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For many TV stations, the mantra is: "Win Weather." Viewer research indicates weather is often a main reason people tune into local news, so stations want to be their first choice when the skies threaten.

Stations invest in expensive technology to help forecast and display weather conditions. But the gear is only part of the equation. Who's using it? Who's delivering the weather information - and how?

At WTSP-TV in Tampa, Dick Fletcher delivered. His death this week, following a stroke, has viewers talking about his forecasts and colleagues talking about his friendship. His station has a touching tribute to this veteran meteorologist on its Web site. I remember him in a different way: as a role model for leadership at any level in an organization.

Courtesy of tampabays10.com

I met Dick two years ago, when he came to Poynter for the first seminar we ever offered for meteorologists ("The Weather Report: Putting Journalism on Your Radar" the brainchild of then-colleague Scott Libin, for whom the subject is a passion). Scott and I were delighted - and a little surprised - to see Dick Fletcher enrolled in the course. Come on. The guy was a legend. He'd been doing weather in Tampa for better than a quarter century. And he had something to learn?

Yes, he told us. He loved to learn.

Dick just infused that seminar with enthusiasm. He took part in every discussion, helped the younger folks understand how to use new technologies and change with the times. He shared strong opinions about clear forecasts and steering clear of hype. He talked about the importance of weather staffers being true team members in the organization. That's something stations struggle with, since weather offices are often separated from the newsroom and it is easy for meteorologists to become isolated - and some like it that way. Unfortunately, the disconnect can lead to bad communication and collaboration.

At the end of the seminar, we told Dick that in having him with us as a student, we felt we had extra faculty member in the room. And he just smiled and said he was delighted to be there. He even told us he worried that he had been talking too much. Not at all. What he said and shared was important - and he delivered it with the same friendliness and authority that viewers saw on the nightly news.

Among the many qualities that make a good leader -- someone people choose to follow -- is a demonstrated love of learning. The smartest leaders know they always have more to learn, and, in doing so, they send a message to others that encourages their self-improvement as well.

Dick Fletcher could have taught the seminar he attended. He did offer to come back and help teach any weather session in the future. Sadly, we won't be able to take him up on that gracious offer. But in this column, and in other programs, I'll share the leadership lessons of Dick Fletcher, the winning weatherman