Most ambitious people dream of becoming leaders, but few think pragmatically about how to get there. When college students are asked about their future careers, they
invariably envision an arrow rising without interruption. But all great leaders feed first on the mothers' milk of failure. Lincoln lost seven elections. Doctor Seuss was
rejected by the first three-dozen publishers he approached.
Real life resembles an EKG graph: lots of ups and downs. No one plans to finish fifth. How do we as PR professionals make sure that we are ever moving forward, overcoming the
periodic setbacks?
To become a great leader, you must first become a great second-in-command. Remarkably, most PR professionals mistake achieving one level of competency with excellence at all
levels. "If I have become a good publicist, then I must be good at strategy, at client relations, at account management, at business development, at running the entire firm..."
There is in this thinking an absence of respect for the skill, experience, and maturity required for those other roles. You cannot leap over them. The unemployment lines are
littered with 20-something Generation X'ers who were convinced they knew how to run profitable enterprises without profit.
If you are going to be great, here are some steps to get you there:
- Think Abundantly - Yes, there's room at the top. Stephen Covey, in his seminal work, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," encourages us to think abundantly.
There is always room for more excellence. If you think there will only be one promotion, one opportunity, one chance, then you will not be a team player. Instead, you will
likely be undermining your clients and your firm.
At most agencies, your chances will come if you recognize the success of others as success for the client, the company, and the team. Your chances will be stronger because you
will have team members supporting your efforts. The PR world, as with many professions, is small. Karma goes around at pretty high speeds.
- Work Yourself Out of a Job - Good companies struggle mightily to share information. Individuals who focus on "scarcity mentality" (the absence of abundance) are all about
hiding information. Educating others threatens them. "If I'm the only one who knows how to do my job, then I have power." Well, not for long.
You cannot get promoted until you have trained people to do what you do. If you are coveting your assignments and hiding information, then you achieve exactly the opposite of
what you are trying to accomplish. You cannot be promoted because only you hold the keys to your own kingdom.
Experienced managers have seen small-minded internal politics manifest in about every form possible. If you engage in this kind of thinking, you will be found out pretty
quickly. On the other hand, teams that execute brilliantly garner client accolades. Your firm will want to promote you, clients will want to hire you, and you will be operating
from a position of enlightened strength.
- Be Radar O'Reilly - Exist in the mind of your manager. Like the celebrated character from M*A*S*H, know what they need before they ask. Busy leaders don't know what city
they are in, what meeting they are going to, or the intimate client details. That's your job. - Know Your Role in Prospect Meetings - When you are on a new client pitch, what will you say that the prospect will find strikingly valuable? Your job is not to just talk, but
to introduce one, two, or three points that would not otherwise be articulated at the meeting. For example, provide details of reporters who are important to the prospect, or the
editorial calendar of a key trade. - Think Strategically, Act Tactically - Overwhelmingly, great media success is about well- executed tactics rather than brilliant strategy. If there is a better way to do
something, then do it, but usually it is about people doing simple things well and smartly timed. - Think Beyond the Task - The best way to advertise the fact that you are not ready for leadership is to be so task-oriented that you wait to be told the next task. The absence
of anticipation is the absence of a leadership seed. What's the big picture? What is your team or manager going to need next? - Executives Worry About Solutions, Not Blame - Give your managers solutions, not details which cover your behind. Who cares about blame when the client didn't get what they
needed? - Do Not Push Work Upwards - When you give less than your best effort on a memo, make your boss spell-check or edit, fail to provide options, or wait until the day before a
project is due to turn it in, you have made your problem their problem. It is supposed to work the other way around. Otherwise, why are you there? - Require an Action - By communicating precisely, you define the next step in a cogent professional plan. Every phone call, e-mail or meeting must end with a call to action.
"OK, so by next Tuesday, Sherry will do X and I will do Y and we will get it to Fred by 10:00 AM." - Write it Down - In a client or prospect meeting, when your boss says to the client, "Here are the five things we are going to do," write it down. This list will become the
engagement letter or subsequent strategy memo. If you don't get it in writing, it will not exist. Do not make the executive expend valuable energy trying to reconstruct his or
her points from a meeting three days ago.
Contact: Richard S. Levick, Esq., [email protected] is President of Levick Strategic Communications, which has directed the media for
more than 150 law firms worldwide. Levick is the former Director of American University's Leadership Program.