Which Came First?

Despite what we hear and see all around us, strategy must come before tactics, like so:

• Goal. Decide what you want to achieve.
• Strategy. What will you do to achieve the goal?
• Plan. What steps will you take to get there?
• Tactics. What tools and ideas will help in taking those steps?
• Action. Stop waiting. Start, and more importantly, finish!

If you follow this process for every facet of your station, from selecting talent for specific dayparts to coaching that talent to seeing the entire station -- every sound heard on it, every bit of marketing or promotion associated with it -- from a global perspective, you'll be a lot happier next year than you were last.