Family is a very comforting concept. It feels good to have a group of people that you would give up everything for and vice versa. That is a kind of love that you will feel from only a very few people in your life.
Employers have been trying to sell the idea that their organizations are a family for decades, if not hundreds of years. At its most diabolical, the practice is exploitative. It drills into employees the idea that being asked not to log the overtime hours they work is okay and that wanting better is somehow selfish.
Let’s put the social implications to the side for a second though, and think about this from management’s point of view.
Is hammering the idea of family into your employees’ heads the best way to accomplish your goals? It isn’t. Relationships will develop amongst departments and between individuals and that is fine. My wife has worked with largely the same group of people for the last 15 years and she is deeply loyal to that group. There is nothing wrong with employees feeling like a family. For a manager though, you have to sell the organization as a team.
Teams work towards a common goal. Team members are viewed as individuals and are valued based on their contribution towards that goal. We cover sports for a living. We see it all the time. Coaches may absolutely love their players as people, but they still have to keep performance at the forefront of the decision making process. That kind of relationship is much more conducive to business than a family relationship.
Look at the family I grew up with for instance. My dad and I don’t have much of a relationship at all. We talk maybe 3 or 4 times per year and haven’t seen each other since an extended family member’s wedding in 2019. He is still my dad. My sister goes through these phases where she retreats into her cocoon and doesn’t accept my calls or return my texts. I don’t know why she does that, but I love my sister very much. All I can do is keep texting until she texts me back.
Can you even begin to imagine trying to run an office or an air staff that functions that way? Now look, I get that not all families are dysfunctional like that, but plenty are. If family is the dynamic you are striving for with your staff, you need to be prepared to work around dysfunction.
How many coaches can you name that have been asked to speak to corporate groups or have written a book about leadership? The idea is pretty simple. There is a lot that can be learned about leading a team of employees from the way these guys lead a team of players. Do you see any Fortune 500 companies lining up to give your mom a check to come in and explain why you’re the world’s best lil’ puddin’ face? No, because there are so many duties and concerns that a family relationship requires that would get in the way of productivity when it comes to functioning as a business.
Phil Jackson has always been praised for building a team that lets the talents of superstars shine and builds up the role players to be ready when called upon. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, John Paxon and Sasha Vujačić all trust Phil for different reasons. What matters is that they all trust him. That seems more like the ideal work environment than one where you feel obligated to show up to a co-worker’s kid’s piano recital.
Look at the sports radio world. A PD cannot manage every show and each individual employee the same way. Validation doesn’t look the same to a star talent as it does to a part-time producer trying to work his way up the ladder. The time devoted to an established, dominant show will not be the same as the time devoted to one you are trying to get off the ground. PDs manage their staffs as individuals in order to meet an overall goal.
Imagine trying to explain to your daughter, who only ever gets straight As and each week is assigned more chores, that she isn’t allowed to join you and your other daughter, who could get straight As but never turns in her homework and is only expected to take out the trash, at the water park this weekend. The good kid would be filled with resentment and demanding answers from you. As a parent, all you can answer with is “because I said so,” and if you’re a parent, you know that only leads to deeper resentment and more questions.
Establishing a team environment means making sure the players understand that they all have different roles and that means there will sometimes be an imbalance in recognition and reward. If that isn’t something they accept, there are two choices: work your way up to the level that gets the kind of recognition they require or find a new team.
The parent in the first scenario can’t really tell their daughter to find a new family. I mean, they could, but we would all rightfully call that parent an asshole if they did that.
There is one more element of being a team that doesn’t exist in families that is important to hammer home. Sometimes, a teammate can be beloved and just not be a fit for the team. The phrase “it’s nothing personal, it’s just business” isn’t much comfort when you get fired or laid off, but hey man, that’s reality. Radio, at its core is show business, and sometimes you’ve hired Eric Stoltz to play Marty McFly and you realize that isn’t going to work. Eric didn’t do anything wrong. The team just needs a change.
My dad isn’t a great dad. He’s still my dad though. There is no re-casting in a family, so I was just stuck with a dad that had no interest in being a dad when I was a kid.
This might read as heartless. I don’t mean for it to. We sometimes overvalue what our work environment is or is supposed to be and that blinds us to reality. Employees, like players, need to know they are valued and appreciated and that it is your goal to set them up for success. Loyalty and benefit of the doubt are not given. They are things both sides have a duty to the other to earn. That is how a team functions and thrives.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
