2009. Year in review at Bexley Public Radio.

Death of Program Host Terry Pugh.

Terry was a retired attorney. He was still active as a counselor at Gahanna’s Woods at Parkside and devoted his Fridays as a volunteer program host on Bexley Public Radio. Terry provided an intelligent Friday introduction to the weekend. His interest in literature and knowledge of the sport of kings are missed.

Student Interns

Bexley High School students Zach Fries and Aaron Gaba were interns during 2009. Fries worked with Joe Contino and reported on Bexley High School sports. Gaba worked with station management on administrative assignments and fund-raising. Gaba also assisted program hosts with regular local news broadcasts including lunch specials from Bexley dining spots and weather reports from the Old Farmer's Almanac.

Bexley High School interns from prior years assisted on programming during 2009. The assistance was during their term breaks and holidays at their colleges. Sarah Lamar is a student at Syracuse University. Robert Moore is a student at Denison University and Tim Nassau is a student at Brown University.

Bexley Public Radio also provided broadcast training opportunities to Dallas Lambert, a student at the Columbus branch of the Ohio Center for Broadcasting. Dallas worked as the sound engineer for the Bexley Public Radio week of broadcasting at the Bexley Public Library and substituted as host on the Joe Contino sports show.

Capital University senior Toria Shalinske also interned during the summer months and provided marketing assistance for the Bexley Fourth of July parade and other fund-raising initiatives.

Denison University student Robert Moore also provided regular reports on a school project on electoral re-districting in Ohio.

SignaTour Studio Space.

SignaTour Recording and Sound Studio continued to provide studio space, equipment and personnel for broadcast and production operations.

Fund-raising for Other Nonprofits.

Bexley Public Radio continued to help other nonprofits raise money at charity auctions. The radio station offers its editorial page to the highest bidders at charity auctions. During 2009, a new low purchase price and a new high purchase price were set for the Bexley Public Radio editorial page of $2.50 and $225.00 respectively. Charity auctions at Columbus Kollel, Lutheran Social Services, Columbus School for Girls and St. Catharine Parish received the proceeds from the sale of the Bexley Public Radio editorial page.

Publicity for Other Nonprofits.

In excess of eight hundred public service announcements were broadcast for other central Ohio nonprofit organizations on WCRX-LP. A special monthly feature for Lifecare Alliance and Meals on Wheels was begun during 2009. Additionally, once weekly reports from the Jewish Community Center were presented by Kriss Galloway. Also once weekly reports on family and youth activities at Christ Lutheran Church were presented by Jenny Frantz.

Publicity was also given for events at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Capital University, Ohio Dominican University, Martin DePorres Center, Lincoln Theater, Columbus Chapter of Hadassah and Bexley Public Library.

Promotion of Simply Living and WCRS-LP Programing.

Each time requested, Bexley Public Radio promoted productions of WCRS-LP such as a "Sprouts" production of the inauguratiaon ceremonies for President Barack Obama.

Bexley Garden and Landscaping News.

Amy Maurer, the Noontime Gardener continued her third year of advice and criticism of the flora and gardens of Bexley. Her feature on “Edible Bexley” followed the blossoming, growth and maturation of the mulberry fruit. Amy also added reviews of gardening books to her program.

Local News Reports.

Independent news reporting by Bexley Public Radio continued with the city hall reports from John Matuszak for Bexley and Dianne Garrett for Whitehall.

Bexley Public Radio also continued relying on Bexley News, Ohio Jewish Chronicle, The Eastside Messenger, The New Standard, The Catholic Times and the Bexley High School Torch for local news reports.

Host Joe Contino continued sports coverage with assistance from Brian Inglis. Lee Edmondson (Miss 411) and Mel Greenball rounded out the reading of local news.

The station continued its news reports on daily lunch specials from Bexley lunch spots including the Jewish Community Center kosher senior lunch program and "comfort food specials" at the Crusader Club at Capital University. Other lunch spots such as Bexley Monk, Giuseppe's, Scotty's Catering, Rusty Bucket, Rubino's, Anthony's Pizza and Subs, Johnson's Real Ice Cream and Flavors are included. The lunch menu at the Bexley Food Cooperative is also reported. An effort is made to include all of the lunch spots in the course of a month.

