Week of February 11, 2008

Friday 2/15, 2008

You are a manager who just lost your job in a cutback/re-structure/consolidation. There are NO GM jobs available anywhere for any salary. You love the biz, but it's not in good shape right now. Can you afford to re-train yourself to work in the Internet/radio-related field? As I mentioned yesterday, there are a lot of opportunities in the only area of radio that is growing. The Internet (I mean everything related to the digital/dot.com/content/web site/page views/advertising "click thru" kind of business.) is changing all media. Use this downsizing as an opportunity to re-train yourself in this huge area of growth. Be open to change, be realistic about your skills, be aggressive (remember how you used to do that before you were the GM?) in your own self-esteem. The "good old days" of radio are over. The good "new" days of digital media are before us. Can you measure up? Did the company fire/let go a good manager? Did you deserve it? If you are as good as you think you are, you should have no trouble succeeding again! Then you will look back and thank the company for doing what it did. Oh, and by the way, YOU will feel sorry for the survivors who are still hanging on. YOU ARE PART OF THE FUTURE, NOT THE PAST!

Thursday 2/14, 2008

If there was ever an opportunity to make it great in the radio or media-related business, now might be the time. You might have to re-think your career path. You might have to get used to the idea of never running radio clusters again. You might have to get over the sense of entitlement that comes with an experienced GM who's used to getting a lot of guaranteed money. Consider using your skills to work in the radio-related Internet business. It's the ONLY part of the business that is growing. Are you ready to learn something new? Are you capable of starting below the lofty management job you had in exchange for the only area of radio growth? Consider this: There are 274 Internet-related companies in the All Access directory. Radio management of clusters as we know it is gone. Start today and make a career that will be growing for a long time. Use your skills that got you to where you are/were today. Someone is going to make a lot of money re-thinking the future of radio. It might as well be you! Tomorrow ... can you afford to start over?

Wednesday 2/13, 2008

You are an experienced GM with years of radio management experience, you are in the prime of your career, making good money ... and you are out of a job. Chances are you will not be getting a job for the same or more money in the same city you live in doing the same job you had. So now what? What are you going to do for a living in the business you love? You have about four choices: 1) take a pay cut, work across the street in a lower position; 2) look for the few job openings in other markets for less money; 3) consider another industry-related job using your management skills; or 4) leave the industry and work for your brother-in-law. One note of reality: GM salaries are shrinking faster than the stock price of your old company. NO GMs are getting big raises, hitting bonus money, or making money on stock options. The business is shrinking and companies are cutting to keep up with declining revenues. They can't cut fast enough. If you decide to take option one, two or four, I wish you well. At least you might be able to exist financially, and perhaps not have to move. But what about that industry-related thing? What could you do? Could you make more money than you are (were) making? Tomorrow, we will see if you might consider being an entrepreneur in the few growth parts of the business.

Tuesday 2/12, 2008

"You're out, got the bullet ... canned," the headlines in All Access scream your name. You read it over and over, thinking "This is not the press I had hoped for" and "I can't believe I'm reading this" ad your e-mail box is filled with dozens and dozens of sympathy, good luck and "those assholes" memos from peers, friends and co-workers. That's what you will get the first week of your announcement. The second week you will get the phone calls from friends and company survivors lamenting the state of the company without you. You try to help/assist the station survivors on the Spring book strategy you were planning with them, or the sales meeting you were going to attend next week. Yet, it really doesn't matter anymore because your replacement is already in there. She/he is overwhelmed, under-skilled and trying to deal with their new role, too! Your spouse is wondering how the bills are going to be paid, and where are the jobs paying the money you were making? What you are going to do with your life? Oh, and by the way, by the third week ... nobody calls. It's just you and your future. My advice? Do nothing the first month. Relax, take a break and assume THERE ARE NO OTHER GM JOBS IN THE CITY YOU LIVE IN -- CAUSE THERE ARE NONE! You are in a shrinking business. Like US Steel, American automobiles, housing, you are part of a decaying business with great skills and no place to use them. Sad, but true ... it's time to think. More tomorrow.

Monday 2/11, 2008

Okay, so you just got fired/laid off/job-eliminated ... whatever. Your paycheck with your soon-to-be current employer has a final date on it. You are angry, sad, hurt and emotional. Your staff is upset, scared and also mad at the horrible things the mean company did to their boss. Now what? Well, take a deep breath; pack up your pix of the kids, your photo of you and the boss happily grinning at the last GM meeting, and the trophy you won for the "hole-in-one" contest at the agency golf outing last spring. It's time to move on ... in many ways. You are middle age, making good money with a good company. You're out and after 15, 20, even 25+ years ... radio management is the only thing you know. Starting tomorrow and all this week. we will examine the "what's next" role of middle management. See you here tomorrow, on All Access.com.