Platform strategies, open source, internet of things: we’re all looking for new business models of the networked world. What about leadership in today’s hyperconnected environment? What are the new models for that?
We can vision for the future but we can also learn from what’s in front of us right now. Think about the original network business that we all take for granted–television. Leaders have been grappling with making that distributed, interconnected business work long before anyone breathed “platform strategy.”
What can we learn about network leadership from someone running a system of television stations?
That question started my recent conversation with Paula Kerger, president and CEO of PBS–and she had plenty to offer.
For nine years, Kerger’s been leading a network of 350 independent local stations. “Leading” at PBS has challenges common to other kinds of networks today, particularly finding the right balance between setting direction for shared strategy and benefiting from the autonomy and innovation of different network members. In the PBS system, public television licensees have their own boards, offer local services tailored to their communities and carefully maintain their independence.
Over time Kerger has learned how to be an effective network leader. With her own style and approach, she’s taken PBS to new heights: delivering blockbuster programming like Downton Abbey, broad audience growth, expanded educational offerings, and an innovative digital strategy.
As she reflected on her leadership approach–what’s worked, not worked, and what she’s learned (sometimes the hard way) –three insights emerged:
1. Connect Network Value to Membership Values
Kerger early on embraced the dual identity of PBS: as a media company (distributor of sponsored content to millions of viewers) and as a member organization (community-based stations with mission to “educate, inform, and inspire”). From the get-go, she’s stressed how the network supports its members and their mission–and vice versa.
In fact, she’s made community membership a strategic differentiator, emphasizing to all stakeholders how local stations improve the welfare of America’s cities and towns (e.g. developing content for classrooms, broadcasting citizen town halls, covering regional arts festivals, etc.). Sometimes members contribute local content to the national network; sometimes national offerings become tools for local mission, like Ken Burns’ documentaries for teaching history in schools.
As a network leader, Kerger succeeds by connecting the value of the network to the values binding the members together. “Membership and mission are the North Star we navigate by,” she says.
2. Build Trust Up, Down, Sideways
Kerger knows that networks thrive on trust. She works to build it all around.
Her style sets the tone. Kerger became PBS President after years in tell-it-like-it-is New York. She speaks with an all-business candor that invites others to be open too, and to feel comfortable about dissenting. She also knows how to listen. “People in a network need to be heard. They’ll accept someone else’s decision if the reasons are good, and support the mission. You also have to be willing to back down if there are valid concerns.”
Transparency is another Kerger trust-builder. “People hate hidden agendas,” she avers. “I share the annual PBS budget draft across the network. I want to hear member feedback about priorities. And then I share that around too.” Empathy matters. “You have to care about other people’s success as much as your own.”
Kerger also builds trust the old fashioned way: by visiting member stations regularly. “You don’t ‘direct’ a network from ‘the Mother Ship’,” she said smiling. “You have to go out, big cities, small cities, little towns in Minnesota, Texas. Listen and walk in their shoes.” She also makes a habit of checking in with “networks in the network,” informal affinity groups of members with similar market profiles.
She keeps the North Star front and center: “What can we do better to advance mission in your community?”
3. Sometimes You Follow, Sometimes You Lead, Sometimes You Fall Back
A leader’s job is often simply promoting good ideas that emerge from the diversity of a network. Kerger continuously works with member stations to identify and bring great local programming to wider PBS audiences.
She combines that with taking her own initiative on behalf of the system— for example, securing national funding and relationships to add a Downton Abbey or Ken Burns series to the schedule. Kerger’s focus on quality and educational values have earned broad member support.
But membership enthusiasm is not always guaranteed. “In a network,” Kerger reflected, “you sometimes have to make yourself unpopular. I’ve pushed for a few things I felt were valuable for the system, even when members don’t see the same future the same way.”
Local stations were wary about the launch of PBS Digital Studios, which Kerger promoted to pull in younger YouTube viewers abandoning traditional television. Stations worried that digital would cannibalize their local franchises. Kerger held firm, drawing on general good will and also outside funding. She ultimately won over skeptics, demonstrating how the new programming would enhance members’ own audiences and strengthen their community outreach. Digital offerings now drive 20 million views per month. Members are reaping benefits of expanded content, audiences and branding.
But Paula Kerger has also had her defeats. She’s wiser for it: “You have to know when to back off and shelve a project, even when you’ve made an initial investment. The network should always aspire, but it also has to survive.”
Learning From Paula Kerger
If you are leading your own network, borrow from Paula’s lessons at PBS. Ask yourself:
- Do I understand how my network creates value? Do the values of the culture I’m building support that? And vice-versa?
- Do members in the network trust me? Trust each other? How can I strengthen trust all around?
- Am I clear when members of the network should lead, and when I should lead?
- Can I learn and change direction when I get it wrong?
Originally published on Forbes.com