Speech Given by Lowell W. Paxson, BEA2000 - BEA Awards Banquet, April 9, 2000 IN 1947 JACKIE ROBINSON BECAME THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN
TO PLAY IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL. I THINK IT’S REASONABLE TO LOOK BACK AT HIS IMPRESSIVE CAREER AND
NOTE WHY HE BROKE THROUGH a RACE BARRIER THAT OTHERS COULDN’T PENETRATE. CERTAINLY HIS EXCEPTIONAL ATHLETIC ABILITY
PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE, BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING ELSE THAT SET HIM APART
FROM OTHERS. JACKIE ROBINSON
HAD A PASSION FOR THE GAME OF BASEBALL AND WOULD nOT REST UNTIL HE LIVED
HIS DREAM OF PLAYING IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES. IF YOU STOP AND THINK ABOUT LEADERS,
YOU’LL PROBABLY BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THEIR PASSIONS. WHAT WAS THE PASSION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.? ABRAHAM LINCOLN? MOTHER TERESA? EVERY
GREAT LEADER HAS A PASSION THAT HE OR SHE HAS PURSUED. OUR PROBLEM IS THAT THE DISAPPOINTMENTS AND
THE BUSY-NESS OF LIFE CAN CAUSE OUR PASSION TO BECOME DORMANT. LIKE A HIBERNATING BEAR, PASSION SLEEPS HARMLESSLY
WHILE THE REST OF LIFE GOES ON. GOD
HAS UNIQUELY WIRED EACH OF US TO POSSESS SPECIAL DESIRES AND APTITUDES. THE VISION YOU HAVE FOR YOUR LIFE, FAMILY,
AND CAREER CAN BE EXPRESSIONS OF YOUR GOD-GIVEN PASSION. TAKE THE TIME TO ROUTINELY DAYDREAM ABOUT WHAT
YOU WOULD BE DOING IF YOU COULD HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO. WHAT WOULD YOUR LIFE LOOK LIKE IF YOU WERE
DOING WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO? WHAT
WOULD YOU BE DOING IF YOU IMPLEMENTED YOUR DREAMS? ENTREPRENEURIAL leaders are FULL OF PASSION AND
ARE change masters. They see
the way things are and move forward to change them. KEEP IN MIND THE VISION HAS TO BE SHARED WITH A BROADER
CIRCLE OF PEOPLE. WHEN I BEGAN
TALKING PUBLICLY ABOUT MY DREAM FOR A NEW TELEVISON NETWORK THAT WOULD
PROVIDE FAMILY PROGRAMMING, FEW SAW THE NEED.
AFTER ALL, THEY REASONED, THE FAMILY CHANNEL ALREADY FILLED THAT
NICHE, AND CERTAINLY AMERICA DID NOT NEED ANOTHER TV NETWORK.
WHEN I SPOKE OF BUYING STATIONS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY FIRST AND
THEN COMING UP WITH THE NETWORK PROGRAMMING, THE EXPERTS QUESTIONED
MY UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACH. THEY
BASED THEIR CONCERNS ON THE FACT THAT NOBODY HAD EVER DONE IT THAT WAY
BEFORE. THEN THERE’S A FRIEND OF MINE WHO SAYS, “SOME
PEOPLE MARCH TO A DIFFERENT DRUMMER, AND SOME PEOPLE POLKA”. VISIONARY LEADERS NOT ONLY IMAGINE WHAT COULD BE AND SEEK
TO BRING IT INTO REALITY, THEY RALLY OTHER PEOPLE AROUND THEIR DREAMS. THEY CAUSE PEOPLE TO FIND SIGNIFICANCE IN PERFORMING
THE MOST MUNDANE TASKS BECAUSE THOSE TASKS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT
OF THE DREAM. I BELIEVE PEOPLE
ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING THAT WILL GIVE THEIR LIVEs MEANING. SKILLED LEADERS IMPART A VISION THAT DOES JUST
THAT. THEY ENABLE OTHERS TO
FEEL THEIR LIFE MATTERS BECAUSE THEY ARE LINKED WITH AN IMPORTANT CAUSE. AS YOU SEEK TO DEVELOP YOUR DREAMS, YOU’LL DISCOVER THERE
ARE PLENTY OF DREAM ROBBERS—INDIVIDUALS AND CIRCUMSTANCES THAT WILL
DISCOURAGE YOU. I’VE ALWAYS ENJOYED THE HUMOROUS REMINDER THAT THERE ARE
THREE KINDS OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD:
THOSE WHO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN, THOSE WHO WATCH THINGS HAPPEN,
AND THOSE WHO SIT AROUND AND SAY, “WHAT happened?” martha WILLIAMSON, the executive producer of touched by an angel, likes to tell the
story about the all-important insurance physical exam she and della
