I hadn’t brushed my teeth with tap water in a week.  There’s nothing like being in a third world country to make one aware of the blessings we have in the good ole’ U.S.A.

I was one of 50 to recently travel to the Dominican Republic to lift shovel and rock to build a community center, to tend to 308 Dominicans and Haitians in a make-shift medical clinic, and to use the common language of sports to build bridges to hundreds of kids that couldn’t speak English.

My friend Christian Santiago is El Hombre in an organization God is using to transform a poverty-stricken Dominican community.  That organization’s focus to their vision – to educate and develop leaders in their own community to share the Gospel – has allowed them to avoid the pitfalls of trying to do too many things that take away time and resources from the main thing.  The result?  A thriving ministry!

As you can imagine, a benevolent organization like theirs, and maybe a radio station like yours, is bombarded with random, sometimes cock-eyed ideas from well-intended bystanders.  A Saturday night rock show for the teens? A Sunday night Southern Gospel show?  How ’bout some children’s programming?

Christian has a very simple way of filtering out the clutter.   Every suggestion comes with a donation.  He’s learned it’s easy for someone to throw out a random idea, but the meaningful ones come from those who are willing to back it up.

I’m not suggesting that your station’s strategy should be dictated by those on the sidelines with deep pockets.   But it is helpful to have an objective filter to help discern the good ideas from ones that will simply eat up your time and resources.

It’s been said that if you can’t say ‘no’ to the things that don’t matter then you won’t have room to say ‘yes’ to the things that do.

I couldn’t believe what I heard the public address announcer say.

The game was still going on, there were fans still in the ballpark, but they were closing the concession stands!

What’s next, I thought? The restrooms will close in the 8th?

It begins ever so subtly. First, the restaurant limits its hours. Then it’s closed for lunch. Then it’s only open four days a week.

It’s a slippery slope when you start treating your customers like they are not important enough for you to stay open.

Which daypart do you treat like “no one is listening”? Overnights?

I know stations that have more listeners overnights than others have during the entire week.

Sunday morning?

That may be your greatest opportunity to connect with someone listening for the first time on the way to church.

Saturday night?

Andy Stanley’s ministry strategically buys television time immediately following Saturday Night Live because they want to reach people on the way home from the bars. At last check Your Move is viewed by over 700,000 people, more than but two Christian radio stations in America.

Legendary New York Yankee outfielder Joe DiMaggio was once asked why he hustled on plays that had little effect on a game’s outcome or on his team’s standing. Joe replied,

Because there’s always some kid who may be seeing me for the first time. I owe him my best.

Once you stop caring whether anyone is listening, don’t be surprised if others do, too.

239 years ago our country was born with a Declaration of Independence, and a subsequent Bill of Rights for all citizens to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But as Believers, we know that with rights comes responsibility.

Your radio station has the right to do anything you want within the parameters of certain legal, broadcasting, and financial regulations. You even have the right to be mediocre. Most Christian stations are just that.

But with every right comes a responsibility.

Yes, your station has the right to be just barely good enough to stay on the air, be just solvent enough to keep the lights on, and just legal enough to keep from having your license taken away. Yes, those are your rights. I challenge you, what are your responsibilities!

What if your station, instead of embracing the minimum, embraced the responsibility of setting the standard of excellence?

What if your station, instead of embracing the minimum, accepted the responsibility of unifying a community of believers?

What if your station, instead of embracing the minimum, accepted the responsibility of reaching out and meeting the needs of your listeners, and their neighbors, and their neighbors?

No church, no civic organization, no governmental agency in your city has the bullhorn to impact your community the way that your station does.

On this 4th of July weekend, let’s wave our flags, shoot off our fireworks, and sing our patriotic songs.

But let us not forget our responsibilities.

Inspired by Andy Stanley’s message “Younited States of America”, one of the most amazing talks I’ve ever heard.

Sitting in a drive through will never feel the same to me again.

My new friend David Salyers showed us around The Hatch, an entire building devoted to hatching innovation. The walls were covered with photos of some of Chick-fil-A‘s best customers. (Yes! They had invited them in and actually talked to them!) What a contrast to a radio station’s walls adorned with gold records and photos of artists.

At The Hatch they study the “Points of Pain”: those points that get in the way of a great customer experience. It could be waiting in line, a menu that is difficult to read, or waiting for an order. Anything that detracts from the Chick-fil-A experience they study, and work to diminish or illuminate.

Seems like we can learn some things from Chick-fil-A. What are the points of pain for your listeners?

Is it the songs you play that your listeners don’t love or don’t know? Is it a dee jay that blabbers on about things your listener isn’t interested in? It is lengthly spot breaks, endorsements, or fundraisers that irritate? Is it promotions that are boring and conveyed with all the emotion of a legal disclaimer?

If we took a lesson from Chick-fil-A, perhaps we’d not only eat mor chikin, we’d have more listeners.

We spent all day in a room together. There were four of us with little in common except for the reason we were there.

One a Cincinnati Reds’ fan, one from Kansas City where I once lived, and one who worked with a buddy of mine named Jeff. Within a few minutes we had common ground and we were new friends.

