Ben's Story

I work at a FOX affiliate in a mid-sized market. I am in sales and work as an Account Executive. As a 100% commissioned sales person, it is imperative that I am able to effectively build my personal brand, network, lead others, team-build, plan strategically, and make a wide variety of both prompt and ethical decisions.

I first became involved with the NABEF through attending the NABEF Leadership Development Program in late 2011. The Leadership Development Program is designed to provide leadership tools for mid-level media specialists so they can effectively further their careers.

The Leadership Development Program was 4 days in length – never in my life did I ever think so much valuable knowledge from so many valuable sources could be so effectively communicated in such a short amount of time. Wow – what a program. People laughed, people cried, people made life-long connections, people furthered their careers both professionally and personally.

What I took away the most from the program was two things. First – how to effectively "manage up." Before the program, I had no idea that this concept even existed, let alone, how to effectively accomplish it. Second – how to effectively communicate/interact with other people using the DiSC behavioral assessment profile.

This program had an immediate impact on my professional life, mostly from the two points I listed above (managing up and identifying others DiSC behavioral type). The most comforting part being – other people feel like I do, other people act like I do, other people have the same frustrations, accomplishments, tasks, etc, etc. This was substantial for me because it is easy to think that "you are the only one". Leadership will show you that you are never alone.

I can only look forward to anything else that the NABEF is involved with. Thanks for a very powerful week.

How Did He Get There?

The NABEF Leadership Development Program is a four-day professional development program focused specifically on the fundamentals of leadership. The goal is to provide mid-level professionals with the leadership tools they need to deal with the industry's business challenges, take on new levels of responsibility, advance in their career and effectively lead others.