How to Lead When Your Team Is Exhausted - Issue #96

New Reuters report on journalism, media and tech. Lots of stuff we already know. Audio and video on the rise, and of course acceleration in subscriptions and digitization.

Interesting bit is that creating a more innovative culture remains a key preoccupation for many leaders. The best ideas rarely come from the top. It is rather audience and data insights (74%), multi-disciplinary teams (68%), and learning from other media companies (48%) that are considered the best ways to generate new ideas, compared with just 26% for top leadership.

Media companies are betting on AI as a way of delivering more personalized experiences and improving production efficiency. I still have to see that one work. Shoot me an email if you have examples that really moved the needle.

So although the best ideas may not always come from the top, there is a difference in who leads. In most endeavors, experience is a good thing. But new research finds that for CEOs, it often carries surprising costs. In a study of 500 CEOs appointed over a 20-year period, the researchers found that those with experience in the role consistently underperformed their novice counterparts over the medium to long term, counterintuitive though it may seem.

Why do so many seasoned leaders lag? The research team believes it happens because they fall back on the playbook from their last job, become overly concerned with cost-cutting, and are less adaptable than rookies, who tend to pay more attention to top-line growth. It is the power of curiosity, adaptability, flexibility, and the ability to confront problems with fresh eyes rather than with rules of thumb.