Your budget is your promise to our shareholders.””

“Years later, as a guest speaker at the Club, visiting from my post as head of GMA, I was introduced as “the man who woke up the advertising business and then, four short years later, skipped town!” Local revenues increased as the staff was encouraged to get more involved in community. I asked the employees to place the station on “the tip of an arrow, aimed at everything that was happening in town,” an image I had effectively used in the past and continued using for a long time.”

“Working with Dan was a wholly different matter than working with Tom. Tom delegated easily, and did not always have time to work directly with me in getting things done. Dan, on the other hand, was involved on a much more granular level. He gave me more demanding assignments as the station grew and he enjoyed jumping into the trenches to work side by side when the need arose. We had great fun tackling a slew of challenges, for while there were signs one might call promising; the facts were that Dan inherited a station with lackluster ratings, meager revenues and spotty reception in many rural areas. Working on those problems with Dan was remarkable. And he took a keen interest in the development of my business management and leadership skills, personal maturation, and even my golf game! Like many who worked with and for him, I never stopped learning from Dan Burke. He also put up with Murph calling me away for special assignments … for a while, that is.”

““Some of you fellows may think I tie you to Capital Cities by corrupting you with compensation and stock options. But I’ve decided the reason you are afraid to leave this company is more because our system naturally corrupts you with autonomy and authority. And I suspect that after living that way for a time, you’re fearful that someplace else might not operate in the same manner.””

“Even to this day, we have no corporate counsel, no vice president of personnel, no public relations department. When my boss said the building needed a paint job, I had them paint only the sides the public could see … not the sides facing the woods and the Hudson River. Today our stations have the latest equipment and facilities. But I remember one time at our original station when a film clip dropped through the projection room floor because it had not been properly threaded onto the take-up reel. It disappeared through a hole in the floor, and was finally retrieved from the basement so the show could go”

““You just have to let your managers know someone is watching.” “Be careful what you say to subordinates. You will forget in 24 hours, but they will remember it word for word forever.” “Always be careful who does the hiring. Mediocre people tend to hire mediocre people.” “Avoid the echo effect. Line managers besieged by MBA-laden corporate staffs hire their own MBA’s, so they can talk to one another.””

“We believed we should hire the best people, pay them well, and never have more people than necessary.”

“Be sure to pick a business you enjoy. Do not go for the biggest buck, but go where you will be happiest, because if you are happy, you are successful And do yourself a favor, get yourself involved in your community. Put something back. When you do well, do some good also. You will feel better about yourself. As my father used to say, do not do anything that would cost you a good night’s sleep! And finally, in your business career, don’t do anything that is ethically questionable. You will lose more than you could ever gain.””

““Philly, always try to make others look good, because when they profit, so do you. And always leave something on the table.””

““The best defense against revenue uncertainties are constant, tight cost controls.””

““Philly, you know you have a job with me regardless … And I know how much you like to fool around with cameras and such, but I have bigger plans for you. If you want to continue filming in your off hours here, that is OK, but if you want to grow with this company you have to consider what I say now carefully. We are building a great company and we are all going to get rich. I want you with us, not 8 hours a day, but 24 and we want you to grow with us, full time, all the time.” When I said I’d like to talk it over with my wife, he came straight back, “I did not hire your wife. I want a decision here and now.” I took a deep breath, got up, reached across his desk, shook his hand and said, “I’m with you, Tom.” “Good,” he said, “Starting tomorrow you have a new job and I’m doubling your pay. You will be the Assistant Promotion Manager.” I am sure my delight was apparent and I said all the right things, but I did add a question: “We don’t have a Promotion Department, and why Assistant?” His response, accompanied by a warm smile, was, “In time, Philly, in time. I don’t want you to get a bigger head than you already have.” Again, what a lucky fella!”

““To give such authority to those as young as you is truly exceptional.” I told him we were fully aware of that, and that we did, indeed, “work for an exceptional company.””

““Never tweak the nose of a bear …””

“Do not let lack of experience stand in the way of hiring the right person. Counsel and work with subordinates. Don’t send them off to some seminar on decision-making or leadership. Be patient with the people who work for you. Let them make mistakes but expect them to be smart enough not to make the same mistake twice.””

“Positioning the station as an important adjunct to a viewer’s life is a viable strategy.”

““Do not ask me how I got here, the recipient of all this credit, because the truth is my staff put me up to”

“I had been taught years earlier by Dan Burke that it was smart management to let your employees know you believed they could succeed beyond even their own expectations.”

“He said he had figured out how I was able to pull off the hiring of Don Polec so deftly and he put it this way: “Taft, my parent company in Cincinnati, tells me, the manager, what I am going to do. The difference,” he said, “is you tell New York what you are going to do.” And that is pure Capcities.”

“Competition may sometimes outsmart us, but they will never outwork us. They may outman us, but we have better pay, better benefits and better opportunities for upward mobility. Capcities leadership may have high expectations, but the company’s focus on autonomy also meant that you won’t be blaming headquarters for your problems. You make your own decisions, and you have to live with them.”

“I’ve never seen another company capture their magic. Much of their culture went not only unwritten, but unspoken, as well. One had to absorb, even marinate in it over time. At first, the autonomy afforded management was a rush. Over time, however, the freedom to act began to weigh heavily, as a full appreciation of the true responsibility of carrying the Capcities mantle began to sink”

“The difference was our commitment to letting our managers manage. Run the station like you own it and, by the way, here is some stock to make you an actual “owner””