Miranda Deatz Industry Leader Profile 2/13/14

A good leader has many specific qualities; often these qualities overlap and are a part of a good manager as well. A good leader needs to be able to take responsibility (Albarran, 2013, p. 18). They should be the ones accepting responsibility in terms of the company and also in terms of the employees who are further down the ladder. They also need to be adaptable and willing to not only accept change but be able to adapt to that change. If a person is too stuck in the ways of the past, especially in a media field, then they will not be a very good leader and would likely be replaced. Most importantly a leader needs to be able to lead. They need to be able to communicate with the employees and lead them down a successful path (Albarran, 2013, p. 18). A good manager, who often is also a good leader, has many duties and responsibilities they need to be successful in. The successful managers are able to create an environment that encourages teamwork, a high-performance mindset and the betterment of the company or organization (Llopis, 2012). Its very important that a manager can earn the trust of the employees they are in charge of. Not being able to trust a manager can be a very bad experience and the results wont be as good. Communication skills are also very highly valued in managers. Managers need to be credible, be able to negotiate and be a good representation of the company they work for since they are often figureheads (Albarran, 2013, p. 19). John Landgraf is the recently promoted CEO of the FX television network. He has been the one guiding FX from being a relatively unknown television channel with minimal original programming to become one of the highest rated advertising supported channels with an impressive list of award winning, ground breaking original series. He also was the creator of FX productions. His clear creativity, his ability to guide the company to success and his willingness to adapt to new, ground breaking content is a big part of what makes him a good media industry leader.

Landgraf started his time at FX as the President of Entertainment in 2004. By 2005 he was promoted to President and General Manager (Fox Flash, 2012). His biggest strategic decisions include adding over 11 original series, creating FX productions and developing the ideas for FXX. So far it seems he has yet to have any major failures. Through his leadership the viewership for FX has jumped up 55% and prime-time viewers increased 17% by 2011 (Flint, 2011). The two main qualities Landgraf has that impress me the most are his creativity and his willingness to work with everyone involved in the shows his network hosts. He is the main reason FX has become a home for many writers who like to push boundaries. Landgraf is very supportive of this type of content and I really appreciate that. His openness to new ideas is another valuable trait. Most network CEOs probably wouldnt have been willing to take on Ryan Murphys brilliant and bizarre show American Horror Story but Landgraf certainly was willing (Rose, 2013). Landgraf is also heading up the development of a new channel, FXX, which will be a comedy channel. This is just another example of his ambitious nature. I have not had many opportunities to be a leader. Ill be the first to admit that at this junction of my life I dont really want to be a leader or a manager. So Im not entirely sure what my leadership style would be but if I had to choose I would say it is probably be human relations based. I would focus more on the actual people and their needs more than say financial or production factors. Of course all three would be important but Id be most concerned with the individuals. In the past, in my few semi-leadership positions, that has been how I operated and it seemed to work best for me.

My potential skills for being a leader would include my ability to read people. Im good at figuring out what motivates people, what drives them, what makes them happy and what doesnt. I really honed that skill when I worked at a grocery store a few summers ago. You learn a lot about dealing with people in jobs like that, both the customers and your coworkers. I also had a bit of a gift when it came to getting the unenthusiastic and rather lazy employees to actually work on a task. There was one employee who worked with me at the grocery store who would never actually accomplish anything if left to her own devices. The only times she would get things done was when I was the one telling her to do it. She refused or got mouthy with everyone else but I managed to be the one to get through to her. I got a little bit of leader experience in high school when I was the unofficial student teacher/drum major. From that I learned that I am very much a team player. I wanted the group as a whole to look good, not just myself. I feel that is a very important quality in a leader. There was another senior the same year as me that was the official drum major but she never helped the underclassmen unless it made her look bad. I helped the younger students by making sure they knew their music, had their sheet music if they needed it, had their instruments and all the pieces of their uniforms. I also helped teach our marching style. My focus was always on the group as a unit. Another quality that I feel is important in a leader is that they should genuinely care about their company or organization or whatever they lead. When I was in band and was in charge of some of the younger students I made sure I showed them that I did really care. I made sure they knew I wasnt just helping them because I had to. Im also quite adaptable. Im willing to change something I do, or my style of doing something if it benefits someone else.

My biggest weakness, in terms of leadership, would be my lack of confidence. I have barely any confidence in myself. It takes a lot for me to build up any confidence and unfortunately it doesnt take much for it to disappear. This lack of confidence also makes it seem awkward to me that I should be telling others what to do. Im also a bit of a procrastinator. However I have gotten much better about this particular problem. I feel like good leaders and managers are much better with time management than I am at this point. In fact Id say good time management skills is an important quality in a leader or manager. Im not sure how I would achieve power. Even just thinking about that makes me feel a bit like a comic book villain. If I were to ever go up the leadership ladder I think I would have to be asked. Im not the type of person whose main goal is to be promoted. It would be nice, but its not a necessity for me. If someone higher up thinks I deserve to be given more authority then I would definitely accept but I wouldnt want to assume I deserved it only to be proven wrong later. I would want to be able to earn that authority. I like to work with people who are able to have fun with their job. When I worked as a cashier there were a few others who could do that and being a cashier is not a very fun job. We got stuff done, and in a timely matter but we also kept it light. We joked around during our breaks and would sometimes create little competitions to see who could stock the most boxes before our shift was over. I also really appreciate creativity among people I work with. My supervisor during my internship this summer had all sorts of her artwork hung up in her office. She also had these odd little toys sitting on her desk. It was quirky and fun and I thought it was awesome. Ive found that creative people tend to be the most fun, entertaining and spontaneous people. I like working with people like that.

If I were put in a leadership position I would certainly be open to adjusting my style, I wouldnt expect others to adjust to me. It would be important to me to make sure employees felt important. I would use that to empower them. Make sure they felt needed; like they were accomplishing something with their work and that they werent just wasting their time being bored at work. I would want them to be happy. That would mean I was pulling more from the human relations school of management. I would like to see other leaders pull from the other schools of management. I feel that having a variety could work well since everyone is different and perhaps some people work better with managers or leaders who pull from the classical school instead of the human relations one. Plus I tend to work better with people who arent just like me. I would like my style to be more like John Landgrafs style. Im not nearly as ambitious as he is and I also dont have the confidence to push the shows he did. Most of the shows on FX were risky for the network but he went with the decision to air them and they all have been very successful. I wouldve been too scared to do that. We both have the ability to think creatively and we both are open to ideas. We also both are willing to work with others in a creative environment. If I were to replace him I would just want to keep the same success rate hes had. I would want to keep the same high quality of shows. I dont think Id do anything different. Even though hes only been with FX for a few years he has already had many successes and a quick promotion to have more authority over the network. I feel that his success mixed with his drive, his creativity, his open mindedness and his willing to work with others make him a good media leader.

References Fox Flash Biography. (9/24/12). Retrieved from http://www.foxflash.com/tca/pdfs/fx/LANDGRAF%20John%20Bio%209-24-12.pdf Albarran, A. (2013). Managemnet of Electronic and Digital Media. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Llopis, G. (July 2012). Forbes Website. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2012/07/10/effective-managers-earn-trustquickly-by-doing-5-things-well/ Rose, L. (6/4/2013). Hollywood Reporter Magazines Website. Retrieved from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/john-landgraf-elevated-fx-networks-562556 Flint, J. (9/27/2011). Los Angeles Times Website. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/27/business/la-fi-ct-fx-20110927