What Radio Managers Can Learn From TV

12-12-14
Even though it may be about a year, in time for the 2016 election, before you have to file online, it's smart to know exactly what the Commission might be looking for. Luckily there's a little history to go back and study as TV was made the online filing guinea pig. Earlier this year, broadcast attorney David Oxenford and his colleague David O'Connor conducted a webinar for TV stations to discuss exactly what documents needed to be filed online. It's an excellent lesson on what you might soon be required to do, complete with slides and a review of NAB forms to track documents. Get more information and watch the webinar HERE

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Cox Shuffles Managers In Three Markets

10-2-14

Donna Hall (pictured) previously Group VP with Cox Media ? the media sales division of Cox Communications ? returns to CMG to lead the five-station Atlanta radio group as VP and GM. Ben Reed, previously VP and general manager in Atlanta, will now lead San Antonio?s seven-station group. Dan Lawrie, previously VP and general manager in San Antonio, now leads Tulsa?s four-station group. Lawrie replaces Gene Vidler who is no longer with the company.

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Who Are The Best Managers in Radio?

8-27-14

General Managers and Market Managers have a lot of responsibility at Radio stations across America these days. In addition to high revenue expectations, there's the constant challenge of selling radio in a world shifting to digital, managing multiple staffs and stations, finding and keeping good salespeople and keeping their stations strong in the community. Those that execute those tasks do it flawlessly and make it look easy. They are the best in the industry and it's time to recognize them. Radio Ink is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Best Radio Managers in America. MAKE YOUR NOMINATION HERE.

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One Word Managers Should Learn To Love -- Mobile

7-2-14

eMarketer just came out with a report that says ad spending in the United States will see its largest increase since 2004 -- and the main reason is mobile. Total ad spending is projected to hit $180.12 billion in 2014, an increase of 5.3 percent over 2013. Of that $180.12 billion total, television will see the lion's share with 38.1 percent which is down from 2013's 38.8 percent. Digital will grow from 25.5 percent in 2013 to 28.2 percent in 2014, and in the digital category, mobile advertising is projected to jump from 5.7 percent last year to just under 10 percent in 2014. Radio, excluding digital and off-air, will decline from 8.9 percent to 8.6 percent, according to eMarketer.

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(SALES) 5 Things Sale Managers Should Avoid

4-10-2013

There are mountains of articles and loads of information out there enumerating all the things that salespeople and sales managers should do in nearly every situation imaginable. But what about the things you should not do? Where is the list of actions you should avoid at all costs?

I am giving you a much-deserved break from the regular nagging on what you need to do as a sales manager. (There?s only so much time in the day, right?) Instead, we are going to focus for the moment on the clear no-no?s of sales management, so you can easily sidestep them in the future.

Here are a handful of things that every sales manager should make sure they never do:

1. Never ever stop looking for superstar talent for your talent bank. Don?t make the mistake of thinking your sales team is set and that you will never need to hire again. Great sales managers never stop looking. In fact, the biggest mistake you can make is failing to interview on a regular basis. Those who wait for a job to come open are usually stuck hiring whoever they can find. Those with a talent bank select the perfect fit for their exact needs.

2. Don?t get caught sitting behind your desk all day responding to e-mails, talking on the phone, dealing with last-minute fires, and working on inventory. I know there is a ton of e-mail. And certainly you need to look at the inventory and put out the fires. But the sales manager?s job is to be out in the field with the salespeople. You cannot effectively coach people from behind your desk; you need to see them in action during their performance. Imagine even the very best football coach sitting out the games and spending all his time in the locker room. It just doesn?t work.

3. Don?t have meetings just to have meetings. I know how easy it is to fall into the trap of conducting the regular meeting just because that?s how it?s always been done. Remind yourself that your salespeople are happier and more productive when they are not being forced to sit in a meeting that feels like a waste of their time. Next time you are scheduling a meeting, challenge yourself to define the value it will bring. If there is value, determine the specific purpose for the meeting, and ask yourself whether it?s really necessary right now. If it is, question how long it really needs to be, consider combining this meeting with another that?s already scheduled, or, if possible, share the information in an e mail that can be read at a convenient time.

