There is, of course, more than one school of thought when it comes to management. I have always believed that recognition of good work goes a long, long way. Knowing that criticism can be difficult to hear, at any level, I always made it a point to discuss what I liked with just as much emphasis as what we were trying to change. The one thing no manager can allow to fester and permeate is a bad attitude. Whether it's actual or perceived, it must be addressed before it spreads like a cancer.
There are are lot of "Type A" personalities in broadcasting, it's the nature of the beast. Radio is NOT a team sport it is the manifestation of your individual talent for the GOOD of the team. There is a difference. If your job is management in the programming department, you had damn well better be the biggest cheerleader for your staff or there is no point in having them. One of the biggest challenges to being on the air is that the direct feedback to how something sounds is usually slow in coming. That's what makes recognition and acknowledgement of talent so important. Sales has benchmarks to meet, success is a number. Ratings matter to programming but many times, the journey to get there is lost in a mountain of nonsense that has little to do with the end result.
