We’ve all done it.

Waiting through the first part of a boring movie. You hope it will get better.

Sitting down at a restaurant. The waiter is slow to come over. Minutes tick by without giving your drink order. You hope it will get better.

In a world of instant gratification, a better choice is only a push of a button, a click of a mouse, or an “Alexa” voice command away.

“Everyone’s favorite radio station is the station that plays their favorite music.”

I cleverly put this sentence in quotes because it is the first thing I say when talking to a new station. After more than two decades in our format I can honestly say that NO ONE understands this fully at the beginning of the journey. However, all understand it later. If they are successful.

Why does this matter?

It matters because people love what is familiar, and what is familiar is what we love. And we work in a format that plays mostly unfamiliar music to the very people we’re trying to attract.

A few weeks ago we went to our first live concert in more than two years. Gosh, it was fun to be experiencing live music again.

The group is from Russia. Most of them don’t speak a word of English. Over 2,000 people packed the auditorium to hear them… a group that had NEVER had a hit record and hardly spoke the language.

What’s the deal?

If you want to get to know someone ask them about them.

If you want to build a relationship with someone ask them to tell you their story.

A successful radio station is one that builds a relationship with its listeners. The station understands who they are, what they care about, what connects them to others.

It’s called common ground.

It’s the basis of every affiliation in our lives. It starts with family. Then age and gender. It then branches out to school; then class (who was your first grade teacher?); then school groups. (I was a Thespian, don’tcha know!) Then friendships develop.

It’s not common sense to warn someone about using common sense. But that IS the point.

Successful principles of business, leadership, programming, or ministry aren’t common. They are the exception. Think about it.

Otherwise, all businesses would be successful, there would be no leadership challenges, churches would be full every week, all radio stations would have high ratings and we’d all have dated the prettiest girl in town.

Successful principles are the exception, not the common. There are 11,000 business books published each year. I looked it up. If these principles were merely common sense there would not be the demand for these lessons learned. A few years ago I had the privilege of being in studio when Bill Hybels interviewed former GE CEO Jack Welch for Willow Creek’s leadership summit. Nothing Jack said was common sense. It was deeper than that.

Christmas decorations are up in Home Depot, so I reckon’ I can go there, too.

Even though we’re yet to October, I’m already having conversations with program directors about this upcoming Christmas season. Call it Year #2 of Christmas with COVID.

Just when we thought things couldn’t get worse than last year, this Christmas season is extra noisy with the situation in Afghanistan and the chaos on the southern border.

But even in this unusual season Christmas can bring out the best in us. More people are tuning to your station than at any other time of the year. I know of a few stations that top a million listeners per week and numerous others that reach the top five. This was once considered unimaginable for a niche format playing mostly unfamiliar music.

Out of the mouth of babes.

It is an expression often connected to the perspective of someone with little or no knowledge of the inner workings.

I recently spent time with an industry pro. He’s been a major market morning man for decades at big stations you’ve heard of. He’s a Christian guy, a PK even, but has never worked in Christian radio. My colleagues and I are doing our best to nudge him to apply his immense talent in our format. Then, out of the mouth of babes…

“Your format thinks too small,” he blurts out.

“Tell me more,” we inquire.

“If your station can be what you say – transformative in someone’s life – then why do you spend 99% of your time focusing on the nuts and bolts, the songs, the artists, the deejays, the features – the stuff any radio station can do. Why don’t you focus on what is most meaningful?” he says from an outsider’s perspective.

We forget, don’t we?

We forget what real people go through every day.

We forget the messages they are bombarded with, the struggles they face, the negative influences on their kids.

Real people perceive your radio station within the context of their own lives. Don’t ever forget it.

Often they tune in to get away from the negativity, to be affirmed for the good in people, and to be reminded of the hope we can have through our faith.

On last week’s show I delved into what we could learn from The Weather Channel as Hurricane Ida hit the Gulf Coast. Well, a week later many of us are still cleaning up after the storm flooded the northeast. In fact, my friends Matt and Cari had to be evacuated from their home in New Jersey by boat. Fortunately, they and their cat LBK are safely relocated to a nearby hotel.

Since the impact of the storm is still just as relevant as last week I thought I would continue drilling down into what we can learn from The Weather Channel.

The power of NOW. In our format we talk a lot about “common ground,” usually referring to things like lifestyle, values, and spiritual vernacular. However, ‘now’ is the one thing we most have in common. Everyone is living in that moment. Weather, specifically severe weather, is the ultimate shared experience.

As you’re reading this, Hurricane Ida has made landfall on the Gulf Coast as an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane. Having lived in Florida for 25 years, I’m well aware of the life-altering impact of major storms coming ashore. Floridians can quickly transform into amateur meteorologists binge watching The Weather Channel. It’s never a good thing when you see Jim Cantore standing in your front yard.

We can learn a lot from The Weather Channel…

The power of winning moments. While it’s important to minimize things that result in listeners tuning away, playing defense isn’t the same as winning. The Weather Channel uses graphics, camera angles (literally), on the scene reporters, and live action video to keep viewers coming back for what Mr. and Mrs. Nielsen would call ‘listening occasions.’ We all want to know WHAT’S THE LATEST?

Last week Fox televised a Major League Baseball game that was played in the proverbial middle of nowhere – a cornfield in Iowa. And get this, it was the most watched regular season game in 16 years.

So what’s the deal? Was its success simply nostalgia for a movie made 30 years ago?

In a sport that these days can seem more about exit velocity, spin rates, and animated strike zones, this ballgame in a cornfield at the Field of Dreams went the other direction.

Baseball with a small b

This game, like the movie before it, was a storybook about the average Joe (shoeless, no less) and second chances, discovering your purpose, and the opportunity to live a dream even if only for one inning.

“You know, we just don’t recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they’re happening.”

Doc “Moonlight” Graham