Relational Collateral

I recently watched, for the second time, the excellent PBS documentary, Inventing L.A.: The Chandlers and Their Times. Since I grew up in greater Los Angeles, I always gravitate to anything related to the history of Orange County (my old stomping ground), Los Angeles and Hollywood. The film first aired in 2009.

The documentary examines the growth of modern-day Los Angeles during the Chandler era at the Los Angeles Times. It also traces the emanation of multi-ethnic, modern Los Angeles during the single-family reign of four publishers at the respected newspaper: Harrison Gray Otis, Harry Chandler, Norman Chandler and Otis Chandler.

The evolution of the newspaper--from it's conservative, anti-union beginnings, to Otis Chanders' ascent as publisher in 1960--came into a new era with the young leaders' desire to create a more liberal-leaning paper, and to appease the East Coast elite who felt, "The Times was regarded as a bad newspaper from a hick town." Otis increased the budget of the paper three fold, allowing it to expand its coverage. The Times then became a critically lauded newspaper. In Otis Chandler's tenure, the paper expanded from two outside offices to 34 foreign and domestic bureaus.

Robert Lloyd, a reviewer of the film for The Los Angeles Times in 2009 wrote, "If there's a hero in the film--albeit a flawed and ultimately failed hero -- it's Otis Chandler. Surfer, bodybuilder, bushy-haired blond Adonis, Otis, who was made publisher in 1960 at age 32, took The Times from a provincial house organ to a nationally respected newspaper. But he alienated conservative family members (and Nixon, who put him on his enemies list) along the way. And when he stepped down as publisher, he went outside the family to hire (Thomas) Johnson (the first non-family publisher in nearly a century and the paper’s fifth publisher). "Otis didn't feel his children were as outstanding as he was," observes his first wife, Marilyn Brant. "Otis didn't like competition from his children."

To add insult to injury, Otis' lifelong friend, Bob Emmet, according to the documentary website, wryly observed, “Otis and his mother (Dorothy Chandler, another major influence in L.A.) were always the victims. It was always somebody else’s fault.”

The most poignant lessons that I brought away from this film were those of friendship, alliances, influence and relational collateral. Along the way Otis succeeded in broadening the paper's appeal, it's readership, as well as a more favorable journalistic reputation among the East Coast elite. In the process though, he alienated his associates, his close friends, and most importantly, his family. He managed to disassociate himself to the point that when he needed support, while the sale of the paper to the Tribune Company of Chicago for $8.3 billion was being leveraged, no one was around for him. His arrogance pushed everyone away. He had no alliances.

John Maxwell says, "Leadership is influence. No more, no less." In his book, Developing the Leader Within You, Maxwell illustrates the degree of influence a leader actually has. You can be a:

• Level 1: Position.
  People follow because they have to.
  
• Level 2: Permission.
  People follow because they want to.
  
• Level 3: Production
  People follow because of what you have done.
  
• Level 4: People Development
  People follow because of what you have done for them.
  
• Level 5: Person-hood
  People follow because of who you are and what you represent
  

The story of Otis Chandler and his family's ascent in the newspaper trade, along with their part in the growth of Los Angeles, illustrates clearly that without relational collateral, true leadership is no where to be found. As the angel wrote to George Baily in It's A Wonderful Life, "Dear George, remember no man is a failure who has friends."

Chandler died at his home in Ojai, California at 78 due to the effects of Lewy body disease.