Week of August 11, 2008

Friday 8/15, 2008

All this week we have been discussing the coming changes and what you need to do to address it. If you are not open to change, your career choices are going to be pretty limited in the future. You must recognize the changes that are in front of you. You are the cluster leader. This does not mean that you know need to know everything; it does mean that you need to show leadership. Be open to change, and make your staff accountable, in every department, in every way. The last thing you want to do is be perceived as an "old fart." Change ... begins with you. Have a great weekend.

Thursday 8/14, 2008

Quick, do you know what the following names mean? Twitter, Pandora, 3G, Last-FM, Fast Company, My Space, Wired, Hulu, Slacker, LinkedIn, Imeem, eBay? (Okay, I gave you an easy one.) If you can't answer at least 90% of the above, you might want to Google them and take a look. This is one of the reasons your market revenue is down. Are they taking money from you directly? No, but they are making advertisers doubtful about the ability of radio to address these and other distractions to listening. Many of your younger staff probably already know this. Tomorrow, what to do about it.

Wednesday 8/13, 2008

As the manager of the cluster, it may be time to realize that you do not know everything about logos, music, branding, contests, talent, technology and online sales. (And neither does your spouse, the "boys" at the club, or your boss.) It may be time for you to read up on the changes, and how they might affect you. Consider self-education and empowering your staff. Make them accountable, but give them the freedom to make changes. P.S. -- your bosses don't know everythin,g either. More on that sometime in the future, but tomorrow ... a test..

Tuesday 8/12, 2008

What do you need to do as a manager in order to thrive/survive the next decade? Let's start with attitude. You and your staff must realize that the world is changing and it's not going back to the "good old days" no matter what. Whatever got you to the place you are now, will NOT guarantee success going forward. Our politicians' may refer to "Internet tubes," "the Internets" and "The Google," but it won't work for you. It's time to embrace change ... or else. More tomorrow on the kind of change to need to embrace. .

Monday 8/11, 2008

I don't know about you, but I was feeling pretty depressed listening to the earning calls last week. Perhaps it's good that Wall Street is bailing out of our business. Why? Well, at least in my cluster there is little left to cut. Owners are going to have to develop a new way of generating money from this 90-year-old business. Make no mistake; the current (and past) business model that got us to 2008 is in need of modification. How? Tomorrow we will discuss the thinking required of managers if we are to get thru the next decade. Find it here, on All Access.