Laura Franks Bexley Consumer Price Index (The Bexley CPI).

Laura Franks completed her ninth quarterly report on retail prices in Bexley. The Bexley Consumer Price Index now has more than two full years of price data for retail sales in Bexley and inflation and deflation rates for full year and year-to-year can now be reported.

Culture Correspondent Reports From Other States.

Dispatches from Bexley Public Radio culture correspondents Joanna Tornes, Paul Peltier and Dave Schwenker were regular features reporting on events happening in Alaska, New Hampshire and West Virginia from a Bexley perspective. Dan Mikletz also added reports from Eastern Pennsylvania. From North Georgia, Hank Belew reported on barbeque competitions and blue grass music festivals.


Daily Wall Street News and Features on Financial and Business Topics.

Frank Ingwersen of Sweney Cartwright and Kevin Kale of Manning and Napier gave regular Wall Street reports. Frank reports Monday through Thursday and Kevin reports on Friday. Chris Johns assisted Frank Ingwersen in his reporting.

The Joseph Group, a capital management firm licensed Bexley Public Radio to use their weekly newsletter, WealthNotes.

Laura Franks added a regular feature on company announcements of increased dividend payments.

Black History Month.

For the second year in a row, Bexley Public Radio commemorated Black History Month with a feature on the auction of work of major African-American artists at the Swann Gallery in New York.

News From Other Markets.

Other markets covered at Bexley Public Radio included central Ohio auction markets like Garth’s in Delaware County and sales at Leslie Hindman’s auction rooms in Chicago, and also at Sotheby’s and Christies in New York.

Professor Reg Dyck of Capital University commented on certain civil war items on the auction block at Leslie Hindman’s during the Spring and Toni Dunleavy, proprietor of Etcetera Boutique commented on vintage clothing auctions at Sothebys and Leslie Hindman’s. Discussions of these auctions included catalog price estimates prior to an auction and, after an auction, discussion and analysis of hammer prices compared to pre-auction estimates. Professor Dyck and Proprietoress Dunleavy also discussed the historical context of selected items in the auctions.

Public Radio in Central Ohio and Corporation for Public Broadcast.

Bexley Public Radio organized a discussion of a CPB grant opportunity and meeting at Trinity Lutheran Seminary. WOSU, WCBE and WCRX-LP met to discuss response to a CPB request for proposals. Simply Living's WCRS-LP was invited to the meeting but didn’t attend or otherwise participate.

Election 2009.

Bexley Public Radio provided several productions related to the 2009 November elections. A "meet the candidiates" forum at Brookwood Presbyterian Church was recorded by SignaTour Recording and Sound Studio for Bexley Public Radio. The recording was broadcast several times on 102.1 FM prior to the election. The candidates included Bexley and Columbus hopefuls. On ballot issues, Sal Leonetti provided commentary on the casino issues. A week-long special production on the Belxey Public Library levy issue was organized by John Matuszak. With the library's permission, Bexley Public Radio broadcast from the library brousing room for the week prior to the election.

2009 Fourth of July Parade.

Bexley Public Radio participated in the Bexley Fourth of July Parade for the third year.

Music Licenses and Permissions for Other Content.

Subscriptions have been received to pay music licensing fees for BMI, ASCAP and SESAC. Bexley Public Radio is delaying collection of the subscriptions until it concludes time allocation negotiations with Simply Living's WCRS-LP. All other content licenses are current or have been renewed with the content providers.

CPAC and Programming Survey.

During 2009, Bexley Public Radio established a Community Programming Advisory Committee that met monthly to provided programming advice. Additionally, a programming survey was completed. The survey questionaire was mailed to all of the residents on three streets in Bexley. One street was in south Bexley, one was a street that is in central and north Bexley and a third street is in central Bexley.

Melissa Farley assisted on the administration of the survey, including analysis of the returns.

The survey results will be published in late January or early February, 2010.

Legislative Matters.

Bexley Public Radio followed the movement for "bans on texting while driving" in both Ohio municipalities and in the Ohio General Assembly. Regular reports by citizen lobbyist Sharon Montgomery were broadcast on Bexley Public Radio.

Station Logo.



During 2009, Bexley resident and designer Natalie Bitton provided a logo for the radio station. The logo was used on tee-shirts for volunteers in the Bexley Fourth of July Parade. The logo has also been added to most fund-raising commmunications.