4. Don?t take all the credit. When times are good, don?t be that sales manager who takes credit for the success. Don?t ever get caught telling people how you accomplished the goal or made the decision that pushed the team to finally exceed budget. Great sales managers look for ways to give credit to their team and show off the talents of their salespeople. Look for ways to showcase what others have done to achieve success. You will find a wellspring of opportunity by looking for stories of clients that are seeing results and therefore continuing to work with you month after month.

5. Don?t treat everyone the same. Or you?ll send the message that you don?t value people for who they are and you don?t care enough to know the difference. The fact is that everyone is different. Their talents, their needs, their maturity, their experiences ? they cover an endless spectrum. So how can you have the same expectations for them all? I admit that it takes more work to treat individuals as individuals and coach them in the way that is uniquely best for them, but the payoff is enormous. Get to know what each person is good at and encourage them to do more of it ? and more often.

There is no doubt that knowing what not to do is as important as knowing what you should be doing all the time. As sales managers, your job is about much more than exceeding budget. Your sales team can only be as effective as each person you have on board. Grow those people, and grow your team. If you focus on the people part, good things will follow.

Matt Sunshine is EVP of the Center for Sales Strategy.
E-mail: mattsunshine@csscenter.com

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Managers Prepare For Challenges of 2013

11-1-2012

As 2012 winds to a close, and stations try to finish strong, GM's across the country are putting the finishing touches on preparations for 2013. In the current issue of Radio Ink (featuring Julie Talbot on the cover) we've interviewed 50 great radio managers to get their perspective on the upcoming year, the challenges they expect and how they plan to overcome them. Here's a sample of what you'll read.

"We anticipate challenges next year to be similar to what we already face; a slow and inconsistent economy, making it harder to forecast. We  face a changing media market place where we need to adapt and engage our listeners in new and relevant ways. Peter Drucker put it simply, ?business needs to create loyal customers and innovate.? Both will require investment, commitment and focus.  We cannot do business the way we did just a few years ago. A relationship with our listeners and our customers needs to evolve, go deeper and create more value than it did before. It?s not just about getting an order.  It?s about growing their business. We need to continually seek our customers input about how we can best serve them. To meet these challenges, we need to hire the best people, train them and give them the tools so they can do their best work.  In order to deliver the best for our customers, we first need to build a strong workplace. That means working together across departments like never before.  We need to involve all our people in the process, remove obstacles to high performance, align everyone to the same goal and reward them for their great work."

John Fullam
Greater Media
Philadelphia

"The biggest challenge for 2013 will be an unstable economy. Retailers of every size and category continue to experience roller coaster sales so we?ll have to build our plans assuming we won?t get any lift from market-wide growth. Over the years we have adopted the attitude that acting as a team we can create our own success, even in the face of an uncertain economy. We operate with the understanding that a great deal can be accomplished when many people row together in the same direction. My job as the team captain is to steer us in the ?right? direction."

Terry Gillingham
Vice President/General Manager
South Central Media

"In 2013 our biggest challenge is to continue to beat the market and to exceed our 2011/2012 successes both in rating and revenue. We have had year over year growth for the past couple of years and it is become an expectation of everyone in the building. We are constantly looking at every corner of our operation to improve what we are doing and have designed a system to make that work. We are confident that we will not only exceed our goals in 2013 but blow them out of the water! When your staff holds themselves accountable for what they are responsible for, you only need to guide/coach when they need your assistance."

Bill Fuerst
Market Manger
Clear Channel Media + Entertainment
Colorado Springs/Pueblo

To order one copy of this issue call Randa at 561-655-8778
To subscribe GO HERE
To subscribe to our digital edition GO HERE

(11/2/2012 11:22:35 PM)
Those (above) comments could have been prepared by an overworked Creative Department - one department, one script for all managers.
They are also the kind of comments that could have been mailed in.

