Some might object to putting those terms together – Leadership and PR. Not me. If done right, PR can serve a leadership role in organizations. Not only in terms of communication, but also in terms of action.
Some of my students learned that this week. In their capstone PR course, working with actual clients, students faced the challenge of finding the right words to describe and characterize two organizations. We’re talking vision, mission, programs here – who we are, our main goals in the world, and how we get there. That’s what many say leadership is – articulating the vision, getting people to buy in, building the path to get there.
OK – some will say that PR people don’t come up with the vision and mission, they only communicate it. In my experience and in my students’ this week, good PR people dig down and discern the essentials. They help organizations define themselves in a streamlined way so the core work of the organization is clear and leads on a straight path.
One of my favorite authors on leadership is Robert Terry, who wrote Authentic Leadership and the Seven Zones for Leadership (www.action-wheel.com). He basically says an authentic leader is one who really sees what’s going on. That is what good public relations professionals do – they see what is really going on and help the organization make sense of it, and help them say it out loud.
And when you say it out loud — “we are a company that believes in taking care of our customers,” for example – - then you must take action to do just that. What sounds good generates actions that are good. That’s leadership PR.
I worked as Bob Terry’s associate for more than ten years. We at Action Wheel Leadership continue his legacy. It is always affirming to happen across someone who appreciates his leadership theory.
Judie Ramsey
What sounds good isn’t always (often?) translated into good actions. Reminds me of the “road to hell that is paved with good intentions”.
Do most people feel an obligation to act in accordance with their words? Or do we live in a time when many find it acceptable or inevitable that ideas are voiced and promises made about which no real motivation to follow-through ever existed.
I agree. Often the exercise of digging down to find the essential parts of a vision or message helps an organization better understand what it is they are actually trying to do. Then, articulating that to be relevant to employees and customers in a way that each can see where they fit is a significant part of getting things done well.
Another way good PR leaders “dig down and discern the essentials” is through careful listening and inquiry. A CEO may know what he wants to do but not know how to put it into words that resonate and are relevant to his or her employees and others. To activate one must be able to clarify and persuade, that’s what Public Relations leaders do. Just this week a top executive complained that he can’t utilize a key budget planning document because he doesn’t know how to talk to others in a meaningful way about it. This is a real problem, in a real place, in real time. And it will be a PR leader — officially designated as such or not — who will solve that problem and thereby advance new, exciting economic and social policies.