Green Policy Implemented.

During 2009, Bexley Public Radio continued its green operations policy on environmental matters. Also during 2009, an ironic advertisement spot was created and is being used on the station blog at Agent of Currency as part of its green initiative.

Editorial Positions Maintained and Adjusted.

The MSMIB (Most Sensitive Man In Bexley) and the WCRX-LP Human Rights Advocate continue to be staffed. The MSMIB reported on three matters during the year. No human rights reports were made during 2009 although the WCRX-LP Human Rights Advocate was ready to respond to complaints or incidents identified by the Human Rights Advocate.

The WCRX-LP editorial collective was adjusted and coordinated with a separate editorial panel called the Bexley Public Radio editorial collective.

Educational Purpose and Measurement of Audience Size.

Bexley Public Radio Foundation was formed to provide training and radio broadcast experience to students including adult students. The actual measure of whether the organization is meeting its objectives is the number of individuals who receive training and experience at the radio station.

Fifteen months after receiving its broadcast license, Bexley Public Radio Foundation provided two Bexley High School students with training and experience that qualified for high school class credit. An additional eight students served the radio station as volunteers and gained broadcast experience. During 2009, two Bexley High School students were interns. Additionally, one student from the Ohio Center for Broadcasting received class credit for volunteer work at the station.

During November measurement of audience is being improved by the addition of a "click" meter on the radio station blog.

Time-Share Agreement and Antenna Tower.

Negotiations continued on time allocations, cross promotions, shared budgets, shared staff and coordinated marketing. Some of these issues have been presented to the FCC for its direction. The City of Columbus has requested that Simply Living and Bexley Public Radio re-apply for tower space for the antenna that is presently used. That antenna is owned by Bexley Public Radio. The City's request followed Simply Living's request to add a separate antenna on the City's tower.

Open Microphones, Open Minds.

Mel Greenball began a new feature called "Open Microphones, Open Minds." In this weekly feature, Mel presented recordings of speeches ignored by media. During 2009, presentations from the International Conference on Climate Change in New York and Washington D.C. were broadcast.

Amy Maurer's 2009 Best of Bexley Tomato Contest.

Bexley Public Radio sponsored a tomato contest to publicize Amy Maurer's Noontime Gardener Show. Two hundred dollars in cash prizes were awarded to the winners. First place with one hundred dollars in prize money went to Jacob Martin. Jacob is a kindergarten student at Montrose Elementary School. He is the grandson of Mary Zeier.




Bexley Public Radio Foundation broadcasting as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

Bexley Public Radio Foundation is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible from federal income taxes for individuals who itemize. Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.

Design is copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation. Text is copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation. The styles "The Most Sensitive Man in Bexley" and "MSMIB" are the property of Bexley Public Radio Foundation.

In memoriam: Terry Pugh, Friday Show host.

Bexley Public Radio is saddened to note the death of Terry Pugh, host of the Friday Show.

Terry's Friday Show was a calm two hour program that offered culture. literature, sports and understated wit to listeners. During 2008, he provided listeners with golf notes, reflections on literature and writers such as Ernest Hemingway and harness racing.

Terry followed the progress of a two year old filly through the 2008 racing season. The filly was owned by Ron Bates of Amanda, Ohio and Terry and Ron regularly discussed the horse, the different race tracks and the weather experienced during a race.

That filly, Rose Run Keepsake, turned out to be the national champion for the year. Terry recognized quality and always chose the best.

Terry Pugh hosted the Friday Show as a volunteer. He had a distinctive voice that listeners recognnized. Soft, quiet and calm. Some listeners thought that Terry should host a late night jazz show. Others wanted him to add news to his offerings because his voice carried reassuring authority.

Beside Terry's work at Bexley Public Radio, he was well-known and respected in the central Ohio counseling profession. He both counseled and lectured on counseling at the Woods at Parkside in Gahanna. The lecture hall at Parkside has been named the Terry Pugh Lecture Hall.

Prior to his career in counseling, Terry practice as an attorney for thirty years. He was a graduate of the Ohio State University College of Law.

He closed each Friday Show with the gentle admonition "Live well, laugh often and love much."