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Clear Channel Shuffles More Managers

7-13-2012

At management meetings in New York Clear Channel announced to the troops that Brian Olson and Kevin Legrett have been promoted to Senior VP's. Olson was Market Manager in Miami and Legrett worked in Rochester.

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Cumulus Managers Excited About Future After Atlanta Meetings

5-15-2012

Last week about 120 managers from Cumulus gathered at the Buckhead Theater in Atlanta for the first high level meeting since the Citadel merger. At the get together, managers had a chance to spend time with the Dickeys and Jon Pinch, they were given demonstrations from vendors and the meeting concluded with a performance by Rascal Flatts. We were given access to all the managers to ask them about the meeting and the company, with no strings attached. According to several managers who attended the meeting, and despite some of what you may hear about Cumulus,  they are pumped up about the future of the company. Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey said, ?To get a chance to meet all these guys and to spend time with them over 2 and half days was invaluable for us.?

WPLJ New York General Manager Steve Borneman is a former Citadel Manager who remained with the company after the merger. He says the meeting was absolutely awesome. ?I said to Lew (Dickey) as I was walking out of one of the meetings, I don't throw this word around very often, but it was actually inspiring. That is the word that really sort of set the tone for me. It was an inspiring meeting. It was informative. It was motivational. It was productive. It's a good feeling to have a a good feeling about your company. All the things that had been in the rumor mill prior to sale, all the negativity, you are going to get that, but Lew and John are smart operators. Jon Pinch is a smart operator. They are very passionate about what they want to do. They are a company that is being very aggressive in acquisitions as opposed to companies selling off radio stations. You fight the systems and it's not going to work. The systems that they have are phenomenal. They are cutting edge. Some of the systems that they presented to us over the course of the meetings, the demonstrations were tremendous. They?ll help us to do a better job. It?s a great company to work for. They care about their people. They treat us well. It was really a wonderful meeting. I hadn't been to a corporate meeting since, really, the ABC days. We didn't have them at Citadel.?

Donna Baker is a market manager for Cumulus on Houston. ?This isn't fluff. It really genuinely isn't. I have been to a lot of meetings in my career, and I can genuinely say I feel more positive and uplifted about the forward focus than I have in many, many years in my career. I see that we truly are on the verge of making something incredible happen in our industry. It was all forward focus. It was so positive. We get beat to death day to day in the media and the critics. It's big stuff and it's happening fast. They want everybody to understand it and be a part of it. I think they are so well positioned to take advantage of the opportunity. I really believe that Lew is brilliant. I genuinely think that he's the most brilliant mind in radio. He thinks so far forward. But he is also not one to just knee-jerk react. He put a lot of thought into how the execution, for the long term, needs to be set up to win.?

Ann McManus is the market manager for Cumulus in Bridgeport Connecticut. McManus was named market manager of the year - for medium markets - at the Atlanta meeting and says she absolutely loved what she heard. ?I can't say enough good things about what I saw down there. I have been with Cumulus for ten years. I am a huge fan of Lew Dickey. I am absolutely crazy about working for them. They have given me some opportunities to meet with the Citadel people during the introduction period. It was such an eye-opener for the people from Citadel to see how great Cumulus is. There was so much rumor out there, and all this innuendo. Then to see how brilliant and visionary Cumulus is, I think that they were blown away by it. They are the most visionary people that I have ever worked for. I have been in the radio business since I as 12 years old. I have seen the mom and pop's. I have seen the big companies. I worked for a jackass (name deleted) and I worked for a wonderful man named Marty Pompadur. There is no company like Cumulus.?

Also at the meeting, Dan Bennet was market manager of the year for large markets and Jim Christopherson for small.

