Black s Magic. A 360 life is key to having your all T H E A R T A N D B U S I N E S S O F S P E A K I N G J U N E

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1 T H E A R T A N D B U S I N E S S O F S P E A K I N G J U N E Black s Magic A 360 life is key to having your all What Meeting Planners Really Think of You PAGE 9 Maximize your exposure with Social Media Marketing Big talker? How to reduce your phone bill when traveling Break all the rules! Five-time CEO Christine Comaford-Lynch did No time to write? Hire a ghostwriter Hearst Magazines President Cathie Black, author of Basic Black T h e O f f i c i a l M a g a z i n e o f t h e N at i o n a l S p e a k e r s A s s o c i at i o n w w w. n s a s p e a k e r. o r g

2 Cathie Black s career has catapulted her from the South Side of Chicago to her spacious New York City office with panoramic views. 16 SPEAKER June 2008

3 A 360 Life Cathie Black could easily be the subject of a women s magazine profile about someone who s managed to have it all in life: A girl from the Midwest grows up, rises to the top of her field, marries a supportive husband of 26 years, has two kids and a dog, and is a highly sought-after career expert and speaker. While most of the description is accurate, Black, who is president of Hearst Magazines and repeatedly named as one of Fortune magazine s 50 Most Powerful Women in American Business, takes exception with one significant detail. As someone who is often perceived as having it all, let me just say this outright: I hate that phrase, she recently explained in her blog entry on The Huffington Post. The implication is that every person wants exactly the same thing, which is completely untrue. You don t have to Cathie Black, author of Basic Black, shows how to live a fashionably balanced life marry a lawyer or doctor, win the U.S. Open in tennis, and become a CEO all in the same year in order to find success and happiness. Black believes she has accomplished work-life balance that focuses on all aspects of day-to-day living: job, home, relationships and family. Blindly striving to have it all is not the answer. Having what I call a 360 Life isn t about reaching the top in everything you do, it s about achieving balance. It means creating a fully rounded existence, one that encompasses deep satisfaction with your personal life, work and family, she adds. In her bestselling book, Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life) published by Crown Business in 2007, she expands on the 360 Life concept, providing readers a blueprint for mapping out a successful professional and personal formula for contentment. The pages are sprinkled with personal stories and behind-the-scenes anecdotes of the media world, illustrating Black s climb up the publishing ladder from ad sales to publisher to president. By Sally J. Clasen Photo by Henrik Olund June 2008 SPEAKER 17

4 Natural Born Instinct As a young girl growing up on the south side of Chicago, Black says it wasn t her plan to become the president of a magazine company. She did, however, realize she had a certain knack for presentation skills and selling. If there s such a thing as a sales gene, I was definitely born with it, says Black, recounting her successful neighborhood enterprises as a youth selling lemonade and newspapers. When she graduated from Trinity College in Washington, DC, she headed to New York City to work as an advertising sales assistant for Holiday magazine, followed by sales rep positions at Travel+Leisure magazine and New York magazine. According to Black, as her account list grew so did her on-the-job training. I learned on the fly, making lots of mistakes and more than once inserting my foot firmly in my mouth, but with every sales call and deal made, I gained more confidence. I really like sales and knew I was good at it, and after six years spent learning the ropes, I felt ready for a new challenge. That was a profound decision for Black, who was then hired as the advertising manager for a new launch, Ms. magazine, co-founded by feminist movement pioneer, Gloria Steinem. For the savvy saleswoman, Ms., unlike any I knew I was perceived as bossy in fact, I knew I was bossy and that people were unhappy. But I never expected they d demand I quit. woman s magazine at the time, was a tough sell to advertisers but an experience that is one of the most memorable periods in her life. She left Ms. for a short stint in San Francisco to work on a start-up magazine created by film director Francis Ford Coppola. The publication folded after six months, so Black returned to NYC and continued to work for Ms. for a few years. In 1979, she made publishing history as the first woman publisher of New York, a weekly consumer magazine. In 1983, Black became the president and eventual publisher of Gannett-owned USA Today, the first national newspaper in the country, where for eight years she built the small upstart into one of the most widely read daily papers in the country. After she left Gannett, she led the Newspaper Association of America as president and CEO for five years before joining Hearst. Speaking of Success: A Basic Black Guide to the Circle of Life Cathie Black, president of Hearst Magazines, a division of the Hearst Corp., will share her secrets and strategies for success in work and in life at the NSA National Convention in New York City, which will be held Aug. 2 5, She ll hit the career highs and teachable moments of her phenomenal publishing career and show how a full circle of life makes us more productive, effective and joyous. For more information and to register, visit Basic Black is full of simple suggestions on how to accomplish that, from black and white tips such as interview dos and don ts, to making your boss look good and going with your gut. Her personal case studies of the media business and beyond serve as teachable lessons about the right and wrong way to get what you want. She also emphasizes fundamental concepts like developing power, passion and drive as key elements for balanced living. Drive is the most important trait to have if you want to succeed at work and life, she says. Perhaps the most basic thread (and one that leads to a catchy book title) is the author s dress-for-success offering: When in doubt, wear black. You can t go wrong with black. That fashionable advice could also be a work-life metaphor that conveys Black s straightforward, no-nonsense style. Yet, the woman dubbed The First Lady of American Magazines who is known for her exuberant, down-to-earth manner, hasn t always made such great first impressions. Early in her career, Black realized her approach and self-described brusque personality needed a makeover. She made significant changes by learning to embrace What to Wear, What Not to Say No matter where people are in their work-life stage or who they are, Black recommends living in a way that best suits the individual. Have your all not everyone else s, she says. Consorting here with Oprah Winfrey and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Black led the creation of O, The Oprah Magazine. 18 SPEAKER June 2008 patrick mcmullan

