When I decided that coaching and mentoring talent and artists is what I wanted to do, I asked MY mentors lots of questions. The two things I heard the most were that it takes lots of study and lots of time.
Coaching air talent is a time-consuming, ever-changing job all by itself, and you must be committed 100% to each individual to make it work. For the super busy PDs out there (and who isn’t?), how can you be an effective coach with all the “noise” around you? To repeat: it takes lots of study and lots of time.
First thing I would tell you is to get organized if you aren’t. Whether it’s old-school planners or apps like Google Calendar or Apple Reminders, depend on whatever works to create your daily list of “stuff” to do. EVERY day, in some way, shape, or form, should be spent, for a reasonable time, with your talent.
Just as much as you are involved in your music, you should do the same or more with your talent. Setting up regular weekly or semi-weekly organized meetings is highly recommended. For your highest profile talent (namely, morning shows), it should be daily. This would include some regular dialogue with syndicated shows and voice trackers. From my experience, regular semi-weekly calls/meetings with these out-of-market talents were extremely helpful in communicating the goals of the station, the nuances of the market, and the hot topics in listeners’ minds.
Daily email updates are also highly recommended.
Second, study and learn, and NEVER stop. Read as much about leadership and coaching as you can and not just from those in our own industry (even me!). Some of the best ideas/concepts I have used come from actual coaches.
There are several that I still use as reference points:
- The Lombardi Rules – 26 Lessons from the World’s Greatest Football Coach covers everything from leadership to motivation to actual training. Vince Lombardi may have been a coach in the 60s, but his concepts are still as relevant as ever.
- Super successful high school football coach Randy Jackson’s two books, Culture Defeats Strategy 1 and 2, cover training, teaching, and culture building.
- Former NBC producer Dick Ebersole’s From Monday Night to Sunday Night is an excellent reference point for recognizing, training, and nurturing exceptional talent. His story about seeing Eddie Murphy as a future superstar is priceless.
- Inc. Magazine and an app called Medium contain occasional articles/lessons on training, motivation, and coaching that are useful every day.
- Sports publication The Athletic has a whole section of leadership examples called Peak.
Bottom line, keep your eyes and ears open. Leadership and coaching lessons appear almost daily.
Third, create a training/coaching plan for each individual talent. Include a list of expectations and goals revolving around prep habits, personality development, and show construction. Make sure they are involved from day one in the process. This would include individual one-on-one meetings just to get to know each of them: likes, dislikes, aspirations, etc. You both must agree on the plan.
Buy-in by the talent is the key. Without that, you are back to square one.
Fourth, set up monthly/quarterly evaluations to track progress and see what needs attention and what’s working. Make sure the talent assists in their own evaluation. Self-reflection is important in the coaching process. You know you’re getting somewhere when you get to the point where the talent is catching issues before you. Always follow up in writing. This gives the talent specific reference points each time and avoids any issues of miscommunication.
Finally, recognize their successes. Nothing excites a talent more than you hearing and seeing them do something well. They are very ego-driven by nature, so being noticed boosts confidence, loyalty, and, most of all, performance.
The most significant part of your leadership as a PD is talent development. The most important component of your radio station is your air talent. Take the time and learn to coach them completely, no matter where they are, and the results will be there.
