Craig Bruce now on radioinfo
radioinfo is delighted to welcome SCA’s former Head of Content Craig Bruce to our contributors’ roster. Each week you’ll be able to read his articles here first. And, as of next week, you’ll also have access to his brand new podcast series, Game Changers. We’ll reveal more about Game Changers in coming days.
In the meantime, here is Craig’s latest article, first, on radioinfo.
Sugar coating, now with zero calories
I’m a football tragic. There is nothing more enjoyable than taking the family to the footy on the weekend, I might be surrounded by 4 females in my house, but they love the game as much as I do.
One of things I have always loved about working with footballers in the media is their willingness to accept feedback, direct and specific feedback, right between the ears.
James Brayshaw talks about this on my new podcast “game changers”.
“The thing I loved most about Jeff Allis,(ex Austereo Head of Content) was how brutally honest he was, but coming from a sporting background you were used to that. If you play sport at a decent level you get very honest feedback all the time and you actually want it, because if you don’t get it, you don’t get any better”
AFL and NRL footballers have grown up in cultures of candour, where direct feedback is welcomed because both the giver and receiver of the information understand that the fastest way to improve is through feedback.
Telling the truth is a 2 way street, it requires courage and compassion from the coach and an open-mind and willingness to learn from the player.
And this is how it should be.
The best sporting organisations freely share information with one and other, they admit mistakes, they are candid and predictable with each other.
It’s something we can all learn a lot from.
Radio companies are like most businesses, they are incredibly hierarchal, and when you’re the head of a key division as I was you can quickly become the only voice in any conversation.
I was really focused on making sure this didn’t happen.
I’ve always thought that as a leader you need to be open to counterarguments and you need to reward and encourage contrarians. One of the people I relied upon heavily during my time at SCA was Dave Cameron, who is not only a brilliant programmer but he’s also the most brutally honest person I’ve ever worked with.
Dave simply refused to hold back on giving feedback to me, if he thought I was making a mistake or an idea I had was wrong, he would tell me. And he would deliver the message without even a hint of sugar-coating.
My God, I appreciated it, and I respected him so much for his honesty.
In their HBR article tilted “a culture of candour” James O’Toole and Warren Bennis write about the life and death scenarios of leaders not being open to feedback “In his recent book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell reviewed data from numerous airline accidents. “The kinds of errors that cause plane crashes are invariably errors of teamwork and communication,” he concluded. “One pilot knows something important and somehow doesn’t tell the other pilot.” Hence, in an emergency pilots need to “communicate not just in the sense of issuing commands but also in the sense of…sharing information in the clearest and most transparent manner possible.”
One of the things I learnt very quickly when I became an assistant content director was that if my boss and I had similar views on everything, then one of us was obsolete.
If you can be that “tell-it-to-me-straight” person for your direct manager and if he or she allows you to be a part of their open feedback loop then suddenly you’re at the table and playing a key role in building a culture of candour.
About the Author
Craig is the former Head of Content at Southern Cross Austereo. Responsible for getting some of Australia’s best talent on radio, his true passion has always been the development and mentoring of young talent. He now works as a talent coach and radio consultant.