What would YOU do?

There's no shortage of fascinating leaders in my little hometown of Naples, Florida. Indeed, I've heard it said that Naples is to CEOs what Beverly Hills is to movie stars, with more retired and current business leaders per capita than anywhere else on earth.

One more reason for a business author to love this place.

I've befriended quite a number of these folks, and it's always interesting to hear their stories. That goes double for my friend Phil. Phil deserves his own book, but... not today. Today, I just want to share a tale from his early career, from way back when Phil was only the third full-time employee of Capital Cities.

Phil was a workhorse, a child of the Great Depression with a family of his own to support. He was enterprising, filming his own productions on the side as he began his career with CapCities.

Phil's boss, Frank, knew talent when he saw it, and he wanted to harness Phil's energy, drive, and talent. It irked him a bit that Phil had his own projects after work - it meant that Frank wasn't getting all of this young man's talent.

Night after night, as Phil left the station at 5 on the dot to rush off to his own gigs, Frank would remark, "There goes the Hasta La Vista Production Company." It was all in good fun; just a word to let Phil know he was noticed and he'd be missed.

Phil continued demonstrating his value around the station each day, and the company was growing. So finally, Frank made a decision. He asked Phil into his office and said point-blank: "I want all of your energy, not just 9-5. No more Hasta La Vista Productions. If you commit to CapCities, I'm going to commit to you. You're going to help me run this place, and we're going to be huge. Never doubt that."

Frank let that settle in. Then he stuck out his hand, and Phil knew what it meant if he shook. He was committing to Frank and to CapCities.

Phil shook Frank's hand, and never looked back. Through the next three decades, CapCities flourished, until the day in 1985 that "the minnow ate the whale:" yes, little Capital Cities from the tiny backwater market of Albany, NY bought the entire ABC empire. Phil served as the President of ABC Entertainment until it was bought by Disney in 1996. He was the highest-paid executive in TV during his career, and his payout from the purchase was... well, I'm not allowed to share the amount, but it's an awful lot of money. An awful lot!

Here's where this story ties in with a post I wrote a short while ago.

1. Leaders, do you recognize talent among your staff when you see it? The kind of talent your company needs if it is going to swallow the whales of your industry at some point in the future?

2. When you do recognize said talent, do you have the mechanism in place to elevate them to positions of leadership commensurate to their abilities - and on a schedule that they can accept?

Your worth as a leader is tied directly, inextricably, to your answers to those two questions.