The Reason They Want You To Fit In

It’s the basic operating plan of all consolidated radio groups?

It’s what you, as managers, do with those you hire.

You don’t really want super-creatives at your station because they’ll never fit in.

They will do things that create more work for you. They will generate complaints, and angry phone calls, and constant problems within your building.

And they are the very ones who can make your station remarkable, the very ones about whom listeners will be talking a generation from now.

I don’t expect my pleas to change anything at the biggest consolidated radio groups. They’re definitely not interested in this kind of change. It’s expensive and risky and they can’t pay the debt they already have, much less take on more.

This is for YOU, at your station. Movements always start with one person, then two, then four, then more and more until the iHeartless Radios and other huge consolidated companies are the exception rather than the norm.

THE REASON THEY WANT YOU TO FIT IN IS THAT ONCE YOU DO THEY CAN IGNORE YOU.

It’s about them, about making their job easier, about paying talent less and less. It’s not about you, your success and your career.

So please. Fly as close to the sun as you dare.

Try something new. Step off the ledge. Rebound from your failures, and try again.

It’s your best hope for survival in the Age of Abundance of Choice, and deep down inside, you already knew that.