Accentuate The Positive

Today, I was. surprised to receive a phone call from someone whom I have not heard from in years. It was great to catch up. He is a broadcaster in a medium sized market, said he had been reading MR  for several years and had some questions. When I agreed, he plunged right in to the issue. In recent years, as is true of many in TV and Radio, his property had been struggling. The beancounters at headquarters pressured him constantly for more money. Despite some what he described as “herculean efforts” by station personnel, the billing for his property would probably only be up 1-2% this year. His ownership wanted seven and were very difficult when monthly conference calls took place.

His main issue was how to keep from getting discouraged in front of his hard working team and how to motivate them. Also, he said he and senior staff all were in great fear of the next recession. I quote: “Even a modest downturn, nothing like 2008, will hit us very hard. I will be gone for sure as will some senior sales and on air people.”

Well. Part of it is the sign of the times. We have all seen the shift away from advertiser supported broadcast. What to do?

How about taking a deep breath and expressing a bit of gratitude? Theresa Glomb is a professor at the Carlton School of Management at The University of Minnesota. She is a leading expert on work environments and organizations. Reading some of her research, I came across a wonderfully insightful observation. She wrote: “Good things are about three to five times more frequent than bad things at work, but bad events have about five to 10 times the impact as good things.”

My long time acquaintance grumbled for a moment and then laughed saying, “that is oh so true!”

He then went on to tell me that he had lasted in the business for nearly four decades and it had been one hell of a ride for a kid from a rural area who hated school but had the gift of gab. Life had worked out well for him and his family.

I gave him this advice. There have to be good things that happen every day.  Stop to savor them and share them with your team. The long haul picture for your station is not positive. Yet, daily some good things happen. Yes, your team will never have the career that you did in terms of fun, longevity, or probably financial reward. You can still, however, give everyone constant encouragement. If people learn how to sell, be good marketers or broadcasters, they can surely transfer those skills in to other avenues when the ax falls.

Finally, I suggested that he take a day every now and then away from social media and business news. It can be discouraging if you see a 29 year old with a backwards baseball cap selling his tech startup for $2 billion while you are fighting for a nice share of this month’s local Ford dealer’s billing.

I am not encouraging false optimism. The die is cast and we are not going to return to broadcast’s golden age. Yet civility, a sense of humor and savoring small victories can make the waning years palatable.

If you would like to contact Don Cole directly, you may reach him at doncolemedia@gmail.com