Page 197 - The Way to the Top
P. 197
Robin B. SMITH
Chairman of Publishers Clearing House
Many years ago, I was working at Doubleday as a Group Product Manager
in the Book Club. I received a call from a recruiter about a job at Charter
Communications (then the holding company for The Ladies’ Home
Journal, Greenland Studios, Hamilton Mint, and an in-house ad agency)
that involved running the mail-order properties, including the house
agency.
My interview was with Ed Downe. During the interview, Mr. Downe
said to me, “Your problem is that you think like an employee, not an
owner. You need to think like an owner.”
As it turned out, I didn’t take the job because Doubleday countered with
an offer to make me President of the Book Clubs, but I have thought of Mr.
Downe’s words often.
Think like an owner