(5/15/2012 7:15:17 AM)
How much did Cumulus pay for this article? This is insulting to your readers.
(5/15/2012 7:11:48 AM)
I was also there...and share the same feelings about the meetings.They were great meetings with great information. The company is not looking at next year, they are looking forward five and ten years out. Lew Dickey and his senior team have a great vision for the company, I am glad to be on their team

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Cumulus Changes Market Managers in DC

4-3-2012

Cumulus has brought in Sam Rogers to run its stations in Washington, DC. Rogers (pictured) was brought in to replace Jeff Boden who was let go. Rogers told Radio Ink, "I?m very excited to join the outstanding team at WMAL and WRQX. These are two great heritage radio stations whose future only looks brighter.  I want to thank Lew Dickey, Jon Pinch and John Dickey for this wonderful opportunity." Rogers joined Cumulus last August as VP of Political and Platform Sales, having left a position at CBS as Market Manager, also in DC.

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Who Are The Best Managers in Radio?

In an upcoming issue of Radio Ink Magazine, we will be highlighting and spotlighting Radio's most successful General Managers and Market Managers. It all starts with a nomination from you. If you believe you work for the best manager in the business, please e-mail details to edryan@radioink.com. Take into account the following: revenue success, station stability, leadership, people skills and longevity in the business.

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Hendrie: "Radio Managers Ignore Talent."

(by Ed Ryan)

For 21 years now Phil Hendrie has been broadcasting a unique style of radio theatre that, it's easy to say, only he can pull off to perfection. He's been doing it night after night, week after week, year after year. Most of you probably know that Hendrie artfully and without mistake, bobs and weaves, in and out of male, female and child-like voices errorless and for hours every night. He does it so seamlessly that some callers are duped into believing the voices are actual guests and their outrageous comments to Phil, the straight-man host, are real. Even after two decades Hendrie gets callers not only believing the routine but outraged enough to call in. Hendrie cannot get a caller involved, he just creates and adds him - or her - to the routine. Those that DO get the show belly-laugh as the caller unravels with rage and Hendrie eggs the guest (him) on while supporting the callers position. For those of you new to the radio business we would encourage you to give Hendrie a listen.

We've been living in a lifetime filled with political talkers, mostly from the right, launched by Rush and followed by many. Most consultants tell you if you are unique, you'll have a place in radio. Stand out. Don't be a follower, etc. etc. Hendrie is, perhaps, too unique for radio. And, his show is too unique to have others try to steal what he does. His characters have grown their own fan bases, some of them have their own Facebook pages and Twitter accounts which, of course, are all monitored by Hendrie. You would think he'd be a perfect morning man for today's radio. You get a 3-5 person team for the price of one and no need for co-ed bathrooms. Yet, on most stations, Hendrie is heard from 1AM to 4AM.

Up until recently, technology has been a good friend to Hendrie. That may be changing. Now, he makes a significant amount of money online but worries that may be in jeapordy. Michael Robertsons DAR.FM ranks Hendrie as the 5th most recorded show behind Rush and several NPR programs. That's good news right? A sign his show is popular. The flipside of that is that Hendrie has built up a significant online revenue stream with his backstage pass but now fans can record his show for free on DAR.FM and ditch the annual cost they pay to listen to the show. DAR.FM allows listeners to record the show and have it sit in the cloud for playback whenever it's convenient for the listener. And, 1AM to 4AM, when the show is live is not very convenient. Now Hendrie's fans pay an annual fee to listen to archived shows and watch him perform his comedy on Phil TV. If DAR becomes part of the mainstream what will happen to Hendrie's extra paycheck? Can you say dwindle Bobbie Dooley?

Hendrie has thoughts on all these topics. He never worries about what others in the industry think and he's never politically correct. That's always a breath of fresh air for an interviewer. I had a chance to talk to Phil at the Radio show in Chicago. Here is that interview.