Interesting, isn’t it? In relationships we build on ramps instinctively, but in our programming we assume that everyone speaks our language.

We assume they know Tobias McKeehan and would really dig two pieces of cardboard to his gig. We assume they know Jeremy Camp as much as summer camp. We assume they use ‘praise’ as a noun and ‘worship’ as a verb.

“The Curse of Knowledge”* is when those with knowledge find it impossible to even imagine what it’s like without that knowledge. Smart companies understand that blind spot so they design common ground in.

There is a reason cast members at Disney wear name tags with their home town. “You’re from Transylvania? We went there on our honeymoon!” A conversation is designed in.

You can build on ramps into the design or you can be like the church that greets its visitors in the parking lot with suspicion:

Everything we do sends a message.

“Where you consistently begin and what you consistently assume determine who consistently shows up. Why? Because your assumptions create the common ground for the journey.” Andy Stanley, Deep and Wide

On last week’s show I reached the Casey Kasem apex counting down the top ten reasons stations aren’t successful. I slaughtered a few sacred cows and received numerous digital high-fives when I revealed what I’ve observed as the top reason:

“When I find the ego in the organization, I’ve found the problem.” Fred Smith

Ego is a result of insecurity. Insecurity ultimately comes from a lack of trust. Trust in one’s self and trust in others.

A general manager doesn’t trust his program director so he dictates music decisions, major promotions, even (e-gad) where jingles play.

A program director doesn’t trust the air talent so he implements talk limits, gives them a list of slogans to read, and burns up the studio hot line.

An air talent doesn’t trust the program director so he tries to sneak in his favorite songs, and clings to the same ole bits from a previous station.

Bud Paxson remains one of the greatest influences in my broadcast carer. You likely remember him as the founder of Home Shopping Network and PAX-TV. One of Bud’s greatest leadership traits was summed up in the words “Bring me the bad news!” He believed in dealing with problems head on. He believed he couldn’t do anything about a problem if he didn’t know about it. His attitude set the tone for a culture of candor among his closest advisors. The truth would often tramped on sensitive areas, but the organization thrived!

Program directors, do you trust your GM enough to tell him the truth, without fear of retribution?

Managers, do you trust your program director enough to let him make the programming decisions, and support him publicly even when you disagree?

Air talent, do you trust your program director enough to be open to their coaching even if it means using new muscles and thinking new thoughts?

Trust doesn’t just happen. Trust is a result of true leadership.

“Leadership is a choice. It is not a rank. I know many people at the seniormost levels of organizations who are absolutely not leaders. They are authorities, and we do what they say because they have authority over us, but we would not follow them.

You see, if the conditions are wrong, we are forced to expend our own time and energy to protect ourselves from each other, and that inherently weakens the organization. When we feel safe inside the organization, we will naturally combine our talents and our strengths and work tirelessly to face the dangers outside and seize the opportunities.” Simon Sinek

See How Does Trust Happen in Music?

Twenty years ago my friend Alan suggested that I write. Five years ago I took him up on his suggestion. Some of us are slow to take wise counsel.

Exactly 260 weeks ago I began punching away at these musings on programming strategies, perspectives, and stories I’ve picked up along the road. Over the course of five years I think maybe writing about ‘the #1 reason stations aren’t successful’ is pretty important. Who knows? I may even step on a few egos. Unless of course you don’t have one.

Frankly, I’ve found THAT to be the essence of…(drum roll)… the #1 reason stations aren’t successful.

Ego.

Now, before you throw me off the bus, let’s remember that Ego simply means a self-centered perspective. The challenge is when ‘ego’ takes on such exaggerated sense of importance that other points of view or counsel are not welcome in the room.

“When I find the ego in the organization, I’ve found the problem.” Fred Smith

Over four decades ago I began my radio journey at a tiny 500 watt AM radio station in my hometown in Texas. Jay was my first radio mentor who taught me how to cue up a record, to watch my levels (no processing and no air monitor), and how to pronounce “ewe”. (For you city folk, it’s pronounced “you”).

My burgeoning radio career was then nurtured by Dave, Bill, Dwight and Bob; then Bill again (he hired me back). Then I took a big step forward as I learned from Howard and Larry, then on to the big leagues with Ed, Tim, and Mr. Hyland. A few years later I was transported into programming strategy lab of Randy, Al and Alan, a magical point at which the programming veil was lifted and I first saw clearly. That’s when Tommy coerced me to call Bill and Jenny Sue, who propelled me off on a wild adventure with a very tall fellow named Bud, who simply changed my life. That’s when I feel like my programming acumen was put on steroids with daily mentoring by Alan, Tommy, Rick, Tom, Walter, Jim, and Jay. Then David and Joe walked into my life and I entered yet another dimension of learning. I was then connected to Ty and Mike, reconnected with Tommy; then to Jim and Dean and Lisa Jean, Joe and Jim, Bob and Ralph, and Mike and Mike. Even that long list leaves me ten years shy of the most recent influences in my life.

