Principal or Employee, No Middle Ground

“It’s a harsh and binary concept, and not subject to equivocation. Either you are the principal or you’re not. The rationalizing powers of a good employee are endless. Good employees make decisions on a company’s behalf as if they own it. I’d been doing that since my earliest days at ABC. I acted like a principal, but I wasn’t one. I was an employee, and whatever position and power I had could be revoked at any time. I had gone about as high as a corporatist could go. I’d run two studios. I was making more money than anyone else in the entertainment business—I was on the cover of *Business Week.* But as rarefied as all that was, it could be taken away in an instant. All that power I flexed so naturally was devolved from real power. I was craving independence and had a need to stand on my own. And the only way to do that was to take action. But, at such risk.”

“He said, “Give me some time to think about it.” A few days later, he came back to me and said, “There’s really only one principal in this company. I mean, you make decisions, and that’s been fine for me and for you. But this is a family company and you’re not a member.” With that, whatever delusions I was still holding on to crumbled.”