My work with a network television station in Minnesota was telling and lasting.
There were 16-17 executives who participated in a multi-day retreat using the book, GOOD TO GREAT by Jim Collins. As we began, I asked the group to define the first rule of communication. Initially, the executives thought of their employees and later included their TV audience.
The most common response was LISTENING. The responses were written on the white board:
- Listening.
- Body language
- Eye to eye contact
- Clarity of expression
- Words expressed at the 7th grade level
- Words demanding a response
- Openness
- Directness
- Integration of words and purpose
- Don’t know; never thought about it
- Humor
- Knowledge of stated agenda
- Cultural expectations
Not one answered according to communication research which states that the most effective communicators “know their audience.”
I asked, “How will the first rule of communication (know your audience) impact or change the way you do business?
One general manager said, “I confess that I do not know everyone we employ. I cannot tell you how they want to be treated since I have never asked.”
A news director’s candid reply raised eyebrows. “We have a rote system. Everything by the book. Do your job. Don’t ask questions. No sloppy work. Everyone wants to be respected. I respect those who do their best work. I ignore those who don’t and fire some.”
I jumped in with a question. “Please tell us how you define respect?
“Respect,” he said, “is admiring someone for his or her achievements.”
“That’s Webster’s definition. It doesn’t fit with the Latin version of the word, respectus, which means to look back or look again. Getting behind and beyond surface responses is a sign of genuine respect.”
I asked the director how he feels when others ask for clarification or probe beneath his initial comments or explanations?
“It feels terrific. I think they really care about what I’m saying. I think I’m getting the point here.”
The station was in the last place among network channels before the process began. Six months later they were in second place feeling certain that within the next six months they would be the areas number one channel. And they were. Two years later they were awarded as the “most watched station in the state.”