reese had to undergo before they could begin shooting tOUCHED
BY AN ANGEL. thE entertaining
experience convinced her that della is more than a great actress. she is also a great dreamer. while martha waited to be examined, della was in a second
examination room. after martha
had sat for a lengthy period of time, a nurse opened the door and stepped
into her room. the nurse was
visibly nervous and spoke in a hushed tone, “miss williamson, we have
a problem with ms. reese.” as her mind swirled with pessimistic thoughts the nurse
went on: “miss reese refuses
to sign her insurance form.” “in the blank where it say ‘anticipated length
of employment,’ i wrote ‘six episodes.’
miss reese won’t sign it until i change it to say ‘ten years.’ she says it’s ‘a god thing.’” martha, who had
dreamed of a show that would tell people that god loved them, knew in
a moment that della reese had a dream of her own.
della reese believed god had brought them all together and her
vision was of a show that would last at least ten years. “i guess you’d better change the form,” martha told the
nurse. “if della says ten years,
then that’s what we ought to plan on.” BY THE WAY, TOUCHED BY AN
ANGEL IS IN ITS 7TH YEAR.
DELLA REESE’S 10 YEARS IS LIKELY RIGHT. webster tells us that an
opportunity is a favorable juncture of circumstances.”
in other words, an opportunity occurs when the elements needed
for progress come together at the same time. seizing these opportunities is crucial. philosopher george santayana once said that
those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it. while his words are on target, i think there
is a more ominous danger. i’m
speaking about the danger encountered by those who do not see the shape
of the future. they don’t run the risk of repeating yesterday’s
mistakes, but of missing tomorrow’s opportunities. too often leaders base their decisions on past history rather
than future opportunity. bob
murley was a very dear christian friend who helped me during a difficult
time in my life. he would often
recite this profound truth: “on the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions; when
given an opportunity, they sat down to contemplate it, and there they
died.” i didn’t
find success, it found me. i
don’t mean that i sat around waiting for opportunity to knock on my
front door. i mean the greatest
opportunities i have encountered weren’t the ones i went looking for. instead, while doing something as seemingly
mundane as collecting money from delinquent accounts, i saw an opportunity
to sell merchandise over the radio and was able to see the potential
for HOME SHOPPING ON TV. visionary
leaders are not so trapped by the way things have always been done that
they miss the opportunities that stare them in the face. all of the success i’ve experienced in the business world
occurred because i grabbed opportunities that others didn’t see. or, if they saw them, they waited too long
and the “juncture of favorable circumstances” passed. with every opportunity also comes the responsibility to
develop it. all it takes is
one good opportunity to transform your life and THE world. since that’s the case, i want to share with you some principles
that are crucial to making the best of good opportunities. once you’ve identified an opportunity and decided to pursue
it, don’t waste a second. utilize
what i call stupid speed. some of the best opportunities develop with
lightning speed and require equally quick reaction. those who are paralyzed by fear of failure will miss them every
time. don’t worry about making
mistakes. people familiar with what we’ve done over the last several
years are astounded at the speed with which we operate our company.
