Radio managers today are so time challenged that many good things fail to happen at their radio stations.

One of the victims of time poverty is taking enough time to praise employees for improvement, growth and change.

Praise is a powerful tool
for it is much easier to repeat success
if you know precisely
how you achieved it in the first place.

Many air talent managers spend too much of their time directing, correcting and confronting their personalities and not enough time motivating, inspiring and praising them.

In one of my recent morning show coaching sessions I heaped only praise on the talent for having bought into new concepts and trying them on the air.

I very specifically detailed what I heard and why I felt it was working better. After the session, the Program Director pulled me aside and said, “All you did in that session was talk about the good things.

Can’t you give them something to work on?” I explained to the PD that when you constantly “move the finish line” on talent and don’t stop and let them savor a success, you de-motivate them. Why keep running if you can never reach the end of a single race?

In addition to the time issues, management style can also play a great role in de-motivating air talent, sometimes even unintentionally.

In his book Primal Leadership, Daniel Goleman defines six styles of leadership. Great leaders can use all six styles in appropriate situations, but most managers tend to gravitate towards one. And, sometimes that one style is not the most effective one to manage air talent.

1. The “visionary” leader frames collective tasks in terms of a grander vision. They show people how their work fits into the big picture.
   
   This is one of the most effective styles of leadership. Showing air personalities how and why the changes you are suggesting will translate into ratings or revenue is a visionary tactic.
2. The “coaching” leader communicates genuine interest in the employee, rather than just seeing them as tools to get the job done.
   
   This is the classic style of mentors and also a very effective style of leadership. Coaching leaders ask their talent about their personal and professional goals beyond the job at hand and help them to take steps towards those goals.
3. The “affiliative” leader is most concerned with promoting harmony and fostering friendly interactions. They value down time in the organization to build emotional capital.
   
   This style when employed along with the visionary style can be effective. However, overly affiliative leaders worry more about being liked than getting results. The good news is that overly affiliative radio air talent managers are usually quick to praise their personalities. The bad news is that they seldom confront performance issues in a timely manner.
4. The “democratic” leader polls employees for input and ideas. This is an appropriate style when the leader is unsure of what direction to take.
   
   The democratic style works well in a ratings crisis, when changes in the marketplace occur and in brainstorming meetings. The downside to an overly democratic leader is endless meetings in which ideas are mulled over and the only outcome is to schedule another meeting.

   The last two leadership styles Goleman calls “The Dissonant Styles” and says they should be “applied with caution.

5. ” The “pacesetting” leader holds and exemplifies high standards for performance.
   
   He is obsessive about doing things better and faster and he asks the same of everyone. Poor performers are quickly pinpointed and more is demanded of them. If employees don’t rise to the occasion, the pacesetting manager rescues the situation himself.
   
   This is an insatiable style of leadership that views praise as somehow lowering standards or will “spoil” the employee. Pacesetting leaders can be exhausting and demoralizing to work for.
6. The final of the six styles of leadership is the “commanding” style.
   
   This type of leader says things like, do it because I said so. This is an archaic leadership style that is really only appropriately used in an emergency. If the building is on fire, the commanding style is the best one to use.
   
   Most people will not work for a leader who is a commandant if they can work anywhere else.

The two most commonly misapplied styles in radio are the affiliative and the pacesetting styles.

But, given the choice between the two as it relates to motivating and directing talent, the affiliative style is the lesser of the two evils.

There is so much pressure on today’s radio air talent managers to get results and that pressure often causes managers to go into pacesetting mode even when it is not the most effective style for the situation. While pacesetting has its place in the management tool kit, it is not the best style to use in your routine dealings with insecure air talent.

People who become performers do so because they want the applause. They crave positive and constructive feedback. Without it they lose the motivation to strive to be even better or funnier tomorrow. After all, if the boss can never be pleased, why try any harder?

The first step in making the time to praise is to change the way you think. When preparing for your next air check session ask yourself, what is this person doing well. Every air personality on your staff is doing something well. Identify it and include it in your next air check session. It might be as simple as always being on time or caring about the radio station.

One of the intangible benefits of always including praise in your air check sessions is the change in your air personalities attitudes towards the process. Suddenly, their expectation for the sessions becomes more positive, which helps them stay more open to your input and ideas.

Take the time and make the time to praise. Your applause or lack of same is the loudest sound your air talent hears.