Four radio executives joined Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio for a candid leadership discussion that cut past platitudes, focusing instead on practical guidance for managing change, building trust, and developing teams across sales and content.
The Thursday webinar featured Townsquare Media Chief Operating Officer Erik Hellum, Audacy San Francisco Senior Vice President Kieran Geffert, StreamGuys VP of Digital Sales and Radio Ink columnist Dara Kalvort, and Nexstar WGN Radio Chicago VP and General Manager Mary Boyle.
The first takeaway centered on clarity as a performance tool.
In fast-moving environments, panelists said uncertainty slows teams more than workload. Leaders who explain where the business is going, why it is changing, and what success looks like give teams permission to act. Geffert said, “With this rapidly changing media landscape, people can be overwhelmed, and there’s a lot of noise. So I think strong leaders create clarity.” She added that when expectations are explicit, teams collaborate faster and take smarter risks because they understand the plan and the guardrails.
Hellum echoed that view from an executive perspective, emphasizing that clarity must connect industry change to individual responsibility. He said, “We have to be clear about how our company is responding to those changes and taking advantage of those changes. And then most importantly for them, what we expect of them in the context of those changes, how we need them to evolve as an employee and also why it’s good for them.”
The second takeaway focused on trust built through listening and accessibility.
Panelists agreed that leadership credibility is established less by having answers and more by creating space for dialogue. Boyle described accessibility as essential, even in an era of instant information. “I still find the most transformational things that happen in our business unit is when we are meeting face to face, talking things through and the real human touch to that,” she said.
Kalvort connected trust directly to execution speed. “When the people that report to us feel that we trust them, then they’re going to think,” she said. “Letting everybody know that really no idea is a bad idea…removes fear and opens better conversations.” That trust, panelists noted, also allows leaders to remove friction by identifying outdated processes or unclear decision paths that slow teams down.
The third major takeaway centered on leadership growth and the transition from doing the work to leading it.
All four panelists warned against the common trap of holding onto tasks from a previous role. Hellum cited the importance of consciously leaving old responsibilities behind, saying leaders must “take a look at what do I leave behind and what do I start doing that I wasn’t doing before.”
Geffert framed the issue as altitude. “If you’re still doing the job that you were promoted out of, you’re holding not only yourself back, but you’re holding your team back,” she said. She stressed that leadership scales through developing others, not personal output.
That philosophy extended to mentoring and advancement. Geffert described intentionally identifying high-potential employees and naming that potential directly, while Kalvort encouraged emerging leaders to step into opportunities before feeling ready. “Stop waiting to be ready,” Kalvort said, arguing that confidence is built through action rather than preparation alone.