He is survived by his widow Shirley Pugh, two daughters, three step children and eight grandchildren.

Memorial gifts can directed to Ohio Health Foundation (HomeReach Foundation), 180 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215 or The American Cancer Society, 870 Michigan Ave., Columbus, OH 43215.

During the remainder of February and March, the station microphones at Bexley Public Radio will be draped in black ribbons as a commemoration of Terry Pugh's high standards for broadcast radio.

Terry Pugh is missed at Bexley Public Radio.

Bexley Public Radio Foundation broadcasting as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

Bexley Public Radio Foundation is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible from federal income taxes for individuals who itemize. Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation or WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.

Design is copyright 2009. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation. Text is copyright 2009. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio editorial collective.

Editorial collective critique of management at Bexley Public Radio.

They cannot manage their own lives, yet they may bully to manage yours. These are the dysfunctional managers at Bexley Public Radio.

Executives at Bexley Public Radio have noticed that managers and middle managers at this young broadcast powerhouse are focused on managing, even micro-managing, the details, getting things done, accomplishing the strategic broadcast plan and meeting the audience goals of the organization; but significantly, most of these managers have lost their connections with the people they supervise.

While the success of Bexley Public Radio is an admirable achievement, during that process, dysfunctional managers tended to alienate volunteer staff and the broadcast partners on 102.1 FM. Sadly, some of Bexley Public Radio managers may have lost connection with their families as these managers worked to achieve excellence for the organization and the Bexley community.

Traits of the Dysfunctional Manager at the Radio Station


Their personal backgrounds and experiences may have included separation or divorce, strained family relationships or alienation from children, smoking and or battling obesity or anorexia; yet, they have been successful in meeting the goals of the radio station.

This is an interesting paradox that demands exploration.

How can individuals who are not focused on the people they manage, the opposite of the servant leaders who preceded them, succeed in the 21st Century? The answer appears to lie in their organizational successes, the short-term financial and strategic results they can engender, often at the cost of employee or associate engagement, the watchword of the later 20th Century.


A 2007 study released by the San Francisco-based Employment Law Alliance, as reported by the Society for Human Resource Management in an HRMagazine May 1, 2007 article, “Study: Bully Bosses Prevalent in U.S.,” “found that bullying in U.S. workplaces is alive and well. And, in many cases, managers and supervisors are the bullies: Nearly 45 percent of the respondents reported that they have worked for an abusive boss.”

In a September 25, 2000 article by Sarah A. Klein in Crain’s Chicago Business, “Take that you big, bad corporate bully! More firms seek ways to tame uncivil bosses, workers,” reported that “in one national survey, 53% of workers who reported themselves the target of incivility said they lost time worrying about incidents at work, from receiving a nasty or demeaning note to enduring a supervisor’s temper tantrum. Almost half of the group in the University of North Carolina’s ‘Workplace Incivility Study’ said they contemplated changing jobs to avoid the offender, and 12% actually followed through.”
An earlier recognition of problems associated with dysfunctional managers was addressed in a November 1, 1991 American Management Association article “Coping with Dysfunctional Managers,” in “Supervisory Management.” That article early in the last decade began to recognize the dysfunctional managers as “adults who grew up in dysfunctional families” and learned special coping skills, not as those adults who became dysfunctional based upon their later life experiences. Yet that summary, citing an article by Francine S. Hall in the Summer 1991 issue of “Organizational Dynamics,” has some applicability today in its observation that, “frequently, says Hall, the organizational culture unwillingly contributes to a dysfunctional manager’s destructive behavior. If control, for instance, is valued within the company, the dysfunctional manger might fit all too well into the framework.”

