Radio station managers have a lot of jobs. Everything from hiring staff and budgeting down to turning off the lights and taking out the trash, and literally anything and everything in between. However, perhaps the biggest job is to motivate, to be positive and to bring high energy every day.
If we’ve had the pleasure of working together you already know I love to sing. I’m not good at it, but I love to sing (or rap) and I generally do it when I am walking, or sitting, or really any time. It didn’t start out as a thing, I just naturally did it all the time. But then I saw how people would respond, generally with laughter – but then also usually followed by them joining in the song with me or belting out the next line. So, I kept doing it and had fun with it just as a way to keep everyone smiling and loose during the day.
Being positive and having an aura around you of high energy and excitement for what we get to do in this business each day is a must, especially today. Getting to do what we get to do, as challenging as it often is, is still a privilege and many would love to be in our positions. As a manager of any kind in our industry, if you’re asking your staff to not only work their tails off with less resources and pay, you can’t also ask them to do it in an environment filled with negativity.
Behind closed doors, have at it. Managers should use their time with other managers to air out the things you should never talk about in front of the staff. If it isn’t something they need to worry about, do not let it become something they concern themselves with.
Pace is important as well. One of the best compliments I ever received in my career was from a boss who said, “When you move through the office, wind blows.” Initially I thought that was a fat joke, but then he explained my pace in the office is one of being energized, I move with a purpose and don’t mosey along like I have nothing else to do.
We have all seen those people in the office. The ones who take up so much of your time because they want to stand around and talk rather than work and never have anything positive to say. You wonder why they stay as unhappy as they seem to be. There’s no time for these people in the business anymore.
Aggressive, creative, go-getters. That is what the industry needs and that starts at the very top with the leaders. Then it trickles down to all sides of the office. If your talent is energized and loves the environment and feels supported, they are going to be better on the air. If your sales team feeds off your great energy, they are going to be that much more hyped up to do their jobs and represent the brand(s). We know there is a lot of ‘suck’ to embrace in a media sales job, so you have to walk into that office each day knowing it is your job to lift everyone up. The team will feed off of you.
Energy and passion often lead to creativity and those three things can take you a long way in our business. Sometimes the best ideas can come from the strangest places when people feel energized and believe everyone is rowing in the same direction, wanting the same outcomes.
As managers, we need to be pulling from the front, setting the example, rather than pushing from the back and expecting others to lead the way.
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The Best Thing I’ve Heard/Watched Recently
Without question the best thing I watched recently was the NFL RedZone channel during Week 1 of the NFL season. Hearing and seeing Scott Hanson back on my television means it is the best time of the year and for my money, the RedZone is the best way to spend a Sunday.
If somehow you are unaware of RedZone or have never tuned in, if you are an NFL fan or you have a fantasy football team, you have to at least check it out. Basically, it is seven hours of live football, features up to eight games at once and pretty much just shows you all of the stuff that matters. Meanwhile Hanson does an excellent job navigating you through the coverage bouncing from game to game and doing his best to keep up with everything so you can sit back and enjoy.
You can find out more about NFL RedZone by clicking here.
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In Case You Missed It
We lost one of the great actors and voices this past week when James Earl Jones passed away at the age of 93. To me, I will always think of ‘Field of Dreams’ and his unbelievable performance in that movie when I think of him, although his voice really is what most of us think of first.
Mark Kreidler wrote about Jones recently and talked about the many different sports roles he played in his amazing career. A career that cannot possibly be defined by any one single role he played.
Kreidler wrote, “He was Darth Vader, sure. But he was more. And Jones understood sports, both on stage and in film, as one way to process his own American experience – but also as a way to share that experience with people who might not otherwise be interested in hearing the story.”
You can read the full column by clicking here.
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
