Former FCC chairman from Sikeston addresses service vs. ambition in book

SIKESTON, Mo. — While growing up in Sikeston, Al Sikes learned about leadership firsthand.

Sikes watched as his father, Kendall Sikes, serve as Sikeston’s mayor and operate a successful business.

He even has a check issued Dec. 31, 1960, to his father by the Sikeston city clerk for 25 cents for his service as mayor. That check, Sikes said, reinforces the lessons his father handed down — that leadership isn’t about power or money; it’s about serving others.

In his recently published book, “Culture Leads, Leaders Follow,” Sikes writes about power and leadership. He contrasts what he learned in his early years with the culture of power and ambition he saw in Washington, D.C., and later in New York City.

In his book, Sikes expresses his concerns about many of today’s businessmen and politicians, whose ambitions drive them to win at any cost. He also writes about his mentors and his heroes, starting with his parents.

“My mother’s favorite lecture to me was, ‘Alfred, the teachers all tell me you can do better work.’ She kept encouraging me to be more ambitious,” Sikes recalled. “My father spent more of his time discouraging me from things I shouldn’t do. It was kind of a yin-and-yang approach.”

After obtaining his law degree, Sikes practiced law and worked in government. He said he soon realized he wanted to go into business.

Again, his father was helpful, Sikes said, asking questions, making him think and rethink what he wanted to do.

Sikes became involved in the media business. That involvement eventually would bring him the opportunity to serve as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

As President Ronald Reagan prepared to nominate Sikes to the post, he first met with Malcolm Baldrige, Reagan’s secretary of commerce. Baldrige asked Sikes whether he was tough enough to take on Washington.

“I made a note of what he said and decided while in Washington, I need to be making more notes,” he said. “It was so contrary to anything I had experienced in my first 45 years in Missouri.”

There were plenty of opportunity to take notes; Sikes said he had to deal with a number of colorful characters, from Howard Stern to Rupert Murdoch to Mark Cuban.

Sikes continued to accumulate notes as he moved from Washington to New York City. Finally, he said he decided to turn those notes into a book.

“It had a long gestation period,” Sikes said with a laugh. “I began writing it 10-plus years ago. Then, about a year and half ago, I decided I have got to finish it. So the last third of the book was a sprint, while the first two-thirds was a slow marathon.”

Sikes said he hopes readers find his story interesting as he tackles politics and the business culture.

“I think that the popular culture has moved leaders to a point where in politics, it is win at any cost, and in business, it is profit at any cost,” Sikes said. “We have to push back on that approach that is all too often part of today’s culture.”

Sikes offers examples in his book of those who have successfully pushed back. He points to people such as Candy Lightner, who founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

His final chapter is devoted to the family members of those who were killed in the Charleston, South Carolina, mass shooting at a church who opted to forgive the shooter. Their actions brought about social changes not just in their community, but across the nation, Sikes said.

According to Sikes, in today’s world of digital networks and social media, there are more ways for the public to push back. Reform, he said, will not come from the top, but it must be grassroots.

Sikes began his book tour in Charleston, South Carolina. He also is making stops in Atlanta; Nashville, Tennessee; Kansas City, Missouri; St. Louis; and Indianapolis.

One of the stops he is looking forward to is his hometown. Sikes will sign copies of his book from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Sikeston Depot Museum, 116 W. Malone Ave.

When the book tour ends, Sikes already is thinking about what is next.

“I’ve been encouraged to write some more,” he said. “But I would be happy after four or five or six months of promoting the sale of this book to just take a long vacation.”

Pertinent address:

116 W. Malone Ave., Sikeston, Mo.