                                                 CHECK OUT PHIL'S WEBSITE HERE

- On the Radio Show panel in Chicago you had strong feelings about the radio industry as it is today.
The radio business is following to the letter the model of failure the auto industry followed. Trying to tear a dollar in half to make two dollars is not making better cars or better radio shows. You make cow dung while you're chasing the art of manipulating the consumer into spending more for cow dung or inferior cow dung. And of course it is chasing down and mastering the art of passing your debt off to bigger and more distant entities until you are owned by people who could care about radio, they have a seat-cover company to run.

Radio will die the death of a thousand cuts unless it pays more attention to its product. And it's not cow dung, no matter how fresh. I don't think I've ever seen a business with more disdain for its own product than radio. These people are literally, troubled and disgusted and distracted by radio shows. Because it's no longer anything you can hide from. The artist is doing his job. But the managers can't sell it, can't market it, can't promote it, can't pronounce it, can't protect it. The talent shortage is at that level.

- Your thoughts on PD's and GM's and how they run their stations today?
Well this question follows what I was just saying. But let me give you the bottom line on these people. I have been approached by just about every heavy hitter in programming who wants to tell me how "brilliant" I am. Not one of them has put me on their stations and here's why: To do that is to have to position my show properly, sell it, in other words do some actual work. Management has for years used the old stand-by argument that talent is the problem. Well, they can't do that anymore. No can do, brother.

    FOR SYNDICATION INFO ON THE PHIL HENDRIE SHOW VISIT THE TRN WEBSITE

Now they're getting push back from guys like me telling them to get off their ass and go out and get some business done. And if you can't do that without hanging onto a ratings book or PPM like a security blanket then let's hire some young guys out of college or wherever who are hungry and who can. But the management and programming guys don't like that kind of direct talk from talent. Shoe's on the other foot though now. Talent is hiring former managers and programmers. That's where their future lies so they need to start seeing things from our perspective. 

How can they be better?
There was a window where they could have been. But, with the exception of a handful of people out there, (my guys at KFI, Robin and Greg) they can't anymore. They are strictly order-takers. And they know it. Their primary concern is implementing the strategy coming from the Mother/Father computer at The Shareholder Complex.
I get the sense you are not a big fan of corporate radio.
That's not true. All I've ever worked for are radio corporations and I can tell you the ones I loved and enjoyed working with. Cox, Greater Media, CBS, Clear Channel, Rounsaville Radio, Noe Broadcasting. I had great times at all of them. What I'm NOT a big fan of are lazy-ass corporate broadcasters going after the "low-hanging fruit" (code for 'I don't work that hard') waiting for the order to come in or selling your talent out and booking these "embedded" inter-mercials that the audience doesn't know from. It's money, sure and it's God-awful radio. The cashbox comes to mind. This was a device from the furthest rings of hell that squeezed more minutes out of an hour while turning the show into unlistenable drek. They are the people I referred to at the beginning...looking to tear a dollar bill in half and make two

- How much interaction do you have with listeners who get what the show is about?
I talk with a lot of them on Twitter but frankly I don't do too much interacting with those active people who do Twitter or comment. There's a reason for this. My time is best spent trying to improve my art, everything about it. That's why I have listeners. It's not best spent jaw-jacking with them. There have been some horrible and misconstrued reactions to me communicating with listeners. In communicating with one who had started a podcast I decided that I didn't want him to do it anymore and asked that it be taken down..and I was nice about it the first 20 times I asked. But some people you can't be nice to.

- Why not take your show on the road to theatres?
I'm going to. It's time, it'll be fun and I'm eager to do it. I will most likely have to produce it myself but we can start small, a theater in San Diego or LA and then take it national and make millions upon millions and laugh and sing

You are doing very well with your backstage pass.
Thank God what I had fun doing on the radio found a loyal, sometimes cranky, rabid audience. They are possessive of the show, they are Kathy Bates in 'Misery," ready to break my legs if I screw something up. In other words they love the hell out of what I do and we charge a subscription price that's do-able for them. We offer archives and the daily show. We throw in our video-casts. We have blogs. We have an uncensored comment section that has given voice to every kind of person under the sun. We have some merchandise. It's real "Ma and Pa" and they have more direct access to me than ever before which creates all kinds of situations. Some real drama sometimes.

