The East Wing Search Group: Specializing in Sales, Marketing & Management Recruiting

‘The Business Doctor’

Riendeau & WattsA Chicago-area radio program moves I/O psychology from the boardroom to the airwaves.
By Erika Packard Monitor staff 02/15/2008

Turn the radio on for business advice with a behavioral science spin?

Sure, say management consultants George Watts, EdD, and Russ Riendeau, PhD, who host “The Business Doctor” each Sunday morning on WCPT Air America AM 850.

The show is the only Chicago-based radio program devoted to business leadership and career development. Some 10,000 to 14,000 listeners across the greater Chicago area tune in each week as Watts and Riendeau tackle topics such as leadership development, diversity recruiting, teambuilding and asking for a promotion.
“We want to change the way people do business with the use of behavioral science,” says Riendeau, who owns the East Wing Search Group, a Chicago-based executive recruiting firm.

Before joining the airwaves, Watts studied counseling psychology and was working as a school psychologist when he gave a speech to a Chamber of Commerce on stress management. The head of a commercial real estate firm approached him after the talk and offered him a job using personality assessments in organizational development. Watts jumped to industrial/organizational psychology and is now the managing partner in the executive talent management firm AST Management.

“The Business Doctor” was born when Watts was promoting his books on leadership development on radio shows and producers told him he had a good radio voice. A mutual acquaintance—also a psychologist—introduced Watts to Riendeau, who had been in the executive recruiting business before deciding to pursue a doctorate in psychology to gain more credibility and learn skills that would help him better assess talent. When Watts learned that Riendeau had done public radio work and television interviews, he invited him to co-host “The Business Doctor.”

Young professionals as well as educated, 40- to 60-year-olds make up much of the show’s listenership. Listeners over age 40 particularly enjoy tips on reinventing their careers and staying competitive in a world of ever-changing technology, says Riendeau.