For all its triumph and tragedy, radio can't take yes for an answer. With hat-in-hand self image, radio plods ahead, still willing to be a B-student business with an A-student report card. If you missed it, the national numbers are in: last year 239 million American's sampled radio on a weekly basis. In the face of the past 5 years' doom & gloom prognostication from some media researchers and columnists, radio claimed even more weekly trial, strengthening its place on the American entertainment stage.  Why then is the business of radio more stressed than ever?
 
Steel Swords, Paper Swords: For all our sophistication, we continue to practice petty claims of departmental sovereignty. As programming consultants to scores of radio stations in 33 states, we witness ongoing territorialism amongst departments; often over minor points. Turf fights over who gets to name a contest or what color to paint the van are causes that can't give-back. Inexperienced sales managers and program directors spend useless effort defending their title instead of closing the chasm between their departments.
 
The 24 Hour Rule: Consider the last five conflicts that have crossed your desk. Did any of them justify the time, emotion, or disruption? If the answer is "yes" then they were worth the fight. Unfortunately 75% of your conflicts will originate from opposing views on minor decision-making. We have long been fans of "The 24 Hour Rule," which simply proffers the idea of giving a conflict 24 hours before revisiting and only then asking, "Is the treasure worth the cost of the hunt?"
 
Is the outcome revocable or irrevocable? The Pareto Rule holds fast: 25% of your problem solving will result in 75% of your action-value. Managers crash when they fail to recognize this unceasing truth. Recently in a nationally prominent market we watched a manager miss the clues day after day, month after month. His best intentions trammeled by inaction and indecision cost the cluster momentum and confidence. Here's the best decision formula we can offer. Move fast when making revocable decisions. Move slower when your decision is irrevocable. Forming a promotional alliance is an easy tactical proposition...firing a morning show is not.
 
Leadership at any level goes much easier when you give up the need to be right: In a crisis moment of the greatest and most decisive Naval battle since Thermopylae, Midway hung in the balance. Thrust into a one-time opportunity as commander of the American carrier force, out-numbered eight-to-one, Admiral Ray Spruance was being pushed to launch his dive bombers against the entire Japanese carrier force. His staff urged him to "launch immediately" to which at first he agreed. But in minutes a group of pilots climbed the decks to "flag country" to protest, telling Spruance, "Admiral if you launch now you can say goodbye to your squadrons because we'll never have enough fuel to return. It's too far to target." Spruance weighed this critical decision for perhaps 30 seconds, then turned to his junior pilots and said, "All right...I'll do what you pilots want."  Spruance' peers excoriated his decision (until within hours, all four Japanese carriers were sunk). On this decision turned the "Miracle at Midway," ending Japan's dream of Pacific conquest.
 
As sure as the sun rises, there will be conflicts every day. Most of them are low threshold, short-term deviations in opinion, unless of course they're mismanaged and allowed too much space in the hallways.  Most fight-or-no-fight responses are more about your personal-positioning as a leader or a staff contributor. Sometimes one "wins by losing" if only to affect a larger outcome just around the corner. Knowing which battles to fight and which to let pass by, means the difference between command presence and a title on your door. Leadership is best understood looking backward, but it must be lived looking forward.