                       LISTEN TO A CLASSIC PHIL HENDRIE PODCAST HERE

- You are not real happy with your work being recorded and played back for free. You are in a unique position because you are one of the few successful radio personalities making money online. How can you combat this and do you plan to.
Yes, I plan to. But that's for me to know and for them to find out. It's outrageous. I had some clown tweet me that it's like TVO. TVO is integrated into one's system and is licensed by the concerned parties. No harm, no foul. It's business. Along come a variety of companies in a variety of places with a variety of access to the different streams. And guess what? Not all of them are available. Well now how about that? They are not available because the parties that own them don't want them made available for their own business reasons. Now we come to Phil Hendrie. Here's a guy who is the ultimate victim of this because by speaking out he has made himself a target. Is there anyone in broadcasting speaking up on his behalf? No. Are there any high-powered, industry lawyers out there that want to advocate on his behalf? Hell no. The NAB maybe? No.

And here's the OTHER good part. If I say anything about this publicly...I'm the a&*%$&! In the words of my close, personal friend Dale Dye "It's a beautiful f*&%$+%& war." However, the good news is this. It's going to get better. We have a DMCA that is in force. And frankly, the US Pirate Party, a group that I thought at first would oppose what I'm fighting for, agrees with me. They want to streamline and clarify the process and I'm with that.

Feedback me about the Phil Hendrie interview at edryan@radioink.com or leave your comments below.

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(AUDIO) Radio Managers: Are You Ready to Fail?

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Do you start your work day so worried about failing you never try anything new or innovative? Are you so fearful of what your boss will say or do to you that have just become part of normal? Seth Godin has a little advice for all radio managers, and that is, take a half hour every day, and go out and fail. The best-selling author and brilliant marketer releases his 14th book today, called "We Are All Weird." In it he argues the era of mass marketing is over and how we should all, including radio, focus on our tribes. Godin also predicts spectrum will be worthless in 5 years. And, he says radio loves to copy. "That's not winning. That's not poking the box. Radio needs more leaders and fewer managers. Great leaders are people who fail." Radio Ink editor Ed Ryan had a chance to interview Godin about his new book, his thoughts on radio and why people should fail. Listen to it here or download it from iTunes

Listen to Radio Ink Editor Ed Ryan's interview with Seth Godin
Purchase Seth's latest book below.

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How to Become One of Radio's Great General Managers

How to Become One of Radio's Great General Managers
by Bill Pasha

June 14, 2011

If you are lucky enough to have been cast in the role of a modern Radio General Manager, you know that the character that you portray is fraught with intrigue.  Assassins constantly take aim at you from below; disgruntled employees whisper to anyone who will listen that you enacted the latest economic controls to finance next weekend?s client golf tournament.  You intuitively recognize that your top biller may be a spy, sending surreptitious notes to her corporate masters with the intent to lower their budget expectations, undermine your credibility, and cause your regionals to question the sales leadership you so carefully recruited.  Deejays launch a backroom campaign of disinformation about your latest plot to air a syndicated morning show from some big and unidentified city, even as you negotiate another five-year contract with your heritage team.  And don?t get started on the engineer.  What does he do with all that time at the transmitter? 

The net results of intrigue, incorrect assumptions, and paranoia are chaos, turmoil, and a dangerous challenge to your value creation.  So you must call upon the unique person who can put on the brakes and get this nonsense back on track.  That person possesses the cunning of an MI-6 strategist, the skills of a top NSA analyst, and the strike capacity of a SEAL team.  Only one individual in your organization fits that description:  You. 