since late 1993, we’ve made history by purchasing more television
stations and building them from construction permits faster than anyone
else has ever done. and we’ve positioned pax tv to become a major
player in network television. today
paxson communications owns more television stations than anyone else
in the united states. In the final analysis, it
doesn't matter how strong a leader may be, he or she must have a team
of skilled players to win the game of commerce. How important is each
member of the team? Or, to put
it differently, how important are you? Several years ago the wall Street Journal dedicated an entire page to the subject. How Important Are You? More
than you think. A rooster minus a hen equals
no baby chicks. Kellogg minus a farmer equals
no corn flakes. If the nail factory closes
what good is the hammer factory? Paderewski's genius wouldn't
have amounted to much if the piano tuner hadn't shown up. A cracker maker will do better
if there's a cheesemaker. The most skillful surgeon
needs the ambulance driver who delivers the patient. Just as Rogers needed Hammerstein
you need someone and someone needs you. The presence of DREAM ROBBERS who can cause a visionary
to give up the cause or get side-tracked are plentiful. I’ve certaunly encountered my share of them. A
while back someone asked me, "Bud, did you ever get discouraged
when you encountered the naysayers and others who tried to take the
wind out of your sails?" Frankly, I didn't.
I simply figured out how to LISTEN TO THEM AND strengthen our
company and moved on. However, in the process I learned some principles
that enabled me to move on more effectively--concepts that helped me
defeat the dream robbers. Shortly
after we announced our plans for PAX TV the critics almost stumbled
over each other in an effort to predict our failure. Tony Vinciquerra,
THEY WERE QUOTED IN THE PRESS EVERYWHERE.
the executive vice president of Hearst/Argyle Television said,
"Frankly, I'm baffled as to what he's going to do.
it may be rough going for Paxson in the future." Bob Wright,
president of NBC, said, "He's just taking an absolute flier. I
think it’s probably a pretty high-risk venture." NOTE,
A YEAR AND A HALF LATTER, BOB WRIGHT CAUSED NBC TO INVEST 415 MILLION
IN TO OUR COMPANY TO BECOME OUR 32% PARTNER.
MEANWHILE, HEARST ARGYLE IS DOING A JOINT SALES AGREEMENT WITH
US IN DETROIT AND FRESNO. AFTER
5 YEARS THE WB IS TURNING PROFITABLE.
UPN IS 5 YEARS OLD AND HAS NOT TURNED CASH FLOW POSITIVE YET. PAX TV TURNED CASH FLOW POSITIVE IN 16 MONTHS. When
it comes to handling critics, I've found a four-step strategy that's
proven helpful. #1. ANTICIPATE Nobody likes to be sucker-punched.
Yet the only way to avoid such a blow is to expect it. The same is true
of criticism. The most effective
way to handle criticism is to know it's coming. Anybody who has the courage to move into uncharted
waters needs to anticipate a host of naysayers who will forecast his
or her failure. I
find it helpful to realize that many critics who are supposed to be
experts aren't as expert at their predictions as they would like to
believe. For instance, Irving Thalberg, the MGM executive who warned
Louis B. Mayer regarding Gone With the Wind, "Forget it, Louis,
no Civil War movie ever made a nickel"?,
After Mayer took that advice he said, "Irving knows what's
right." Mayer missed an opportunity of a lifetime.
David 0. Selznick produced the film in 1939. experts
are frequently wrong! Because
I know that, I refuse to let the doomsayers deter me when I'm convinced
a course of action will bring success. Instead, I anticipate their criticism. #2. ASSESS IT You
might conclude that I deal with naysayers by expecting their criticism
and then tuning it out. Such
isn't the case. Instead, I listen
to what they have to say and carefully assess it.
Sometimes a critic will point out a legitimate issue or weakness
that needs to be addressed. #3. ADAPT I
like to compare adjustments to the navigational device on a smart missile. Effective
leaders learn how to do the same thing.
They assess criticism and make whatever adaptations are needed
so their company will hit the target.
