Being a lifelong learner is a great gift, as reflected in Coach John Wooden’s famous quote.

“Each of us is becoming, becoming something better or something worse.  And we become what we teach and what we learn.”

I have an idea.

If you’re one of the hundreds of Christian radio/music pros to descend on CMB’s Momentum this week in Orlando, open yourself up to learning.  The great irony is that the higher one is in the organizational chart the less inclined toward a learning spirit – just when they need it the most.

“It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.

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Senator John McCain died over the weekend.  Many in our format will not even mention it.  Too political, don’tcha know.

Let’s face it.  There is a tension between being culturally relevant and sharing the news of the day that may push a hot button.  In this day of political correctness and social media, is there ANYTHING that isn’t controversial?

Yes, Senator John McCain played in the political sandbox.  He was famous for being a maverick to those in his own political party and for crossing the aisle to work with those with opposing viewpoints.  Either is fodder for spitwad throwing on Twitter.

Meghan McCain posted a remarkable note about her father.

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What’s the best thing you’ve done on the air recently?

It’s a question I often ask air talent I work with, and one that always results in a long pause.

First, it makes people think about what they’ve done on the air recently (few do), and second, it makes them evaluate those things in the context of everything else they’ve done (most never do).

I’m privileged to work with some of the best morning teams in the format; Kevin and Taylor, Scott and Sam, Ellis and Tyler, and Steve and Amy.  Each has worked together for at least ten years, some twenty, and at multiple radio stations together.

I’ve told them that their greatest strength is their greatest weakness.  Their strength is that they are well-schooled in their individual roles, they know each other’s hot buttons, and they know what elements tend to do well.  Their weakness?  It’s real easy to do last week’s show, last month’s show, last year’s show.

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“It is what you make it” – my dad’s advice at various milestones in my life.

There was a time in my career when I considered a radio station no more than the sum total of the things that it did.  The deejays, the music, the jingles, the contests.  Like a sport being nothing more than the players, the field, the goal posts or bases.  If that were true, then places like Cooperstown, New York, or Canton, Ohio, wouldn’t have significance since they aren’t home to the big league players and teams they eulogize.

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My kids recently took me to my first outdoor major league soccer game.  I mean “match.”  It was a lot of fun, but frankly there was a lot of stuff I simply didn’t understand.

Did you know that a referee can stick on extra time at the end for any reason he wants?  I was confused.  Now, I understand overtime in football, sudden death in golf, and extra innings in baseball, but I had no context for understanding why they kept playing AFTER the clock ran out until someone blew a whistle.

I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT’S HAPPENING!

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Now I have to admit it…

…when I saw this headline I did a little double take.

Now, I don’t want to offend anyone but as a fella who grew up in Texas, I found this headline as wacky as Seattleites voting for Folgers, Minnesotans voting for Cheez Whiz, or John Frost taking the award for the best looking guy in high school.  (That actually happened by the way, but not because I was voted that but because I literally “took” the award).

Taco Bell?  The favorite?  What’s up with that?

Media observer Mark Ramsey suggests that familiarity IS preference.  You can’t prefer something you don’t know, and few would dispute that Taco Bell is most familiar.

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Let’s have a little fun this week.  Let’s play “You’re the assistant PD.”

Ask each person on the staff to write down the one thing they would change about your station.  Then collect all the responses and oh so carefully place them in a special file.

I’m often thrust into a discussion about changing something that is fundamental to the station’s success, whether that be the music, an air personality or two, the station branding, or a promotional or marketing campaign.  Just this week I was drawn into a discussion with someone that had a “new” music agenda.  I suggested that we should have a “favorite” music agenda.

In a moment of revelation someone might be so bold as to ask, “what do the listeners think?”

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What if I told you that you can increase your ratings 30% overnight?  Admit it.  You’d probably be curious, just like when Marie Osmond says she’s lost 50 pounds without exercise AND she eats chocolate cake every day!

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

Actually, you might increase your ratings 30% overnight, but it’s not because of some magic pill or trick.  It’s because Nielsen is changing they way they tabulate when you plug the gizmo in the thingamajig.

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“We’ve been worrying about the wrong things,” said the top dog of a well known broadcast company.  His reaction was to their focus on tactics rather than the things I was there to discuss; stuff like the station’s vision and purpose, and identity.

Jim is a Cubs’ fan.

Daniel plays the guitar.  A Taylor.

Cindy works hard to support the arts in her community.

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“Kindness seems like such a radical idea today.”

As negativity, finger pointing, and spit wad throwing reach new levels in politics, and in traditional and social media, we can sense a growing desire for a breath of fresh air.

Just this week Bloomberg news reported, “Freaked Out Americans Desperately Seek to Escape the News.”

I know people who have turned off certain TV cable news channels (me, included).  I know radio stations that have turned off the TV news in their studio due to incessant negativity and turned on HGTV.

The movie “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” is a smash hit, bringing in $4.1 million in just three weeks.

Director Morgan Neville said, “Mr. Rogers tried to teach us how to behave in a community and a society together, and the value of civility and the value of honoring this relationship with each other.

And we live in times that don’t honor that at all.”

If you think your radio station is only about songs and deejays and unfamiliar music, you’ll never understand how to connect with what people are feeling today.

Fred Rogers was a man who believed in inherent goodness and preached the idea that everyone was special, just the way they are.

“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” is “a much-needed emotional tonic for troubled times.”

Sounds like a good idea for a radio station, too.