5 Pictured at home with daughter Alison, Black knows a strong family life is essential for balance. flexibility and adapt to diverse work styles to win people over and get the job done. That aha moment of reinvention came to Black at Ms. magazine when her staff revolted against her bold management habits. I knew I was perceived as bossy in fact, I knew I was bossy and that people were unhappy. But I never expected they d demand I quit, Black recalls. The near-mutiny forced Black to lighten up and make a conscious effort to take the edge off. She s also had to maneuver the extremes in others leadership, particularly when reporting to legendary bosses, like Al Neuharth, founder of USA Today, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Along the publishing path, she s orchestrated high-profile business deals, such as convincing Oprah Winfrey to do a magazine. She s also been the bearer of bad news to employees, telling the entire staff of the much-hyped Talk magazine, edited by Tina Brown, that the publication was being shelved after 28 months. Life as an executive is about making tough decisions, not about being popular, she writes in Basic Black of the high and lows of leadership. 360 View Today, from her 43-floor office in the Hearst Tower overlooking Central Park, the 64-year-old executive manages the financial performance and development of 19 U.S. magazines, such as Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper s Bazaar and O, The Oprah Winfrey Magazine, Popular Mechanics, Town & Country, as well as 200 international editions. Most recently, she oversaw the launch of Quick & Simple, Hearst s first weekly magazine in the United States. As a major force in the media industry and with a birdseye view of the world, it s an impressive position but it s also just another day at the office for Black, which gives her great satisfaction. It s not about whether you can do it all, it s about whether you can be happy whatever you re doing, she explains in The Huffington Post. Black admits that in her case, doing what she loves to do has not always been a balanced effort. Here s a confession: I was a workaholic in my twenties. I badly wanted not only to achieve, but to overachieve to go farther, faster, and do more than anyone else. Whatever it took to get ahead in my career, that s what I spent time doing. I was really happy during those years, and honestly don t regret a moment of all that hard work. Though she still works hard and travels constantly, Black appreciates the non-work pleasures life has to offer, too, like home and family. It s the intersection of all those vantage points that allows her to enjoy a rewarding circle of life: After all, when you leave your workplace at the end of the day, if you then have nowhere else meaningful to go, what really have you gained with all your hard work? Sally J. Clasen is a freelance writer based in Phoenix. She s written for numerous consumer and corporate magazines and news outlets and focuses on health, business and travel subjects. She can be reached at writesalgal@yahoo.com. Michael edwards June 2008 SPEAKER 19