byBill Pasha
A long time professional acquaintance called me a couple of months ago, ostensibly to say hello and discuss industry trends. During the conversation, he hesitantly raised the true reason for his call. His once-promising radio management career had stalled. We discussed the reasons that he felt that way and, sure enough, I drew the same conclusion. The job advancement train of this senior radio station executive had come to a screeching halt. If that's you. Here's how to fix it before it's too late.
Together we examined where his engine had veered off the track. We started with his most recent frustrations; he had been in the same job for too long, he worked in a dead end city, his job interviews had felt ?off.? Worse, there had been companies who were eager to speak with him at the beginning of each search process that simply didn?t even call back to inform this eager candidate that the position had been filled.
We agreed that all signs pointed to the need for action, but could a stem to stern review alone provide the answers to the dilemma faced by this 46 year-old white male candidate? If so, would it be too late to intervene by performing Career Rehab?
The process that we followed over the next weeks required psychoanalytic-like honesty and objectivity on his part, and a willingness to ask very difficult questions that were sometimes personal, on mine. The bond we shared as radio professionals was more productive than our friendship. Immediately, the introspection instigated by the queries began to reveal flaws in the package that this manager?s employment-to-date represented.
In short order, we agreed on the following challenges that required immediate remedial actions:
? Over the years, interviewing had become foreign to my friend. He tended to spout rote answers to interview questions. The answers he gave were not particularly thought provoking. Worse, they often seemed to be out of touch with current ideas and approaches. We agreed to a series of mock interviews with other managerial colleagues, to simulate the calls that he might encounter with C-level employers and sharpen his interviewing skills. This included learning what questions to ask, as well as how, or even when, to answer.
? Having lived in the same city for so long, my friend?s wardrobe tended to reflect the geography and that area?s conservative fiscal nature. In other words, his clothes were out of style and drabby. While an open collar might be fine for sales calls in his market, the overall look that he projected was a bit sloppy and uncompetitive with more savvy managers who also were in the running. I suggested that my friend make friends with the manager of the Men?s Department at Nordstrom, or a seasoned pro at Brooks Brothers. There, the stores? knowledgeable professionals could outfit my managerial amigo with clothes that would impress without being ostentatious. I also suggested that he lose his beaten and beloved Chicago Bears logo wristwatch in favor of something more in keeping with the job status he seeks.
? My friend had no cohesive personal digital strategy. Facebook was a place that he used to publicize enjoying a weekend beer with his friends. He never offered a thoughtful professional observation or insight. His picture was taken at a party in a funny hat. He didn?t tweet. Even his email signature failed to include his email address. Creating a meaningful strategy for my friend?s online presence was a sure way to rehabilitate his online image. It included teaching him how to write for Facebook and Twitter, and even creating a month?s worth of status quotes. For all intents and purposes, Career Rehab would not only put him in control of his personal digital strategy, it would make him accountable for it.
? When asked whose careers he had helped to build, he blanked. And when prompted with names of prominent players with whom he had been involved, he was unable to articulate how he had contributed to their careers. Clearly, mentoring is an important arrow in the quiver of skills of any good manager. As a managerial strength, my friend should have been ready and able to capitalize on it. Learning to do so was to be an important part of his Career Rehab.
? My friend?s resume had not been updated in several years. While his professional and academic credentials are impressive, he failed to effectively communicate what he should have known best. His CV was filled with features, but no benefits to employers. He stated that he had created and singlehandedly managed a sales team of fifteen reps, but he failed to account for his recruitment techniques, the revenue the team generated in digital sales, or incremental sales of any sort. In fact, it was impossible to judge his effectiveness in training or motivating his crew versus the skills of his GSM. He stated that he had an Ivy League MBA, but failed to describe how that had served him in the real world. In general, his resume was a boring history book that could have been a colorful blockbuster movie. Needless to say, our foray into Career Rehab created a shiny new bio piece that effectively tells the winning story of a worthy candidate for hire, who possesses today?s most sought after skills.
? Networking was a thing my friend used to do. During his years in his current market, this manager had grown top busy?read ?complacent??to keep in touch with friends he had made in his years rising through the ranks of sales, sales management, and general management. He had lost important connections with programmers and marketers and vendors. He talked to no one outside of his local circle, and no one spoke about him. So when important positions would arise within companies of people he once knew, he would make a call to his ?buddy from Cleveland? only to discover that it was hard to strike up a conversation. That social discomfort was compounded when this manager had only one option left:
Asking for help from a virtual stranger. One of the toughest parts of going through Career Rehab is admitting your mistakes to your friends. This man is now a networking evangelist. He takes full advantage of the note cards that we selected from a fine stationery web site. They were not inexpensive, but my manager-student was quickly learning that optics might not make the man, but they often open doors. He drops a note to anyone he knows who is promoted, has a baby or a birthday, or who loses a job. They are quick and concise, and always very personal and handwritten.
My friend?s program of redevelopment paid off. He is now gainfully and happily reemployed outside of the radio industry, in a pursuit that involves mobile platforms. He is reinvigorated and is a poster child for the premise that no career is unsalvageable.
My take away from this experience, and I hope yours, too, is that careers require constant direction and control. When you allow the planning and execution of your livelihood fall into your comfort zone, you are destined to hit bottom. Today, while you are still on top of your game, develop your own custom version of Career Rehab. Run what you do against a checklist. If you fail to make the grade, enlist the support of a trusted colleague who cares about you to help in a makeover.
Bill Pasha is founder and president of MultiBrand Media International, LLC, a concierge consulting company. Until recently Bill was VP of Programming for Entercom where he was responsible for over half of Entercom's 121 stations. Contact Bill at bpasha@multibrandmedia.com.
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