Fast Talk: Leading Through Limbo

Believe in Your Brand

Susan Lyne

CEO
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.
New York, New York

The situation with Martha was hard for people here. So of course there were morale issues when I came in as CEO last fall -- some great people had lived through three very tough years. One thing I tried to do immediately was to let everyone know what I saw as an outsider -- that the company had inherent strengths because it had been built smartly from the beginning.

There was an enormous amount of uncertainty about when the company would be able to get all of this behind it. But I think Martha's decision not to wait out her appeal, choosing instead to serve her time, allowed people to finally plan again for a future. We were able to reassure everyone that by August we'd have Martha back, free and unencumbered.

The advertiser issue was a key worry of mine. We had to get out with a positive sell again. I think that people had forgotten how to -- or had not been able to -- sell proactively for a while. Would we be able to bring advertisers back? Would public reaction to Martha be positive? Those were the unknowables on some level, but I had to operate on my instincts. If we did our work right, those things would take care of themselves.

The interesting thing is that people never wavered in their loyalty to the brand. Our readers never left the magazines -- the advertisers did, though they're back. Our sales at Kmart remained stable. At the end of the day, if people get what they expect from a brand -- and more -- they're going to stick with it, no matter what the headlines say.

Susan Lyne was named CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia following a shake-up at ABC, where she had been president of the entertainment division.

The Toughest Times Bring the Truest Focus

John Edwards

Former U.S. senator and 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee
Raleigh, North Carolina

People look for strength in a leader, particularly in times of uncertainty. Strength, in my mind, comes from conviction. Strength comes from having a clear set of beliefs that you're willing to fight for every day. If your causes are part of who you are, if they give you purpose, you never stop fighting.

Being a strong leader, of course, is not always easy. The Friday before Election Day, my wife, Elizabeth, was told that in all likelihood she had breast cancer, a diagnosis that was confirmed by a specialist the day after the election. What both of us had to do for the next four days -- in the most intense moments, in the highest political stakes that exist, I think, in the world -- was to go out and not just function but fight with all our energy and passion for our vision of the country. I couldn't sleep at night. I was worried to death about her. And all this happened at a time when the talented people who had been working on our campaign were completely worn out after putting in 20-hour days for such a long time.

But it's in those most trying moments when real focus comes to you. After that visit to her doctor, Elizabeth said, "Millions of women have been through this, and there are many millions of Americans who are depending on us. There is too much at stake. We have to stay completely focused on what matters to this country." Seeing that strength within her during those difficult days gave me -- gave us -- the power to continue our fight.

John Edwards, shown here in New York, is director of the Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Elizabeth Edwards has completed her cancer treatment after surgery in March. No word yet on whether he's running for president again in 2008.

Keep Your People Looking Up

Joanne Smith

President
Song Airlines
Atlanta, Georgia

When we started Song in 2003, it was during an economic downturn. The industry still hadn't recovered from 2001, and we were facing intense competition from carriers like JetBlue on our Northeast-to-Florida routes. There were also lots of skeptics who said that airlines within airlines didn't work, and they had plenty of evidence to back them up. While we were confident in the product, we knew we'd have to find frontline employees who were resilient enough to withstand all of these forces. At the same time, we had to tell them we didn't know what the future of Song was going to be.