Trying To Lead Your Team ...

The hardest part of being the boss is motivating the troops. Getting people to do what you need them to do and not come across as "dictator" is a balancing act. For a variety of reasons, all your team are not always on the same page. For first timers put in charge, here's advice many of us industry veterans never had the pleasure of being warned about in advance.

Positive Feedback ...

Informal and frequent feedback can increase the possibilities of pushing a staff forward. I always found this to work much better than letting a long list of things add up. If you wait for a formal face-to-face meeting, the staffer becomes tense and less apt to remember any of the positive things you might say. It is next to impossible to teach or motivate if the person is tense and nervous.

Don't Be Cruel ...

I had the pleasure of working for publisher John H. Johnson in Chicago at WJPC. Although I was never invited to it, rumor was that he had a room on his floor of the Johnson building that was used to get to the heart of the matter with employees. I was told he would make you wait in the room until he was ready to proceed. Psychologically, this might have worked, but I do not recommend using a similar tactic unless your intentions are to cause your employee mental anguish and possible loss of bodily functions.

Teach Don't Preach ...

Giving people information to judge their own performance is much better than telling them what to do. Informative feedback can lead to self-discovery on the part of the air personality and lead to a healthier bond of trust with the person. There is a big difference between telling someone what to do and giving someone a roadmap to guide them. The latter approach will motivate them to come to you for more things to work on.

When It's All Said And Done ...

A star athlete performs to win within the framework of whatever the coach has set forth. The only way to get your folks into a winning attitude is to teach; some might not have the right makeup for motivation, but those who do will help things operate at a much higher level. The negative folk will be outnumbered and will eventually eliminate themselves from your company. One other thing: E-mail and texting is fine for passing along information, but should not be substituted for face-to-face or verbal communications; you need to see or hear the level of passion or understanding from people.