Radio Works Best When Looking Ahead

 

Shut Up and Play the Hits!

If radio works best when looking forward, why do so many announcers insist on looking back?

I listened to a local radio anchor run headlong into a train wreck. Four breaks in a row with multiple mistakes. I've been there. I learned through experience, not to dwell on the mistakes. Things were coming at me too fast to dwell on the past. As soon as you stop, as soon as you hesitate, the more likely it is the whole thing will come crashing down. Listeners don't have a lot of tolerance for this.

After the shift, and before the next shift, is the time to focus and analyze what went wrong, and find solutions.

• Show prep is key to a successful shift.
• Good forward promotion (next ten to 20 minutes) encourages increased time spent listening.
• Dwelling on a mistake leads to the DJ's nightmare, a train wreck shift.
• Surprises are great on your birthday, but catch you unaware when live, on-air, leading to more mistakes.
• Talking up to a time post is the ultimate in the immediate future. Eliminate the upcuts!
• Long stop sets drive listeners away. Keep the back-sell short. Idle chatter turns listeners off.
• Only share your best stuff.
• Anchors and DJ's who look back, espousing the greatness of the story or music just aired, assume to much of the listener. The listener doesn't really want you to tell them what to think. They want to know what's coming up. All motion needs to be forward.

I found running a skimmer was a great tool for making adjustments. Most of the time I found I was just trying to do too much. Other times it's a lack of perpetration. I actually had a dream last night where I was fundraising on CPTV. It was for Sesame Street. We were discussing how to pitch it since it is no longer unique to Public TV. As was the case back then, I was called on to ask for funds two minutes before airtime. Dreams and the subconscious lead to some pretty strange things, but no stranger than reality.

Leadership Qualities

 

This got me thinking

What if leaders actually took to heart these two passages posted today on Sojourners?

Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. - Daniel 12:3

The minute a person whose word means a great deal to others dares to take the open-hearted and courageous way, many others follow. - Marian Anderson, My Lord, What a Morning: An Autobiography (1956) The first thing, leaders can be developed. The second thing, leaders adapt and evolve. The third thing, leaders do not lead from the top down. Check out this blog from Northeastern University, The 5 Qualities All Successful Leaders Have in Common by Brian Eastwood. He came up with the following qualities. 1. They are self-aware and prioritize personal development. Effective leaders focus on developing their emotional intelligence, Goode says. Leaders that work to refine this quality are more adaptive, resilient, and accepting of feedback from others. They are also effective listeners and open to change. 2. They focus on developing others. This leadership quality builds on the principles of the situational leadership theory, which suggests that effective leaders adapt to whether an individual or group is ready, willing, and able to take specific action. Delegating, coaching, and mentoring are important tasks for situational leadership. 3. They encourage strategic thinking, innovation, and action. “As a leader, you have to look forward. You have to think about where the organization is going,” Goode says. Leaders must consider internal organizational factors, such as product roadmaps and staffing needs, as well as external factors, including government regulations and technology advancement, when making strategic business decisions. 4. They are ethical and civic-minded. Strong leaders consider the ethical consequences of the decisions that they make—for both their customers and their teams. 5. They practice effective cross-cultural communication. Respected leaders are able to clearly communicate with individuals, business units, the entire company, and to stakeholders outside the organization. In an increasingly global economy, leaders must also acknowledge and respect different communication traditions.

Time to Move On

 

Sure Signs It's Time to Go

Upon reflection, I think I stayed too long. The goal was to make positive change, and to create a listener service with a unique value for our public radio audience. A noble goal under appreciated by the people I worked for. In the end, the changes were made through tenacity. That tenacity may have had too high a price.

After turning around the station's unique value proposition among those who use public media I was let go. It happens. Change agents are often rewarded with exit papers. There's always uncertainty that comes with change. Despite our best efforts to inform senior management that change can be difficult, and that steadfastness is needed to endure the storm that accompanies change, senior management was not prepared.

My tenacity led to my disappointment.  The signs were there long before my exit. 

There's a passage in the Bible about going into a situation were your voice is being ignored.

If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.
- Matthew 10:14

And the second part?

There’s really no such thing as the ‘voiceless’. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.
- Arundhati Roy, Ordinary Person’s Guide To Empire (2004)

In all, it was a nine year journey to convince the major stakeholders that a shift was coming in audience expectations. The signs were there early on that we had hit the glass ceiling. Audience and development numbers had already flattened. It was only a matter of time. The downward turn was coming. I rang out the warning, presented the evidence and got ignored until it all began to collapse.

I should have left before that. It is a weakness to think you can change behaviors, when you can only change your own.

How do you know it's time to move on?

According to Destiny Agbanimu there are ten sure signs it's time to move on.
(LinkedIn October 2021)

1. Your trust is broken time and time again.

2. The situation makes you feel bad about yourself. It is time to leave and find a situation where you are appreciated.

3. The situation has lowered your self-esteem. 

4. When you think back, you are unable to think of the last time you were genuinely happy.

5. The relationship is not 50:50. It is time to find a relationship where you are treated as an equal.

6. You do not feel like you can openly express your opinion. you should never stay in a situation where you are not allowed to have a voice.

7. Promises are never followed through on. 

8. People want you to change into someone that you are not. If you are asked to go against your values and beliefs, or if the person has no consideration for how much that matters to you, then they do not respect you.

9. When words never match actions.

10. When the other person is too needy.

Much was accomplished. The cost was too high.

Destiny Agbanimu is a Business Development Manager | Product and Innovation Specialist | SDG 4 & 8 Advocate | Development Researcher.