Don’t Be Afraid of Change and Innovation
Qualities of Success Can Bring Failure
FOREWORD
FOLLOWING IS THE Foreword that Neil Armstrong wrote several months before his death. The Foreword came to me in an e-mail that read as follows:
Hi Charlie,
I perused the Internet trying to determine the proper differences between a foreword, an introduction, and a preface. I left still mystified.
So this might not properly be a preface. But you probably already have an excellent foreword (and a “beginnings”).
So this may not fit the bill for you. But it is yours to use or discard as you see fit.
If you choose the former, a bit of editing will certainly be appropriate. You may excise as appropriate.
Good luck!!
Neil
MIDWAY BETWEEN WORLD WARS I AND II, two boys were born only one month apart. Both were raised in small Ohio towns in families of modest circumstances during the hardships of the Great Depression and the tragic times of World War II. The surrounding homes had small flags in the windows, some with a blue star indicating a family member was serving in the armed forces, some with a gold star indicating a family member who would never return. It was a frightening time, but one which strengthened the backbone of all who endured it.
The boys enjoyed the process of learning and nearly always had part-time and summer jobs with very modest wages which primarily were “saved for college,” and secondarily provided the satisfaction of having “a little spending money.” Working gave them the opportunity to learn the importance of responsibility and the consequences of errors and bad judgment. The value of that experience can hardly be overestimated.
They both enjoyed many athletic activities and mastered none. They were fortunate to have benefited highly from their collegiate and military experience. Neither could predict, nor even imagine, the unexpected turns their careers would take, the people they would meet, or the surprising achievements that would accrue to them.
The author of Who’s That with Charlie?, Charles Mechem, was one of those boys. His interests and his background prepared him well for an unusually broad career in law, business, professional sports, and acting as a consultant and advisor to a number of individuals and businesses. As CEO of the Taft Broadcasting Company, Charlie often held the annual meeting of shareholders at an auditorium inside Taft’s Kings Island theme park near Cincinnati, Ohio. Shareholders, along with their invitation to the meeting that arrived in the mail, would receive a ticket to enter the theme park with its many thrill rides and other entertaining attractions. A few people bought one share of the company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, just to get the free ticket to the park.
Taft was an entertainment company, and the meeting of shareholders was an opportunity to showcase their talents. Charlie’s dynamic speeches together with music, video, and the help of Yogi Bear and Fred Flintstone dazzled the shareholder audience like Luciano Pavarotti at a Tupperware party.
Charlie is a speaker with a touch of genius. At one unusual meeting of senior management and the board of directors, due to a combination of corporate setbacks and uncertainty, the mood was somber and the faces long. Charlie gave the opening address, spoke candidly and humorously about the challenges faced, turned up the tempo, congratulated all on their great work and the bright future ahead. By the time he finished, the entire gathering was standing and cheering like their team had just won the World Series.
In Who’s That with Charlie? you will find much of the magical character of Charlie Mechem through his recollections of a wide variety of individuals and many of the life lessons which he learned from them. These people and these experiences became a significant part of Charlie’s life and have become etched indelibly into his memory.
I have enjoyed revisiting those years and am confident that the reader will discover interesting insights into twentieth-century American history, a lot of great “Lessons Learned,” and a great deal of humor well written about Charlie’s life, times, and friends.
Neil Armstrong
The other boy
A Word from Arnold Palmer
OVER THE YEARS, I have been able to benefit from the advice of quite a few wise people as I made my way through the challenging business career that sprouted from the early success I enjoyed on the pro golf tour. Right at the top of that list is my close friend Charlie Mechem, whose counseling I have relied on for going on twenty years.
One of the best decisions I ever made was to bring Charlie on board as a personal consultant shortly after he completed his five-year term as LPGA Commissioner in the mid-1990s. As Charlie points out later on in this unique and entertaining book, much of the valuable advice that I got from him was literally face to face for ten years as he sat in an office next to mine with the door always open at my Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida. I always looked forward to the steaming paper cups of coffee he would bring to the office for the two of us to start the new business day. I think one of the reasons that Charlie and I get on so well is that our backgrounds are very similar. We were both small-town boys who grew up during the Great Depression and World War II and were raised by parents with solid, basic American values. Not a bad heritage!
Although Charlie and his lovely wife, Marilyn, moved west in 2005 to be closer to their children year-round, our association has since continued, mostly on the telephone, except for the time we get together during the few weeks I spend at Tradition Golf Club in La Quinta, California, in the dead of winter.
It’s no wonder that Charlie has been so successful in the various executive positions he has held during his business career. He is a meticulous person. He thoroughly investigates the matters at hand. He prefers to know the bottom line before there is a bottom line. He likes to participate in creative activities and inspires people to do their best no matter what they are pursuing.
I first got to really know him during his years with the LPGA and, like everybody else in the world of golf, could see that he was certainly the person who could stabilize and advance the LPGA at a critical stage of its existence. He was clearly the right person at the right time. That was proven during his term as Commissioner and since then. He brought a sense of purpose to the organization beyond its public face in competitive sports.
Besides the business side of things, Charlie has been a great companion and sincere friend. I am pleased to be counted among the many who dot the pages that follow.
One final note. One of my favorite things about Charlie is his sense of humor. We both love to joke and laugh—as the pictures in this book clearly show. In that spirit let me note that I’m not going to say anything about Charlie’s golf game except that it was not a major contributor to his success! Happily, he didn’t need it.
Arnold Palmer
Introduction
CHARLIE MECHEM