The Flaming Nose is happy to welcome guest blogger Elaine with a terrific article on the end of the Jon Stewart era at The Daily Show:
Like most of his fans, I'm not happy about Jon Stewart
leaving The Daily Show. But since he’s decided not to grant any interviews
before the end of the show, most of what I've been reading about his departure
has been coming from his now former colleagues. They’ve said the obvious things about him being smart, funny, and working his
ass off. But what I'm also observing is his former employees’ admiration of him
and his ability to create a high performing team in a continuously healthy work
environment.
This formula isn’t new, but having worked in broadcasting
AND corporate America myself, I can tell you that this formula isn’t as simple
to pull off as it looks. It takes effort and the right person to pull it off.
Here's what some of his correspondents have said to Entertainment
Weekly recently about what it was like to work with him:
ROB CORDDRY
"The show won a lot of Emmys, but the correspondents at that time
weren’t credited as writers. So we never got an Emmy, which is fine—we
understood the deal. But he called Sam Bee, Ed Helms, and me into his office
one day, and on his desk were three Emmy statues. And he said, “You guys can
each take one thing off my desk.” It was such a nice gesture."
ROB RIGGLE
"I always felt like he farmed out the funny. You know, if there
was a chance for me to be funny, he was like, “Great, you say that.” He just
allowed people to flourish...I got the impression he wanted me to succeed, and
then I wanted to succeed for him. That’s good leadership."
Indeed.
So it wasn't just Stewart's timing, delivery, writing, and intelligence
that made The Daily Show so controversial, successful, envied, and great. He
was an exceptional leader. Not only did he find the right talent, he helped
guide them to be the best they could be. He made people feel valued so their
hard work wasn’t in vain. Those are the keys to building any happy team. And a
happy team is a successful team.
What a concept.
Elaine (aka VirgoBlue) is a former television and radio producer
turned Silicon Valley communications pro. You can find her at www.virgoblue.net and on
Twitter @virgoblue .