In a June 10, 2008 op-ed piece for “Business Wire” by Stephen Xavier, CEO of Cornerstone Executive Development Group, “Micro-Managing CEOs Are a Danger Sign in This Economy,” Xavier observed “there are also micro-managers who will jump from one large company to another. Given his record at Home Depot, one would have thought that Bob Nardelli would have had trouble getting hired as CEO of any major corporation. Yet, this old-school authoritarian CEO has found a home as CEO at Chrysler which unsurprisingly has the same history of poor labor relations, shoddy products and eroding market share.”
In The Dumbest Moments in Business History: Useless Products, Ruinous Deals, Clueless Bosses and other Signs of Unintelligent Life in the Workplace, Adam Horowitz, editor, Portfolio, the Penguin Group, New York, 2004, relates the January 2003, statement of Goldman Sachs Group CEO Henry Paulson concerning the investment banking firm’s employee layoffs for which he apologized to employees by voicemail a week later. “I don’t want to sound heartless, but in almost every one of our businesses, there are 15 to 20 percent of the people that really add 80 percent of the value. Although we have a lot of good people, you can cut a fair amount and still be well positioned for the upturn.” (p.21)
Richard Farson in Management of the Absurd: Paradoxes in Leadership, Simon & Shuster, Inc., New York, 1996, wrote “many of us have the idea that as managers we can use our skills to shape our employees as if we were shaping clay, molding them into what we want them to become. But that isn’t the way it really works. It’s more as if our employees are piles of clay into which we fall—leaving an impression, all right, and that impression is distinctly us, but it may not be the impression we intended to leave.” (p. 41)

Although there has been a wealth of academic research on dysfunctional workplaces and the people who manage them, there has been a noticeable absence of material in the popular literature on the subject of dysfunctional managers. Some popular management books have addressed the “boss from hell,” such as Managing Your Boss, by Sandi Mann, Barron’s, 2001. In the section on “dealing with the boss from hell,” Sandi Mann characterizes bosses as bullies if they are continually abusive and arrogant, exploding angrily, constantly criticizing, belittling, ridiculing employees. Mann suggests that while such bosses, similar to impatient or stressed bosses, achieve their desired results, there are serious consequences to employees due to chronic workplace bullying including serious health problems for employees and lost time to the business.
A few books, such as When Smart People Work for Dumb Bosses, by William and Kathleen Lundin, McGraw-Hill, 1998, and Crazy Bosses, by Stanley Bing, HarperCollins Publishers, 2007, address the demoralizing short-sighted management decisions, thoughtless actions and rude behaviors of managers and the obnoxious and dangerous insanity of managers, respectively. The Lundins wrote, “Dysfunction can be the outcome of dumb (inept, misguided, insensitive, power-driven, unfeeling) leadership or dumb (tradition-bound, blind-sided, arrogant) organizational thinking.” (p. 117) They further wrote, “we predict more and more of what this paradigm example shows as organizations, out of competitive anxiety, dash toward ‘technological fixes’ without considering how the people who have to adapt to those ‘fixes’ need to be helped to do so.” (p. 117) Stanley Bing writes “bully management is perhaps the most difficult of all tasks for those who wish to survive in a world filled with the impressive variety of sick senior officers.” (Crazy Bosses, p. 75) He noted the inconsistent nature of the bully manager with “vast emotional swings depending on mood, often seemingly unrelated to external circumstances,” (p. 75) further noting that “management by terror has been a time-honored technique because it works.” (p. 76)

The Paradox Businesses Face with the Dysfunctional Manager


Many organizations adopted a family style culture during the latter part of the 20th Century. However, some quickly became dysfunctional family styled organizations, focused on a few functional details that yielded to the short-term success of the organization and its leaders rather than the engagement and empowerment of employees or associates. Communication, sensitivity and caring, which are at the heart of a fully functioning and competitive organization are hazy or lost in dysfunctional management styles. After relating many interviews with a variety of employees the Lundins observed “the most compelling observation is how people in power—from those who manage a small department to leaders of multinational corporations—believe they have the right to manipulate and play with the emotions of their employees.” (p. 173)
An example of the bully as a dysfunctional manager is one who appears in a temper at the employee’s office questioning the status of activity or demanding a status report when it was previously provided, but the manager did not take them time to save it or look for it. Or in the mean spirit of another example, demeaning an employee with years of published and very successful writing experience with the statement “you sometimes write as though English is your second language.”

The Dilbert cartoon strip by Scott Adams has popularly and perhaps now properly characterized the dysfunctional bullying boss. In The Dilbert Principle: A Cubicle’s-Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions, HarperBusiness, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1996, Adams described the change in the management selection process from the Peter Principle of workers being promoted to bosses beyond their levels of competence to the Dilbert Principle of the most ineffective workers being “systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management.” (p. 14)

In The Dilbert Principle Scott Adams shares an email submission that is similar to the statement of the Goldman Sachs Group CEO previously identified in The Dumbest Moments in Business History.
“A newly appointed VP of my company, in an interview printed in the internal company news rag, made the following comment when asked whether existing employees would be relocated if the company won an upcoming contract, or if the company would instead hire local people: ‘Engineers are basically a commodity. It doesn’t make economic sense for the company to pay for moves when we can buy the same commodity on site.’