If I had written Frost Advisory #260 before being influenced by these people, it wouldn’t be worth reading.

“Everything I know I learned from someone else.” Tom Watson

I heard a friend of mine recently say the biggest influences in his career were from thirty years ago. If you’re doing the math, Ronald Reagan was president, and you and I had not yet spell-checked our very first e-mail. How sad, I thought. How sad that his ego has shut out three decades worth of learning, experience and expertise. They say that there’s a difference between thirty years of experience and one year of experience thirty times.

“The unsuccessful person is burdened by learning, and prefers to walk down familiar paths. Their distaste for learning stunts their growth and limits their influence.” John C. Maxwell

Now don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m told the word ‘idiot’ comes from the Greek word “idio”, which means one who is self-centered and excludes himself from the ideas of others.

Next week I’ll delve into Ego’s ugly stepsister – Trust. And we’ll kick around some ways to, dare I say, not be an idiot.

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_why_good_leaders_make_you_feel_safe

Over the last several weeks I’ve attempted to bring out in the open the top ten reasons Christian music stations aren’t successful. While there are certainly a number of ways to measure success having lots of people listening certainly is a step in the right direction.

(Drum roll) It’s time for the #2 reason stations aren’t successful…

The very people who would enjoy your station don’t know you’re there.

In his book “Linchpin” Seth Godin tells of an author who has passion is for his craft, but no real passion for spreading his ideas. “And if his ideas don’t spread, no gift is received. When an artist stops work before his art is received, his work is unfulfilled.” It’s that if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest thing.

The way I see it Christian music radio is the only faith-based art form that is still in the public square. In Michelangelo’s day all art was Christian. Not so now. Christian TV is laughable. Christian bookstores and movies are still a niche, although it’s encouraging to see the recent success of faith-based films. But there are a handful of Christian music stations with larger audiences than the AC, country, or rock stations in their market. That was once unheard of. Consider the implications if we really had a passion for letting people know that we were on the air!

In the landmark research study “Why Christians Don’t Listen to Christian Radio?”, 40% of those who said they liked the music indicated they didn’t know of a station that played it.

My friend Alan (not his real name) tells me about one company that considers $1 spent on growth more important than $1 spend on maintaining. Spending that $1 on growth is non-negotiable to them, rather than the first thing that gets sliced from the budget, a practice common at most stations.

When Jesus commanded to go make disciples of all nations, I don’t recall him adding “if it’s in the budget.”

For the last several weeks I’ve been making a down-right nuisance of myself by bringing out into the open the top 10 reasons radio stations aren’t successful. It’s remarkable the response I’ve received! “How’d you know?”, “You must have been eavesdropping on some of our meetings!”

Here’s #3 on the countdown:

Many general managers, program directors and board of directors simply don’t understand what makes the format successful in the first place.

Consider this:

Of the 1,075 Christian radio stations in the USA, only half a dozen have at least 400,000 listeners. (There are 17 stations in Seattle alone that have at least that). I reckon’ less than twice that rank in the top five in their market.

While there are certainly many ways to define success, if one views the format as just a bunch of Christian songs by a bunch of Christian singers with a bunch of Christian disc jockeys saying a bunch of Christian stuff they won’t have many listeners.

To be really successful a station must understand a bigger idea that transcends the nuts and bolts of most programming conversations.

People don’t listen primarily because of who you are; they listen because of who they are!

When you understand that, the rest is just details.*

(*There’s lots and lots and lots to the details, but I really needed a pithy ending!)

For the last several weeks I’ve been digging into the most common challenges radio stations face in becoming successful. Now it’s time to count down the final four. Drum roll, please.

#4 – Inside thinking

We go to a restaurant. We instantly see what needs to be changed. The people at the restaurant can’t see it at all.

We check into a hotel. We instantly see that the very doors to enter the lobby are too cumbersome for anyone with luggage! Well, who in the world would bring luggage to a hotel?

When my daughter Carly was younger we would be out together and someone would inevitably say, “You look so much alike.” What a stranger could see instantly we struggled to see at all.

So it is for your radio station.

There are important things about your station you’ll be the last to see because you’re simply too close to it.

The importance of perceptual research or trusted outside counsel cannot be overstated. If you have neither, consider this idea.

Last week I was with my new friend David Salyers, head marketing guy at Chick-fil-A, and regular contributor to Keep The Faith. While showing us around The Hatch (the entire building devoted to hatching new ideas) he shared numerous remarkable concepts that drive their success!

The Hatch includes a mock up restaurant where they attempt to address “Points of Pain”; where the customer must overcome an inconvenience or an irritant to have a satisfying experience. What a great idea, I thought!

What are your station’s “Points of Pain”?

Is it the unfamiliar music you play that keeps your listener from hearing their favorites? (Everyone’s favorite radio station is the station that plays their favorite music).

Is it endless deejay banter that interrupts and interferes with their enjoyment of the music?

If you’re lacking an objective outside perspective on your station, consider asking your listeners.

After all, the only place to read the label is from outside the bottle.