BLOG

What makes a Hero?

Everybody’s hurting, including radio.

Times like these call for exceptional people, exceptional leaders.

In his forthcoming book Reality Check, marketing guru Guy Kawasaki relates how and why ordinary people can do extraordinary things. He quotes academics Philip Zimbardo and Zeno Franco in their article “The Banality of Heroism.”

Writes Kawasaki:

The short explanation of what it takes to be a hero is the presence of “heroic imagination” which the authors describe as “the capacity to imagine facing physically or socially risky situations, to struggle with the hypothetical problems these situations generate, and to consider one’s actions and the consequences.” Nurturing a heroic imagination takes five actions:

1. Maintain constant vigilance for situations that require heroic action.

2. Learn not to fear conflict because you took a stand.

3. Imagine alternative future scenarios beyond the present moment.

4. Resist the urge to rationalize and justify inaction.

5. Trust that people will appreciate heroic (and frequently unpopular) actions.

How are you being heroic today? How is your group head being heroic?

As Guy notes, these are also great characteristics of entrepreneurs.

Indeed, now is a time for all radio broadcasters to think like entrepreneurs, to think like they’re beginning anew.

Because in a fast-transforming digital landscape, they are.

View Comments
blog comments powered by Disqus

Sign Up For Blog Email Updates

About

MRM President Mark Ramsey has worked with innumerable television and radio broadcasters over his career, including all the biggest names, from Clear Channel, CBS, Bonneville, Sirius XM...

Mark Ramsey