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Resolution #1: Embrace learning
Make growth a part of your station culture. If all we know is what
we have known we can never achieve greater impact. I’ve heard so
many people say, “no one has ever taught me this before.” In a
format where creating a connection to new listeners is achieved
primarily through the air talent it is a shame that training isn’t a
higher priority.
“You can’t make someone grow. You can only provide the right
climate for growth and hope it sticks. My experience is that it
always starts with the general manager. To allow for station and
individual growth one has to step outside their own preferences and
comfort zone.” Joe Battaglia
Resolution #2: Understand that relevance is the path to
connecting; connecting is the path to growth
“Relevancy Drives Connection. Us and me is everything; attachment
and self-esteem are the motivations that work best. Differentiation
from rivals doesn't by itself deliver anything on behalf of your
target market.”
People will not listen to you talk about things that aren’t relevant
to them. In a world of choice people choose, and they’ll choose to
go away. Want fans? Know your listeners and be relevant to their
lives.
--
Resolution #3: Understand how the medium of radio works
“He didn't give us Church talent, not preaching talent or crusade
talent...He gave us radio talent to be used to maximize the reach
and impact of a very special tool called a radio station. Love
Christ, serve others, point them back to Christ doing compelling,
relevant radio. So simple at its core and yet the hardest thing for
most stations to ‘get’.” Dean O’Neal
Many decision makers in Christian radio have a background
in something other than the medium of radio, whether that be in
sales or fundraising, the non-profit world, or church or academia.
Each of these areas has best business practices that may be
different from the way radio works. Become students of the medium
of radio.
Resolution #4: Strive for excellence. Keep your standards
high.
“I often hear ‘ministry’ used as an excuse to put something on the
air that is poorly produced or isn’t relevant or interesting, but
seldom I hear the word ‘ministry’ as a serious charge for the
station’s highest and best use to reach people for Christ and impact
the community for good. I think the reason for that is simple.
Creating great radio is hard work, and many people gravitate to
what is comfortable. It requires that every staff member be engaged
with the product, which means actually listening to it. (I’ve found
this lack of interest in actually listening to the station in no
other format). It requires sometimes staying after five, and
investing in the things that will grow the station. Christian
radio can do better than hiring people for $7 an hour and telling
them to be religious on the air.”
Resolution #5: Understand that you are a leader of tribe; a
group of people connected by distinct values and perspective.
A vital brand has a "relationship" with loyal users not unlike a
healthy relationship between two people.
“If a radio station can connect to an audience in as personal and
intimate level...then mountains can be moved. I would venture to say
also that the connection....would be the station building the
bridge, and encouraging the listener over that bridge toward a
closer relationship with Christ. Any radio station that boasts that
'they' change lives is pridefully fooling themselves. Only God
changes lives, and sometimes it's through meager human vessels like
us. A mindset of humility and grace has always ministered to me much
more than a mindset of 'look how much I can help you'. Daniel Heidt,
my guitar teacher and friend
Resolution #6: Growth is not an option. Invest in it.
“It’s not in the budget.” Too often we hear of the budget being
used as an excuse not to invest. However, I know of one company
where any expense that is tied to growth is evaluated separately
than those that simply maintain the status quo.
“Good to Great” author Jim Collins says, “In a good-to-great
transformation, budgeting is a discipline to decide which arenas
should be fully funded and which should not be funded at all. In
other words, the budgeting process is not about figuring out how
much each activity gets, but about determining which activities best
support the Hedgehog Concept and should be fully strengthened
and which should be eliminated entirely.”
Resolution #7: Encourage your teammates
I’ve had some people say to me that they never receive a word of
encouragement from their coworkers or supervisors, even in ministry
organizations. My daughter is a teacher of special needs children.
She regularly shares stories about how affirming the children’s
positive actions is the most effective teaching technique.
“The more I’m exposed to the inner workings of other high capacity
teams, the more I see the consequences of encouragement given…and
encouragement withheld. Support matters.” Mark Beeson
Resolution #8: Beware the silo
People who resist change and growth often build silos to avoid
accountability.
"Functionally, silos form and operate when the people in one area
simply want to do what they do, the way they want to do it without
thinking about whether what they’re doing is going to effect anyone
else. Or how. They just act, irrespective of what the impact may be
outside their own workspace. And it’s happening at every level”. F.
John Rey
Invest in resources and systems that help give your team a broader
perspective. Learn from the successes and failures of others. It
is impossible to learn what is outside ourselves from inside
ourselves.
Resolution #9: If you’re standing still the world is passing
you by
Our stations don’t operate in a vacuum. Your listeners have more
media options than ever before and it is easier than ever for you to
be crowded out of the marketplace.
“What broadcasters never seem to get is that folks think radio is
less important nowadays because so much other stuff is more
important. And “importance” is an outcome of consumer passion, not
a byproduct of radio industry marketing and PR.
Do things that make consumers love you, stay ever so slightly ahead
of their desires, put your consumer strategy before your corporate
one.” Mark Ramsey
John is a partner in Goodratings
Strategic Services, and has been a successful major market disc
jockey and program director for such companies as CBS, Cap Cities,
Westinghouse, Sandusky, Gannett, and Alliance during his 38 year
broadcast career. John joined Goodratings’ partner Alan Mason in
1999.
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