It is time to assume aggressive command of your organization. It is time to draw upon a carefully nurtured network of intelligence gatherers that would make James Bond envious. As a top general manager, your team possesses vital information that can make or break your business. Recently, after a long day of working on a plan for three stations, one of the top GMs in the industry offered to share his methods for gathering and properly using subordinate information.  You would know the name of this key market executive, so I will spare him the embarrassment of publishing his name.  However, his managers and staff are likely to recognize his signature technique because his steps are basic and smart, just like him:

? Carefully plan your staffing needs.  Every person that works inside a successful organization must have a reason to be.  Every job must have a description.  Each hire requires specific skills.
? Look at every opening as a necessity to significantly step up your team.  You shouldn?t accept a lateral career move, and you shouldn?t tolerate a sideways job hire.  ?As good as the last guy,? isn?t.
? Recruit as if every job is the most important one to your business. This means developing a network of potential hires before the job opens up.  Get to know the top three people you would want in any key position.  Cultivate each one.  This step never rests.
? Accept ?walk-ons.?  Great players sometimes come from unexpected sources.  Be open to it.   Look outside the radio industry for new skills and points of view.  Fresh thinking often drives new success.
? Screen potential candidates exactly the same way.  Assign recruits a project related to the potential position.  Ask the same questions of everyone.  Have a plan.  Include an honesty component.  Wear a bad tie to the interview and ask what the candidate thinks of it.  You need people who are not afraid to give you bad news.
? Once you have hired the best people for your team, make your goals and expectations crystal clear.  Your management team members must understand that everyone has personal goals, but the team?s goals always come first.  The means by which a goal is accomplished should be irrelevant to the GM, providing that those means are legal and ethical.  You assigned the task.  Let the manager handle it.  Monitor the progress and be available, but don?t micromanage.  You have other things to do.
? Make it evident that credit and accountability for success are the team members.? 
? Make management team members write reports.  Yes, we all hate paperwork but committing in writing is different from a casual hallway conversation, or even a one-on-one meeting.  A regular reporting system provides you with synchronous, real time information that can be collated, overlaid, integrated and parlayed into a whole that is greater than its parts.  How often reporting occurs is up to the GM, but the level of detail should always be granular.  That is the reason for the reporting process.  No stone should be left unturned.  There should never be a reason that a GM lacks any piece of information, from any department.  Thus the term, ?general manager.?
? If the information is over your head, ask for an explanation.  You are a generalist.  That is your strength.  You have an obligation to ask your hired specialist for support on the fine points.  Don?t cut corners.  Understand before you move on.  It is up to you to make the correct decisions based on the best possible information.  If you don?t get it, you?ll make a lot of bad choices.
? Set an irrevocable meeting with the team.  Meeting times are non-negotiable, except in a mission critical emergency.  Your engineer may be excused if the tower falls over.  Minor conflicts are not an excuse to miss a meeting. 
? Issue an agenda and limit the meeting to thirty minutes, or less.  Your goal is to meaningfully integrate the information you gathered and use it to the entire team?s benefit.  Don?t slow the process by covering report details again.  State goals, assign work, and set completion dates.  Never leave a meeting with those three items undone.
? Summarize every meeting in writing.  Leave no doubt in any mind that you have command and control, but that each manager has the responsibility to perform to the standards you discussed in the meeting, and then report back to you. 
? Praise good work publicly.  Discuss underperformance privately.  Everyone benefits.
? Celebrate your success.  One feel good moment of celebration is worth a thousand times that in difficulty.  Let everyone see that you revel in his or her successes.
? Share your progress with the group.  Everyone loves to see the score.

Now you have a plan to defeat the bad guys.  You have a team who believes in itself.  You have information to be agile and effective.  To win. 

Now, if only they?d give you the Aston Martin.

Bill Pasha is founder and president of MultiBrand Media International, LLC, a concierge consulting company that produces content, represents innovative digital and broadcast products and services, and develops strategies in diverse managerial, operational, and marketing disciplines for media professionals in countries worldwide. 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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