Naturally, this disturbed some individuals in the workforce and a number of them showed up at an all-hands meeting held by this VP a few days later and sat in the front row plastered with signs labeling themselves as ‘Bananas,’ ‘Pork Bellies,’ etc.” (pp. 295, 296)

Yet, these dysfunctional managers are frequently successful, in a financial sense both as individuals and for their organizations. In the Human Resource Management article describing the 2007 study by Employment Law Alliance, its CEO Stephen J. Hirschfeld was quoted, that “changing the behavior of workplace bullies could be problematic for employers, Hirschfeld concedes, because workplace bullies can be high performers. Aggressive or ‘type A’ behaviors tend to be rewarded in the workplace, but Hirschfeld contends that employers need to draw the line and make sure aggressive workers don’t become abusive managers.” A Wall Street Journal article viewing the recruitment of chief executive officers observed that the characteristics of recent CEO hires have been focused on specific financial talents, details and successes rather than on the broader team leader or coach models of the past.

A September 1, 1996 article on “Making it, CEO style,” in “Executive Female by D. A. Benton stated that among five personality traits of chief executive officers ”“the higher you go, the more exposure to the big picture you have, the more you might think being detail-oriented is unnecessary. Wrong. It’s just the opposite. According to near-perfect chiefs, the higher you go, the more critical it is to be aware of details.”

In Management, a Revised Edition by Peter F. Drucker with Joseph A. Maciariello, HarperCollins Publishers, 1973, 1974, in the introduction to management and managers, Drucker observes “there is tremendous stress these days on liking people, helping people, getting along with people, as qualifications for a manager. These alone are never enough. In every successful organization there are bosses who do not like people, who do not help them, and who do not get along with them. Cold, unpleasant, demanding, they often teach and develop more people than anyone else. They command more respect that the most likable person ever could. They demand exacting workmanship of themselves and other people. They set high standards and expect that they will be lived up to. They consider only what is right and never who is right. And though often themselves persons of brilliance, they never rate intellectual brilliance above integrity in others. The manger who lacks these qualities of character—no matter how likable, helpful, or amiable, no matter, even, how competent or brilliant--is a menace who is unfit to be a manager.” (p. 10) Drucker concludes, “Organizations are far from perfect. As every manger knows, they are very difficult; full of frustration, tension, and friction; clumsy and unwieldy. But they are the only tools we have to accomplish such social purposes as economic production and distribution, health care, governance, and education. And there is not the slightest reason to expect society to be willing to do without these services that only performing organizations can provide.

Indeed, there is every reason to expect society to demand more performance from all its institutions, and to become more dependent upon their performance. And it is the managers who make institutions perform.” (p. 526)

Reforming or Reassigning the Dysfunctional Manager

Returning to the American Management Association’s article, “Coping with Dysfunctional Managers,” cited earlier in this article, efforts a decade and a half ago to solve problems related to the behaviors of dysfunctional managers were in their infancy. That article stated that in solving the problem, “often supervisors of dysfunctional managers mistake behavior problems for management skills problems. But for the true dysfunctional manager, attending seminars on improving management will have only short-term success. Once a manager has accepted the fact that he or she is dysfunctional, Hall advises, a recovery program should be sought. As for organizations, how companies both recognize the problem and effect solutions will be one of the most difficult challenges for managements in the next decade.”

One method to identify the dysfunctional manager to senior management is to allow the manager to demonstrate dysfunctional incompetence in the forum it most frequently appears. For example, if it occurs in meetings find an appropriate opportunity to invite the dysfunctional manager’s supervisor to a meeting or if it occurs in written or verbal communications seek witnesses. This may, however, be a long-term effort that may not have a desirable short-term result. Another approach may be to identify documented problems seeking solutions from appropriate sources. Still another approach may be to a peer or three level review.

