Dentists have the highest suicide rate of any in the medical profession, I’m told.  Reckon’ it’s because they seldom get to see a patient leave feeling better than when they came in.  In other words, the dentist doesn’t get to directly witness the benefit of his work.

My friend Chris has been in the concert production business a long, long time.  Recently he told me that those in his crew that are most likely to become dissatisfied with their work are those that never get to see the show.

Then he told me about the trouble seats; the ones held back in case someone has a problem.  Maybe there is an obstructed view.  Maybe there is a loud, obnoxious smoker (not that that would ever happen at a Christian music concert).  These seats are deliberately left open so they can move people in case of trouble.  When the time is right my friend Chris gives those unused trouble seats to his crew so they get to see the show.

When you don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing, or… you never get to see the results of what you’re doing… you can lose perspective about your value to the overall mission.

If you have people on your team that never “get to see the show”, here are some ideas:

1. Ask them to answer the phones during a pledge drive.  They’ll hear stories of the impact of your station directly from your listeners.
2. Reserve some “trouble seats” at your next concert and let your people experience the impact of the music that your listeners feel every day.
3. Have them call listeners and ask how the station can help or pray for them.  They’ll be astounded by what they hear.
4. Suggest they spend an hour in the on-air studio so they can witness first hand the impact of your station’s programming.

*Inspired by a conversation with my friend Chris Farnsworth at KSBJ in Houston.

Every Christmas for the last several years I’ve thrown a few coins into the Salvation Army bucket down the street at the Piggly Wiggly.  But not this year.  Nope.  They’ve changed their bell ringer.  The guy standing outside the store ringing the bell is going to be different this season, so I’ve decided not to give.

Ludicrous, isn’t it?  Obviously no one would stop donating to the Salvation Army because Bernie replaced Barry at the bucket.

Then why do we hear these kind of complaints?

You’ve change programs!

You’ve changed the disc jockeys!

You cancelled Adventures in Odyssey!

You did this ONE thing that I don’t like…  So I’m not going to donate to your station anymore… ever… ever!

What they are basically saying is… you’ve changed the bell ringer.  And that bell ringer is the very small filter through which they perceive your station.

But that’s not you.

I know what the Salvation Army stands for.  I believe in their cause of helping those who can’t help themselves.  My understanding of the vision and purpose of their ministry is far more important to me than who stands outside Winn-Dixie ringing a bell.

TOMS shoes is an example of a company that succeeded more because of their story than their product.

“For every pair I sell, I’m going to give a pair of new shoes to a child in need… The giving component of TOMS makes our shoes more than a product.  They’re a part of a story, a mission, and a movement anyone can join.”  Blake Mycoskie, “Start Something that Matters”.

Needless to say, no one has ever stopped buying TOMS simply because they discontinued the plaid ones.

This Christmas season as you hear those complaints about your station’s bell ringer, consider that maybe your bigger story isn’t being told.

Two sections over at Dodger Stadium a stranger waves at me.   We seemingly have nothing in common other than the red St. Louis Cardinals jerseys we wear.  But in a sea of Dodger blue we see each other.

The loudest ovation at a recent Houston Rockets’ game wasn’t for the players on the court but for the six airmen honored during half time.  They didn’t cheer because they were basketball fans; they cheered because they were Americans.

The deeper the connection the louder the applause.

“We buy what we buy to remind ourselves – and tell the world around us – who we are.  We even choose our service providers based on how closely they mirror the way we would run their company.  We’re attracted to reflections of ourselves.  A salesperson points out this reflection, “That’s you, isn’t it?” and then gives the intellect the facts it needs to justify the purchase.  Win the heart and the mind will follow.”  Roy Williams

Facebook knows this.  They simply create ways for us to see a reflection of ourselves (a few years younger perhaps) and we’ll gladly share it with the world without even being asked.

Facebook knows that the more we see ourselves the more we’ll engage.

If someone was to tune in to your station right now what would they hear that is a reflection of themselves?  Would it be in the words you choose?  The perspective on life you share?  That you focus on things that really matter?

Facebook knows it.   Maybe we should too.   The more your listeners see themselves the more they’ll engage

When they asked Michelangelo how he made his statue of David he is reported to have said, “It was easy.  I just took away everything that didn’t look like David.”

That profound simplicity is one way to approach programming your radio station.

If people come to your station for encouragement just take away the stuff that isn’t.  Then while you’re at it… just take away songs listeners don’t love; just take away everything that isn’t relevant and meaningful to their lives; just take away everything that isn’t friendly and welcoming.

“…anticipate and answer your customer’s unspoken questions.  Don’t blather on about the things you wish they cared about – even if those are the things the customer really ought to care about – until you’ve first answered the question that’s on their mind.”  Roy Williams

That involves knowing why they tune to your station in the first place.

So… go do that.  And take everything else away.

We radio folk love to connect the dots.  Even dots that don’t connect.

The CHR in town plays 21 currents and their share went up.  Let’s do that!

They have a red-headed female on middays and they won Station of the Year!  We should do that, too!

We have new jingles!  That must be why our cume went up!   (Consider the illogical correlation of non-listeners’ behavior being affected by something they don’t hear).

I commonly hear otherwise smart radio folks confuse correlation with causation.

The GM loves that new one hour Saturday morning fishing show and the station’’s ratings go up.  Better prepare yourself for his next brilliant programming idea!

The more emotionally invested in a concept or feature the less likely we are to discern its causality.  Just because two things occur together does not mean that one caused the other, even if it seems to make sense.

Need to prove something you already believe?  All you need are two graphs and two events.

“People are drawn to black and white opinions because they are simple, not because they are true.  Truth demands serious effort and thought.”  Donald Miller

We’re never successful because of all the things we do.  Often we’re successful in spite of them.