The Smallest Stakeholders....

"Okay, Mr. Castillo..."

"Dan. Please."

"Pardon?"

"My kids' friends call me 'Mr. Castillo' ...Call me Dan."

"No problem, Dan. So this is all fairly relaxed; I'm just looking for a basic idea of who 'the man in the corner office' is."

"You bet. Are you recording this?"

"...Do you mind?"

"No, no, it's quite alright, suggesting you're not looking for trade secrets?"

"We writers have no Hippocratic Oath, per se, but I assure you, Dan, we'll keep what's said here off-the-record if need be."

"Deal. Shoot!"

"Okay, your organization has gained a significant foothold in the automobile industry. In fact, your annual statement for the last fiscal year suggested a breathtaking 67% jump in sales. To what or to whom to do credit your success?"

"It's true, and we're all really satisfied with our intake this past year. Our quarterly results for this year are also forecasting similar, if not better, figures."

"... and the credit belongs to?"

"Television."

"Really?"

"No, it's true. Just 17 or 18 years we as a society have gone from only a few folks per community having a television set in their homes to nearly every American now having one in their home. Our advertising partners have really capitalized off this delivery method, and our product message has pierced through marketing layers that we could've never expected to touch just ten years ago."

"What's the message?"

"The message is our mission statement, really. We aim to create sedans and coupes and towncars that have the appeal of a Lincoln or a Cadillac but can be sold to middle income earners. This roots from my own experience. In '42 an executive from the law firm my father worked at purchased a brand new Zephyr, a cream-yellow Lincoln Zephyr Coupe. I was 5 or 6 at the time, and I simply loved that car. My father, however, was no lawyer... he was the maintenance man for the law firm's Manhattan building. I knew he'd never be capable of affording such a car. So, in comes us. We furnish the middle-class, and conceivably the upper class too, with quality, attractive automobiles that they can afford."

"Well, your campaign seems to be working."

"I think so, yeah."

"With sales and marketing aside, who is 'the man in the corner office'? What's your motivation? What gets you up and moving in the morning?"

"I would have to say... our stakeholders: our shareholders, customers, employees, and even our suppliers and contractors. I'm dedicated to their benefit."

"Mr. Castillo - Dan - Such stakeholders are a given. Our readers expect you to suggest you're working with their interests in min. I'm speaking of you, the human being not you the corporate figure head. What motivates Dan the individual?"

"Our stakeholders are vital to our success, but for me personally, motivation takes no other form than a simple document!"

Mr. Castillo spun in his chair, stood, and walked across the stately executive suite to a handsome wooden frame fixed to the wall to the immediate right of his two framed MBAs. He adjusted it upon the wall and stood facing it with his hands on his hips. A hush fell between us as he considered paper within. Without words, he gestured me over.

"This."

Within the frame was a young child's drawing. It was a crude, crayon rendering on tan construction paper of a tall, stick figure. Long strokes of blaze orange crayon made up the character's cowboy hat, a scribbled pile of brown represented a horse, and forceful zigzags in bright yellow formed lightning bolts in the sky behind the figure. Below the stick figure and written purple upper and lowercase letters was the word "Daniel."

"...and positioned right next to your two Masters, I see."

"Right. This is my motivation, this gets me moving every day, and this is why I work extra hard to make this firm a success.... A number of years ago I flew to Chicago for a two or three day conference, and when I returned, my son, Daniel - then about six or seven years old or so - thrust this little, folded up drawing into my hand. I held it up and commented on how nice it was. You know what he says? He says, 'Papa, that’s you!' I asked him how he figured that, of course it was clearly a rough depiction of the 'Lone Ranger,' his favorite program at the time. He said 'you're the Lone Ranger, Papa,' he said. At that moment, I understood that on-the-job, I'm a leader, and I am expected to inspire individuals and lead this organization; however, at home, I am a hero in the eyes of my young son, and I am expected to always maintain such a status in his eyes. This right here..."

Mr. Castillo tapped his finger on the glass in the frame.

"...this not who 'the man in the corner office' is, but this is the man that represent one of hundreds of moms and dads within this organization, all of us heroes in the eyes of our children. This is what motivates us; this is why we get up and get moving in the morning!"