The Best Business Lesson. Ever.

Some years ago I worked for Tichenor Media Systems. The business in which I worked was managed by a first-time General Manager named Dan Wilson. I was a first-time department head. Dan was on the road for a while on a business trip. He left me home with the kids. That is to say

that he left me in charge and told me not to run it into the ditch.

During that time while Dan was away, our sales manager, Gail Durham,  went on a collections call. A sleazeball who had used our advertising vehicle — the ads had already run — looked at Gail and said, “I will never pay this bill and there is nothing you can do about it,” without flinching.

When Gail told me that, a vein almost popped in my temple. Being young and kinda aggressive, my first thought was to call our attorney and start the process of having the sleazeball’s ass kicked.

Trying to show a little self control and not make a complete fool of myself or our business, I went across the courtyard to our corporate headquarters and sought the council of David Lykes.

David was the Vice President of the company and a guy I  (and many others) admired.  Still do. After explaining the situation to David, I asked him what he thought would be the best way to go.

Brief pause in the story.  During the course of a lifetime, there are any number of a zillion things that happen. When we get to be older, we are graciously allowed to look back and say, “Yeah, that was a defining moment.”  This was one of those moments. What I am most grateful for is that I realized,  at the time, that it was one of those moments.  It was advice I could hang my hat on for the rest of my life. OK. Back to the story.

David leaned back in his chair and smiled a comfortable smile. He said — and even though this happened almost 30 year ago, I like to think I can still remember it clearly. . .

“Podna, people have a tendency to make things harder than they are. When I’m facing a decision and I’m unsure of myself, as you feel like you are right now, what I like to do is imagine a sheet of paper with a bold line down the middle of it. When it is all said and done, I am going to have to make a decision and put my decision in one column or the other. It cannot straddle the line. One column is labeled Doing Right and the other is labeled Doing Wrong.”

David went on, “There is almost always many more than one decision that can be made.  And that is where we can get hung up and make things complicated, especially if we are continually worried about making the decision we think others would want us to make. As a result, we never reach a decision and we can allow the complexity to paralyze us.  Or worse, we compromise our integrity.  So here’s what I do.”

I can remember feeling as if the safe was about to be unlocked for me to dip in and get what I needed to get in order to be successful . . .  and my skin literally tingled.

David smiled and paused, “I try to make sure that I can write my decision in the column labeled Doing Right.  Because, if it ain’t right, it must be wrong. It really is that simple. “  Then he stopped talking and just looked at me and smiled that kind smile of his.

I waited. He said nothing else.

“So, David, are you saying I should NOT bring the the lawyer into it while Dan is gone?”

“I am absolutely not saying that,” David said.

“Oh! So you think I SHOULD call the lawyer!”  I said excitedly as I started to stand up to leave.

“I didn’t say that either,” he told me.

My legs turned to jelly and I felt like a I was about to be exposed as a complete dumbass. I must have looked like a confused, goofy puppy.

“Podna, what I said is that you ought to make the decision you believe is the one that stands for doing right.  What I think does not matter. Dan is not here. You are.”

How in the world do you thank a guy for teaching such an important lesson in such an effective, powerful and respectful way?

Dan reported to David back then, as well as for the next twenty (or so) years.

As my favorite writer (Dan Jenkins) might say, Dan Wilson is one of your better Vice Presidents in the radio bidness these days, his ownself. Dan still works for the company that Mac Tichenor and David Lykes built and eventually sold. (Tichenor Media System became Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation. Later, HBC was sold to a the monolithic  Univision. Dan is a VP at Univision. At least, I think that is the order of how things happened.)

Mac Tichenor RE: David Lykes

Mac Tichenor, III

“David was a terrific businessman and a man of great integrity,” said Mac Tichenor, former President of Univision Radio. “He’s a wonderful friend and for many years, he truly was the heart and soul of our company.” Mac said it exactly as I would have wanted him to, had I been given a vote. Mac is a pretty impressive guy himself. Might tell a story about him one of these days. Really good, smart, hard working guy who got excellent results.

 

Glad They Are Part of My Heritage

Thinking about these guys again and the time we spent together has been such a pleasure. Can’t tell you what it means to me to be of that pedigree. We worked very, very hard. We won some and lost some, but we always played the right and honorable way. Nobody would have been ashamed for their kids to know how they behaved or how they treated others. How could you ask for more?

2006 Achievement Award

In 2006, David Lykes was given the Texas Association of Broadcasters’ highest honor, Pioneer Broadcaster of the Year. ( Read about it here.)

Thanks T.A.B.

Thanks to the Texas Associations of Broadcasters for not getting ticked at me for blatantly stealing these pictures of David, Dan and Mac from their website.