Making the First Move

Resolving the government shutdown…

Reflecting on my life and how some of my work-related problems were resolved, I recalled one particularly stubborn case. As the General Manager, I delegated authority to each department head, also knowing I had the last word as the boss.

One tough situation arose between the program director of our AM station, KLAC, which carried the Lakers, and our Sports comedy program, “Sportsnuts” with host Gabe Kaplan. The PD wanted total control of programming, which was Country Music and play-by-play sports with the Lakers and Kings (hockey). He wanted to cancel “Sportsnuts,” which was my baby, and control the number of promotional spots regarding a money-making and new programming idea of mine called Theme months. Each month was devoted to a different travel destination and resulted in a one-week live broadcast from the destination (Hawaii and Israel, for example).

Our feud went on for some time, with neither one willing to change. I could have fired him, but I chose a different path, as he was a good PD in the music genre.

To solve the animosity. I called him into my office and showed him two coffee cups. This is you, and this one is me. I will make the first step by moving my cup to show a willingness to end our grievances. He then moved his cup, and we began talking in a pleasant manner, and the situation was solved.

You just have to make the first move.