At PAX we've discovered that in most situations the criticism
we experience isn't well founded. But
even though we might know that, it's still wise to cultivate a willingness
to adapt when necessary. #4. MOVE ON Regardless
of whether or not we make any adaptations, we definitely move on once
we've assessed the criticism. And we don't look back! I believe this
final step is crucial in not allowing critics to rob you of your dreams. Few
men illustrate this principle better than Monty Roberts from San Ysidro,
California. When Monty was a senior in high school, he was asked to
write a paper about what he wanted to do with his life.
That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of
someday owning a horse ranch. He
wrote about his dream in detail and even drew a diagram of a two-hundred-acre
ranch, showing the placement of the buildings, the stables, and the
track. He then sketched a detailed floor plan for
a four-thousand-square-foot house that would sit on the ranch. Two
days after handing in the paper he received it back with a big red F
on the top margin along with a handwritten note from the teacher--"See
me after class!" "Why
did you give me an F?" he asked. "Because
your dream is unrealistic. You
have no money. You come from
an itinerant family. You have
no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money.
You'll have to buy the land, pay for the original breeding stock, and
later you'll have to pay large stud fees.
There's no way you could ever do it.
If you'll rewrite your paper with a more realistic goal, I'll
reconsider your grade." How
did Monty respond to the teacher's criticism and concern? How did he respond to her lack of faith in
him and his dream? He assessed
her words. He talked with his
dad. Finally, after considering her criticism for
a week, he turned in the same paper without a single change. As
he handed it to the teacher he said, "You can keep your F and I'll
keep my dream." Having
done that, Monty did something else.
He moved on. In fact,
today he lives in a four-thousand-square-foot house in the middle of
his two-hundred-acre horse ranch. And
what about the paper he handed in to the teacher?
He had it framed and it now hangs over the fireplace in his ranch
house. Setbacks
are different dream robbers from critics, and more dangerous. A setback occurs whenever something takes place
that actually brings your business, or life, to a halt and then moves
it back several steps. Once
a setback occurs, you'll need to regroup, refocus, and restart. And the restart needs to be with a determination that that particular
setback will never occur again. Everyone
and every business will encounter setbacks.
We can't avoid them altogether. But
we can learn not to allow the same setbacks to hit us twice. don’t misunderstand me.
dealing with dream robbers AND SETBACKS isn’t as easy as a few
simple steps. they may bruise
your ego and tarnish your reputation.
WHEN you realize they have no power over you unless you give
it to them, you’ll be okay. We're all familiar with roadblocks. They're the barricades that block roads to
keep travelers from moving forward.
Usually they're put in place to protect people from danger. In business they're often just the litter of
life. They're the bothersome
problems that can slow things down or bring progress to a standstill.
Getting past a roadblock involves a combination
of perseverance and mobility. It
requires a willingness to hang in there, combined with the ability to
get around the problem. Oftentimes
the key to getting past a roadblock is refusing to give up. Frequently, great ideas fail, not because they
wouldn't eventually work, but because their champion surrendered. He got tired of dealing with the roadblocks
and so he sat down, never to fight again. A
story is told about Thomas Edison, who invented, among other things,
the electric lightbulb. A lightbulb
works because a current is passed through a resistant material. When that material gets very hot it glows,
creating light. The difficulty
is that certain materials quickly burn up, even if kept in a vacuum
where there is no oxygen. It
took Thomas Edison a long time to discover this, and along the way he
experimented with many different materials.
One night he returned home and announced to his wife that he
had just finished the ten thousandth experiment. Now
remember, not only did Edison have to cope with the repeated failures,
but he also had to cope with those who criticized his idea and his experimental
methods. Anyway, when he arrived home
and made that announcement, his wife asked, "Did it work?"
"Nope." “Aren’t
you discouraged?" she asked. "Discouraged? I now know ten thousand ways that won't work!"
Edison
refused to allow one roadblock after another to discourage or dissuade
him. He hung in there. ¨
DREAM ¨
INVOLVE PEOPLE IN YOUR DREAM ¨
WATCH OUT FOR THE DREAM ROBBERS, THE SETBACKS AND THE
ROADBLOCKS ¨
HANG IN THERE AND CHANGE OUR WORLD
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