Co-Host Pete Anselmo joined me on the deck at River Rocks for lunch after a recent radio show. He looks so serious, doesn’t he? Actually, we had a lot of laughs that day.

We all make adjustments in business, and it’s no different in radio. Change helps us grow. The great thing we learn from change—whether in life or work—is that we actually can cope with it, even when change may be unexpected. We strengthen our resilience each time we navigate change, and we often learn a helpful lesson in the process.

Recently, WMEL’s station owner called me with a request to change my time slot so he could accommodate the needs of another radio host. BOLD TALK Business Radio was just one of many shows in the lineup affected by this programming change. The good news is after a brief discussion, we found a way to keep BOLD TALK Business Radio in its regular Tuesday time slot at 1 PM. For the time being, however, we will be airing 30 minute segments instead of the full hour.  You’ll definitely have to listen in Tuesdays from 1 – 1:30 to see if we are talking faster to fit all our news, insights, tips and tools for success  into our shorter time slot 🙂 We’ll do our best for you!

How did we weather the change? By asking the right questions. There’s great advice in one of my favorite books (The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz) and I regularly take it. Mr. Ruiz advises, “Don’t Make Assumptions!” Many relationships and deals go awry because people attribute the wrong meaning or motivation to events and actions.  For example, when asked to cut my time slot, I might have assumed that the station owner didn’t appreciate my show or didn’t care about my own business needs (Neither is true!). To avoid erroneous assumptions and jumping to the wrong conclusions, I’ve learned to counter assumptions by asking questions. In this case, it was simple enough.

I asked questions such as:

• Why are you making this change?
• What’s the reasoning behind that?
• What if we moved the person you planned to move into my time slot into the 1:30 slot instead and left BOLD TALK Business Radio its regular start time because that’s when our listeners expect to find us, since no one is expecting to find that other show at 1 PM Tuesdays, anyway?
• Is that possible? Can you work it out?
• Will that be okay for [another host] who would be shifted into the 1:30 PM time slot?

Asking questions and exploring options helped us find a compromise that worked for the station and for our show. I like when we find a win-win solution. In this case, we gave up a bit of on-air time, but we gained valuable time off the air instead. The station owner and I enjoyed a helpful discussion, and other hosts were able to access time needed, too.

What Could be Better than Perfection?
I like to believe change happens in perfect time. What could be better than a break in your schedule just as summer begins? I now have an extra 30 minutes a week to  support our clients, plan upcoming radio shows, just breathe for a bit, or take a leisurely lunch break on Tuesday afternoons. After our show, Pete and I love to head toward Melbourne’s beautiful Intercoastal Waterway and enjoy lunch on the outside decks at River Rocks or Grills restaurants along the Indian River. In fact, I’m heading to River Rocks with a client friend, too. Time for lunch outdoors near the water is restorative for my soul. Summer is the perfect time for watching the sun sparkle dance across the river and (hopefully) feeling a light ocean breeze cool the summer spot where we’ve chosen to dine. Crab cakes, anyone?