Vision without action is simply education. "Waiting" is one thing we cannot afford to do. These words and those that follow are aimed right toward command and control at your place. Past columns have challenged corporate types to assess and react; either sleepwalk through history in somnambulistic stupor, or respond to the bugle call of reality. But out on the front lines, we can't have it both ways. CEO or operations manager, line officer or corporal, either find a way to sail together or we sink separately. On this premise, turns the next few years of our radio existence.

Let's start by examining shared values: what are they and how might we contribute to their application? What can we do to further trust and mutual respect in a time when they're coming harder each year? How can we repackage our company to operate in the tactical partnership that built commando companies like radio groups, Starbucks or Apple? How do we tighten our relationship with our two sets of customers, listeners and advertisers? And how after all, do we succeed in overtaking our ambitions?

Some of us fortunate enough to name the game for much of our career can recall snapshots of that magical journey which brought us to media, built our personal brand, and made us more sensitive to human tendencies. These triumphs happened within a small tactical team of people who were sometimes resistant to change, enduring the slow and sometimes painful process of abandoning habits that meant comfort or stability. Those dusty snapshots of life in radio pre-consolidation don't exist for most under age 35. Since their entry to conglomerate radio, their only memories are of thin training and development, volatility through daily reminders of EPS and the rise and fall of stock prices. If you're among the "recent-entry" group, there will be better days ahead. No company-not even the elite on the pinnacle-can be totally in sync with their values. Humans in or out of media are imperfect and so are the organizations we've created. If we're willing to withstand the redefinition of radio economics present-moment, our efforts today to do a better job of living our values (to walk-our-talk), will unlock something far better in the time ahead.

We're in a time when living our convictions as organizations and people within them does matter. Whether the deed or the company is large or small, little goes unnoticed. Delegating, empowering, and turning your planning into practice, will have a lot to do with your career and the passage of time. Decisions determine destiny, ability determines what we're capable of doing, motivation determines what we'll do, and attitude determines how well we'll do it.

Every day in Africa a Gazelle wakes up knowing it must outrun the fastest Lion, or it will be killed. And, every day in Africa a Lion wakes up knowing it must outrun the slowest Gazelle, or it will starve to death. In the end, it doesn't matter if you're a Gazelle or a Lion. When the sun comes up, you'd better start running.