Talеs From the Front

Peter Chernin didn't set out to pioneer the human-­sized job, but he's responsible for an accidental breakthrough at NewsCorp. Seven years ago, Chernin, the company's president and head of its Fox subsidiary, appointed Gary Newman and Dana Walden as presidents of 20th Century Fox Televi­sion. Not co-presidents-it is not a job share. Pres­idents. Both are responsible for the performance of the entire company.

In simpler times, Chernin says, Fox produced four to five television series a year (about 100 episodes) and sold them to three networks. Now it produces 25 series a year (about 600 episodes) and deals with six networks, 200 cable channels, syndication, DVDs, international, wireless, and broadband mar­kets. "What I was really thinking was where to find the skill set to manage these businesses," Chernin says. "I came to believe that, because of the com­plexity, if I could find two people with complemen­tary skills, it would probably be better."

It has turned out better, both for Fox and for New­man and Walden. "Because there are two of us, we're capable of getting involved in many more things," says Newman. ''There's more productivity here than at any other company like this where there's only one person in charge." Walden adds. Both say the arrangement has been fabulous for their family lives. "I have greater freedom to be a participant in life," says Newman. "There's no meet­ing that I can't cover or that Gary can't cover," Walden says. Example: When Walden's daughter broke her arm one weekend. Walden didn't come in on Monday. The business didn't skip a beat. A pres­ident of the company was there; all scheduled meet­ings took place.

Like any successful partnership, Walden's and Newman's took a while to sort out. They spent the first year doing too much together. Only when they became trusting enough for each to let the other handle situations alone did the leverage for the company (and their lives) become powerful. Making the arrangement work re­quires ground rules. At the outset, they sometimes inadvertently con­tradicted each other in responding to e-mails. Today their rule is who­ever gets to an e-mail first, answers it. "If one of us has to step up and make a decision," says Newman, "we do it and move on, and worry about straightening it out between us the next day."

Chernin doesn't find managing two presidents all that hard. If he talks to one he expects that person to pass on the word to the other. If he needs some­thing he asks his office to "find Dana or Gary." "It doesn't really matter to me which one." Chernin says. "Both are up to speed on everything." Though he didn't create this arrangement to give them better lives outside work, it does that too. Newman and Walden compare their relationship to a marriage: Dana calls Gary her "day spouse.” They recently re­newed their "vows" by signing a long-term deal to keep working together.

Across town, at the Los Angeles Times, Dean Baquet has cloned a key position as well. Shortly after becoming editor, he announced that he was divid­ing into three jobs the managing editor position he had previously held. Now two managing editors and an associate editor oversee the 1.000-person newsroom. Why three? Like Chernin in the TV business, Baquet cites the growing complexity of major news­papers. He felt that as a solo managing editor there were things he hadn't been able to do well, de­spite putting in long hours. "If your job is gigantic, there are things you ignore," he says, citing the sports section in particular as gating short shrift. Baquet also felt so swept up by daily crises that he had little time to think strategically. “The job was just too big for one person," he says.

A saner division of labor is good for the Times's news coverage, he believes, since top editors are sup­posed to be in touch with the world. "I like the idea of them getting home earlier," he says of his senior team. "I like the idea of them having lives. I like the idea of them having exposure to things other than just the newsroom and the news in the moment." Dividing such jobs is also a way to broaden the com­pany's talent base and nurture new leaders, he says, making it possible for people to spend time with their families and climb the ladder. And while adding top managers at high salaries may seem like a costly fix, both companies say that the gain in effectiveness far outweighs the incremental expense.

CEO David Neeleman of JetBlue is also experi­menting with job designs for senior executives. Thomas Kelly, 53, is an executive VP whom Neeleman calls JetBlue's "chief wisdom officer." Kelly worked with Neeleman at a previous airline; from the start he has run JetBlue's legal, government af­fairs, and treasury teams from Salt Lake City even though Neeleman based the company in New York. Not long ago, because of Kelly's responsibilities in the Mormon church, he requested a four-day week at reduced compensation. The boss, also a Mormon, said yes. Both men felt the strength of the three VPs under Kelly meant it could work.

Still, Neeleman - a father of nine who's home most nights for family Scripture readings at 8 p.м.­ - isn't sure about applying this kind of arrangement more broadly. Yet he says he's considering a simi­lar four-day-week request from another crucial player, the airline's head of scheduling.

At Fleet Bank in Boston, Cynthia Cunningham and Shelly Murray shared the job of vice president for global markets foreign exchange for six years. Each worked three days a week on a trading desk. They didn't divide clients and tasks; whoever was pre­sent dealt with whatever came up. They had one set of goals and one performance review, and they op­erated so seamlessly - with the help of a weekly meet­ing and constant voicemails throughout the day - that out-of-town colleagues often didn't know there were two of them. In previous jobs each had worked 50 to 60 hours a week; in their shared role they dropped to 20 to 25 each. They also felt "totally on" at the of­fice since work wasn't consuming their lives. The grat­itude factor, too, was huge: having a rare senior job-­share doubled their drive to deliver. "We didn't have time to waste," says Cunningham. "We had to suc­ceed so that we could keep the arrangement we had."

When Bank of America acquired Fleet and elim­inated their department, Cunningham and Murray looked for a new job together. Despite their track record, no company has yet been willing to give them another shot; it's outside most business's comfort zone. Top recruiters told them "we don't place part-­timers," unable to fathom what they'd achieved.