Marty Kaplan went from the Aspen Institute to Washington,
D.C., to Walt Disney Pictures, and, most recently, to USC.
When I interviewed him at Disney, he said, “One of the nice
things about this industry is that you can be in it in a lot of
quite different capacities. I’m not all that interested in slither-
ing up a greasy pole, and I’ve pretty much decided that some-
time within the next year I’ll change my capacity in the
business and go to a world in which it’s time to start learning
again. My guess is that I’ll be a screenwriter and producer.”
Alfred Gottschalk insisted that an escape clause be inserted in
his contract with Hebrew Union: “I can stay basically until re-
tirement. That’s what they would like. I insisted they put it in,
in case one or the other of us becomes disaffected, at which
point we have to talk. I don’t intend to stay one day longer than
I’m happy with what I’m doing, and they don’t have to keep me
for one day longer than they’re happy with what I’m doing, and
for the last seventeen years it’s worked.... They know what the
core issues are for which I stand, and if it comes to a showdown
on those, they know I have my resignation in my pocket.”
Don Ritchey, too, said, “You should preserve the ability to
say, ‘Shove it,’ and go your own way. That really frees you.”
These leaders have dealt with and continue to deal with this
mercurial world by anticipating, looking not just down the road,
but around the corner; by seeing change as an opportunity,
rather than an obstacle; and by accepting it, rather than resisting
it. One of the hardest lessons any novice skier has to learn is to
lean away from the hill and not into it. The natural inclination is
to stay as close to the slope as possible, because it feels safer and
more secure. But only when the skier leans out can he or she be-
gin to move and gain control, rather than being controlled by
Getting People on Your Side