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The Straight Skinny

 

"The Last of One's Freedoms"

 

Laid-off or not, welcomed perspective if you could use a little mercy right now

 

By Carol Archer

Recent research on the effects of fear in the workplace, which I recounted in pt. 1, last week, demonstrates that fear prompts inevitable retreat in decision-making processes that precludes the possibility of progress. If so, how will Smooth Jazz replicate its achievements, unless the format demonstrates that it is not mired in paralyzing, mind-killing fear?

 

 And who, exactly, will step forward to lead dynamic change in the format: programmers ensnared in fear's grip, the nonchalant or jaded? What is the way forward? Should we gauge success by Smooth Jazz's audience growth, particularly among younger demos – say, 18-49? Or shall we repair to the ship's opulent lounge for cocktails to reminisce about the good old days of Smooth Jazz and ignore those pesky icebergs? Quantum physics' sole certainty is that everything changes – everything in the Universe, why not the Smooth Jazz format? Discussion of this matter concludes in pt. 2, below.

 

 At this worrisome time, friends and colleagues' responses vary when you ask how things are at work. Coping skills vary, so replies range from exuberant optimism to resignation. Some, who have good reason for apprehension, sound totally cool or register vague uncertainty; others confide that they have contingency plans. There are those who ask, "What can I do about it?" But few feel secure in their jobs anymore; worse, more than ever they say that they feel trapped, waiting for the ax, as their expressions of sadness, helplessness, disappointment, weary "whatever's" and debilitating terror increasingly indicate.

"The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one's freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given circumstance….When we are no longer able to control a situation, we must change ourselves."

– Dr. Viktor Frankl

What I hear makes me ache for the business I fell in love with in San Francisco so long ago, in which I have worked during almost my entire career to date. Sad to say, I would probably opt for a year in a Turkish prison – terrifying, as I recall from the 1970's film starring the late-actor Brad Davis, "Midnight Express" – rather than work in radio today.