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No Biting Or Eye Gouging Allowed ...
September 6, 2022
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The longer you're in this business, the more you'll see a repeat of behaviors that are hard to comprehend. I always advise those new to the radio business to become a student of not letting their ego become the elephant in the room.
He Said ..He Said ...
One of my favorite stories involved two personalities who were staff mates of mine back in the day. Since I was an air talent and not the boss, I got a chance to observe the ways they tried to get each other fired. Everything was always a bit unhinged around that station. Even simple on-air contests were never that simple.The Peace Movement ...
Things got so bad between the two, upper management suspended its open-door policy with the air staff. The hierarchy urged the Program Director to get the station involved in a group activity to promote unity. I don't remember who came up with the idea, but it was decided that joining a media softball league would be the gateway to harmony. All of us had to participate, even though it was only those two knuckleheads who were the problem. One of us (me) had suggested the two put on gloves and fight it out with the loser resigning.Things Were Fine Until ...
We had a couple of practices and surprisingly everyone got along, including our two malcontents. Everything was going well until we had our first official league game. Long story short, all was well until our two narcissists got into a fight in the dugout over an upcoming paid remote. Their disagreement spilled out onto the field. On a fly ball to the outfield the bickering personalities didn't communicate; the ball dropped in between them for a two-run double. It cost us the game. Well, that's when all hell broke loose. Their yelling at each other became contagious and several of us started yelling at them. Things escalated to the point that one of us (Take a wild guess who) decided a baseball bat should be the deciding factor in eliminating both of our problems. Cooler heads prevailed.Hug It Out ...
Thankfully, no lasting injuries were sustained. The next day at work, the PD finally told upper management that we needed to get rid of both air personalities. The afternoon drive talent had great ratings and held on to his job, but his in-house rival got the boot. On a good note, our softball team did lead to better relationships within the station.The Right Idea ... But...
Organizing a group activity to help with team building and morale was a good idea that went a bit sideways, but in the long run proved to be a step in the right direction for the staff. Unfortunately, it was the wrong way to go about mediating an issue that only involved two people. It's always best to handle individual personnel problems one on one. I’m glad to have experienced early on what not to do. -
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