Lessons from Turning Around a Bleeding Media Company

One of my roles was with a successful media company in New York, overseeing both radio and magazine brands that were losing significant amounts of money. The losses weren’t due to lack of talent or relevance. Based on my assessment, the loss stemmed from theft, weak systems, poor controls, and misaligned roles. My mandate was clear, and uncomfortable.

I was charged with restructuring operations, putting the right people in the right places, and realigning the brands to eliminate waste and enhance profitability.

This wasn’t a visibility role. It was a fix-it role. I believed the work would be mostly about tightening processes, improving workflows and refreshing brand positioning.

I underestimated how emotionally challenging this role would be.

What I learned is that systems expose culture. This role taught me that inefficiency is often protected by familiarity, theft thrives where accountability is unclear, misalignment costs more than bad strategy and not everyone will celebrate necessary change.

Fixing the business required more than new processes, it required courageous leadership decisions. This role activated a new level of leadership maturity:

• Organizational design – aligning roles with strengths

• Change leadership – navigating resistance without losing resolve

• Financial stewardship – understanding where money truly leaks

• Decision-making under pressure – knowing when empathy must coexist with firmness

I learned that leadership isn’t about being liked, it’s about being responsible.

Today, this experience shapes how I help leaders diagnose root causes instead of symptoms, teach that clarity is kindness in organizations, coach executives through restructuring with integrity and emphasize systems as a form of respect, for people and resources.

This role taught me that profitability and purpose are not opposites, but waste is the enemy of both.

What would change in your organization if you were brave enough to name what’s no longer working?