Jack Eason 
The Heart Share Group

Pay Attention

As I enter the New Year, one thing I am determined to do is try to put myself in other people’s shoes.  The world is moving at a fast paced and sometimes it is easy to think it is all revolving around me. A couple of months ago I was able to spend a few days in Haiti watching people work amongst the poor and serve some of God’s most famous people. Without all the distractions of home, it really caused me to PAY ATTENTION. The immediate thought I had as I watched their selfless service wasn’t about a new pair of shoes I needed, or which fast food drive-thru I would swing through that night. My mind raced with questions like,

“How do they do it?”,

“Are they tired and weary?”,

“What gets them through this day after day?”,

“How can I encourage them?”

It’s amazing when we are placed outside our norm and have to think and ask questions from the perspective of someone else. What does this have to do with radio? A lot! Sometimes we make radio all about stats, ratings, inventory, imaging-all that is important, but radio at its core is about people. I think it would be beneficial for us to come out from “behind the desk” from time to time, and go out “into the field” and be with the people we speak to everyday.  I’m not sure what that looks like for you at your station.  It’s probably more than a listener advisory board survey that you use for your music. It may be no more than sitting down with a handful of your committed partners and asking those same questions: “How do you do it?”, “Are you tired and weary?”, “What gets you through this day after day?”, “How can I encourage you?”

 

When we ask those questions, we will be selfless serving the listeners/people that God has entrusted to our stations or organizations.