Conan, Jay, NBC... and YOU

It's been entertaining to watch the battle between Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno & NBC the last few weeks.

What's had me thinking though, is how we can learn from it.

There are two angles we can look at; let's take it from the business owner's perspective. If you're NBC, you've got amazing talent & multimillion dollar brands in both Conan & Jay; ultimately, you don't want either to leave. However, their wallowing decisions upset everyone, causing the hosts to publicly speak about the whole mess...

Let's be honest; Jay doesn't need the work. Conan is going to get a severance package worth tens of millions of dollars... And the only folks who come out looking bad, is NBC, the business owner.

The moral of the story; support & nurture your talent. Keep them happy. Don't yank their chains. Because, in the end, they'll survive and you wind up with the bad reputation.

Of course, the other side of the coin is from the employee's POV. Jay did a great bit the other day about how NBC told him one thing, then did another. Then Conan had on some former Saturday Night Live talent who had also been fired from NBC. Should they have seen it coming? Perhaps. Due diligence is not just for attorneys.

Business owners & employees alike; let's think about this. We all have to work together to have a strong marketplace, great product & happy customers.