Rather than providing seminars and additional training for dysfunctional managers, the solution may include intensive efforts to identify dysfunctional managers and provide coaching or reassignment when those follow-ups are needed. One-on-one coaching, engaging a mentor relationship or even peer networking groups with other managers focused on identifying issues adversely impacting the dysfunctional manager’s style may lead to behavior modification techniques.

If the Problem is Not Addressed: Potential for Legislation

Some articles, such as the 2007 Human Resource Management summary of the Employment Law Alliance study on bullying in the workplace, suggest that a growing awareness of the problem could result in the potential for legislation if employers fail to remedy the situation. That article reported, “There are proposals in about a dozen states for some form of workplace bullying legislation.” It also referenced “a recent anti-bullying law enacted in the Canadian province of Quebec that gives workers the right to file suit against their employers and to recover damages for ‘any vexatious behavior that affects an employee’s dignity or their psychological or physical integrity.”

Conclusion

The inevitable general conclusion, however, is that the cycle of the dysfunctional non-abusive manager may not be the right type of manager for the current competitive broadcasti environment, facing cost-cutting efficiency, financial challenges and economic declines domestically and internationally.

For Bexley Public Radio, the conclusion is that executives must challenge their managers to make workplace adjustments that recognize the incredible achievements of their staff in building a radio station for Bexley and the surrounding communities. From nothing, staff has created a community service that is unique in the central Ohio area.

Managers must create tangible rewards for their staff who have given life to the FCC’s mandate of local programming. Managers must reward production staff and performers like Joe Contino, Dave Eaton, Lee Edmondson, Laura Franks, Zach Fries, Mel Greenball, Amy Maurer, Terry Pugh and Katy Taylor.

Since the dysfunctional managers at Bexley Public Radio may have difficulty self-identifying their need to transition their management style, executives must be prepared to assist managers in that transition through coaching and mentor or peer networking opportunities. If the dysfunctional manager cannot adapt hardened characteristics to the amiable and servant leader model of management, reassignment or termination may be the course that this broadcast organization must consider.

For Bexley Public Radio, there is hope, however, that in the foreseeable future effective managers with the hardened characteristics of the qualified manager that Drucker proposed, and who remain for the longer term, can adapt those characteristics to the amiable and servant leader model. That combined model appears to have staying power that will bring longer-term success to the organization and the relationship with its volunteers or associates.

AAR


Bexley Public Radio Foundation broadcasting as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

Bexley Public Radio Foundation is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible from federal income taxes for individuals who itemize. Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.

Design is copyright 2008. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation. Text is copyright 2008. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation. The styles "The Most Sensitive Man in Bexley" and "MSMIB" are the property of Bexley Public Radio Foundation.

Summer volunteers Sarah Lamar and Robert Moore complete assignments and depart for college.

Each week this summer, four hours of WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM programming was hosted by interns Sarah Lamar and Robert Moore.

Sarah and Robert are both 2008 graduates of Bexley High School. Their last day of work on the radio was Friday August 15.

Sarah will begin her studies at Syracuse University in New York and Robert will study as a National Merit Scholar at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.

Their daily work on the radio included the weather report from the Old Farmer’s Almanac, local news from The New Standard, Bexley News, Catholic Times and the Eastside Messenger and second chair dialogue with on-air personalities Katy Taylor, Amy Maurer and Terry Pugh.

They also offered consumer comments to Frank Ingwersen’s Mid-morning Wall Street Update and did the production work for the daily lunch specials at Bexley eating spots.

Sarah and Robert also provided content about Ohio county fairs and auctions.

Sarah is a brilliant ad libber. Comfortable behind the microphone, Sarah is a natural program host. She listens to her guests and, if times were different, she would make an easy living as an interlocutor. She has a gentle wit, and is a listener who laughs at the humor of others.

Robert is organized and a quick writer. His curiosity is unpredictable and takes him to places that others overlook. As an interviewer he is an earth mover rather than a tidy archeologist. But then, he is a young man. What he uncovers is interesting as radio content and his treatment of content is always skillful. His culture reviews of movies and music were excellent radio.

The radio station staff appreciate the work of these two students.

Contact us.
WCRX-LP Editorial Collective
Bexley Public Radio Foundation operating as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

Bexley Public Radio Foundation operating as WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible from federal income taxes for individuals who itemize. Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation.