Radio Raves

March 23, 2012

You wouldn’t think that radio would be found on a list of bold new communication ideas, but sometimes what’s old is new again.  And effective.

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) are providing public service announcements to all the nation’s radio stations.  The MHSAA distributed CDs of the PSAs to Michigan’s 293 radio stations in January.

Each CD has four PSAs.  And each PSA ends with the message:  “High school sports – a winning part of a complete education.”

One month after our distribution of the CDs, Michigan ranked in the top five states in terms of the number of airings and the estimated monetary value of the airtime.

 To hear these messages, click here and look for the Participate & Succeed logo.

Questions

September 9, 2014

Sometimes leadership looks at questions as a challenge to its authority, or as a way to obstruct progress. Both can be true.

But a better way to view a good question is as a valuable gift. It can provide an opportunity to learn, to consider details that hadn’t been addressed or alternatives that hadn’t been raised.

And a better way to look at a leader than the one with all the answers is to view the leader as a collector of questions.

The quality of those questions can have a direct relationship on the quality of ideas and initiatives that form, and a direct effect on programs and services that follow.

During August and September, MHSAA Associate Director Tom Rashid has been meeting with athletic administrators at their league meetings. Among several objectives has been to ask these front line administrators to think about some new approaches to some old topics – like out-of-season coaching limitations and policies and programs for junior high/middle school students. He has been asking questions, and then he’s been listening to questions, both of which are preparing us for more in-depth discussions on these topics throughout the remainder of the 2014-15 school year.