In Lou Solomon’s new book Say Something Real: Humanizing Communication is Today’s Best Business Strategy…the author wastes no time when it comes to picking a fight. Lou is out front, blunt, pure in his vision and would probably get canned ten minutes after walking through the front door of any radio station.
One side of me loves his view; if it’s not a good morning don’t fake it to gain brownie points in a popularity contest. Be open, honest and to the point, in time coworkers and family members will adjust.
The politically correct side of my personality put on the boxing gloves on page one. It’s never a cloudy day in the Carolina’s—it’s partly sunny or two days from the now that big bright beautiful ball of heat will quickly return to make your day brilliant.
I can’t handle the weight of being someone’s buzz kill.
My biggest weakness as a radio on-air talent is taking the glass is half full and not half empty approach to everything I touch, only to hear, “Is that a real laugh or are you faking it like a radio disc jockey?”
That attitude lasts about as long as a typical radio show…
In a commercial production room I take on a different face—I’m overboard serious, almost too much to the point, a fan of the client and always willing to throw my career on the line in the name of getting them business or someone to tune in rather than out of their commercials. If you walk into my studio, you’re guaranteed to get a producer whose only mission in life is to make sure success is connected to their name.
Ego? Yes!
Which is Lou’s purpose of writing his new chapters—the world of business has been overtaken by untalented top dogs who rely on ego driven statements to seize control of having a job tomorrow: Make it or break it. We shall conquer! We’re here until the end! Quality over quantity. The best never rest. Lead or be led.
You get the idea…
In most cases Bookstore hero bosses who’ve become addicted to reading and following John C Maxwell, Anthony Robbins and others would never go down with the ship—they haul tail and bail at the first sight of rough waters. Nice! Whatever happened to trust? I want to make sure that book or motivational speaker never collects dust on the shelves that which make up my personal library. It's too easy to learn how to quit. Once there, its too difficult to learn how to be great again.
An interesting conversation broke out in Tae Kwon Do the other night—Master Harris openly admitted to his senior Black Belts that he failed me by not suggesting in the months before my heart attack that I get a professional opinion. He noticed things were changing quickly and didn’t say anything. I in return failed my broadcasting friend and co-host of a Kentucky radio show Francine who unexpectedly passed last week at the age of 43. She wasn’t the normal explosion of energy she’s known to be…coming fresh out of a bout with the body, I could’ve easily said, “When was the last time you had your heart checked?”
How we act is how we lead. In your heart you may be convinced that your soul purpose is to be nothing more than a co-worker…in reality…how you act is how you lead. If you give up at 3pm, so does the person in the cubical next to you. Suddenly the innocent yawn has made it full circle and the boss is stuck spouting quotes from the latest book he picked up at Barnes and Noble.
If for one second I lay low on creating a piece of commercial copy—the multitude of students who pass through these halls to view the world of radio will assume the art of communications is nothing more than banging it out. Many can’t handle my dedication to the presentation of fine detail—they’d rather see highway billboard signs hanging inside radio speakers. Those interns elect to leave then spend the rest of their broadcasting lives wondering why the career never took off.
From the pages of Lou Solomon I’ve elected to speak real and that has upset many broadcasting schools.
It’s too easy to flower up a rain filled weather forecast. I can’t stand it when radio disc jockeys call every flick in the theater the greatest thing out there. I read the reviews in Rollingstone Magazine and want to vomit because the buddy buddy game of nudge nudge wink wink steals from your pocket.
On the air I’ll talk about how incredible American Idol is…I have too! It’s the number one show in America; to knock it means I’ve now invaded something you totally can’t get enough of.
Behind the scenes, in the world of me being real…the conversation has me wondering if this year’s worst performers are fake. What about the dude who was arrested on national TV for not wanting to leave or the tall guy with giant black glasses that failed to understand he had a bad attitude and wouldn’t stop repeating Kara’s words as if to be locating places to plan out his unrehearsed attempt at doing improv? Season nine is nothing more than a stunt show. Why? To get people to talk, write on Twitter or waste computer page space on blogging sites to say, “Did you see?”
What if Lou Solomon’s approach to recreating great business catches on…can the average worker handle abrupt in your face criticism?
A Program Director once said to me, “I’m not the king of a place of entertainment. I am your boss and your job is to make people move now. Not tomorrow, not in a week, not as a memory of the DJ they listened to as a kid. Become part of their life by 7pm tonight or don’t bother coming back in here tomorrow. It starts with faking a smile.”
This is where visions of my mother start to invade my walking space, “Don’t give me that DJ radio talk…what you see and have seen happens everyday in the real world.”
So you’ve got some homework—locate the America that best suits your job potential—fake it to win a popularity contest or a lean mean fighting machine that no other nation will topple because American made is undeniably the greatest product on earth. Pick a side and let’s win!
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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