PR & Management: Grooming New Leaders For Organizational Success

There is no "I" in team, but there is a "me." The playground retort may seem a bit juvenile for top-level communicators, but as departments and functions integrate, silos come

tumbling down and turf wars percolate, it reemerges in a far more relevant context.

Now that communications' role has been neatly imbedded into organizational success, PR executives can/should/must play a more integral role in grooming their underlings - and

peers in neighboring departments - to be strong team players and compelling leaders. It's an internal communications thing, it's an integration thing, it's a brand-building thing,

it's a succession-planning thing - and, really, it's just good business.

Bill George - Harvard business school professor, former CEO of Medtronic and speaker at the recent Arthur Page Society spring seminar - wrote a book dedicated to the subject of

leadership and its business imperative. In True North (Jossey-Bass, 2007), he writes, "The bottom line for all leaders is to optimize their effectiveness to achieve superior long-

term results ... by developing an authentic leadership style, they get the best from their teammates and their organizations." (see sidebars, p. 6).

Taking the leadership/organizational success relationship a step further, Matt Gonring, a consultant with Gagen MacDonald, says, "Functional development must mirror

organizational development. It emanates from the CEO."

How does this top-down approach converge with communications? He points to internal communications and change management as the meeting points, with strategic alignment, focus,

productivity, leveling of competitive playing field, intellectual capital asset valuations, steady state change, line of sight from strategy to role, and investor expectations

being the key drivers.

Given these drivers - all of which are well within the realms of communicators' areas of specialization - PR executives must be catalysts for and facilitators of the

development of participatory leaders. It's about fostering a communicative style of leadership, integrating the communications function throughout the organization, and internally

communicating a clear, succinct business strategy - in other words, leading by example. But that is often easier said than done. So, consider the following examples of ways in

which communicators can leverage their power for successful leadership management.

You know those human resources people? No? Well, you should. Team up with human resource professionals to establish means and measures for grooming future leaders and team

players, a la General Electric. A recent BusinessWeek article lauded the HR "man behind the curtain," William J. Conaty, as taking "a department that's often treated as a support

function and [turning] it into a high-level business partner, fostering a deep bench of talent and focusing attention on the need for continuous leadership development." Consider

it a job well done: He counts the iconic Jack Welch and current CEO Jeff Immelt among his roster of champions.

While not every organization has an HR superstar of Conaty's ilk, they do have HR resources that can be leveraged by PR. After all, succession planning, talent management,

employee relations - all of these are issues that must be communicated internally and externally. For example, botched hires are catastrophic for corporate reputations, and

communicators must handle the fall-out. As for employee morale and promoting upward mobility, sans glass ceilings, the following are ways for PR and HR to join forces:

• Promote leadership through rewards and incentives; rankings and competitions always put people at the top of their games. Stagnancy is not an option.
• Act like everyone is in line to be the next boss. Like George's "coaching leader" category, communications executives should act as channels through which leadership training,

  corporate culture and messages pass. When employees have a solid understanding and backing, they can easily be coached for leadership positions. And everyone - everyone -should

  feel that they have the chance for promotion and growth. Otherwise, they have no incentive to be part of the team.

Make sure you are equipped with the knowledge necessary to be a leader to others. Gonring lists the following as necessary bodies of knowledge for communicators looking to be

leaders and to groom leaders:

• Customer needs/wants
• Competitive differentiation
• Marketplace perceptions/reputation
• Work force understanding/expectations
• Wall Street value drivers
• Business of the business

Knowing what each of these means to your organization will make you a valuable resource for everyone from the CEO to the junior level PR executive who reports to you.

Establish trust at every level. Clearly, communications executives should be counselors to the C-suite, but the most entry-level positions are just as essential in terms of

leadership management. They are the ones who interact with constituents on the most intimate level, and their ability or inability to be a strong team player could make or break

organizational success. The keys to this include:

• Asking probing questions and listening to the answers;
• Being inclusive; and,
• Assessing talent and managing people by cultivating their strengths as opposed to highlighting their weaknesses.

Lead by following - at least for a day. In a March 5 PR News Tip Sheet, Peppercom's managing partner Steve Cody described a day when he swapped jobs with a junior account

executive at his firm and carried out all of that person's duties for an entire day. On the flip side, that junior exec filled Cody's role.

The exercise achieved a number of goals: It gave an "underling" the opportunity to lead a team of people, boosting his morale and giving him valuable training - the ultimate

"trial by fire." It also gave the managing partner a clear understanding of the day-to-day activities of his junior counterparts, allowing him to identify the strengths and

weaknesses of his own management style. Finally, it highlighted for employees throughout the organization Cody's team-player, door-always-open mentality.

"I can honestly say that I came close to drowning. I blew every deadline I was given, and I felt like I was letting my various account teams down," he says. "At the same time,

I observed things that could be improved upon and, perhaps, make Peppercom a better place to work."

At the end of the day, that's another job well done.

CONTACTS:

Matt Gonring, [email protected];

Steve Cody, [email protected]

Leadership Style and Power Grid
Leader’s Style	Use of Power	Teammate’s Style	Relationship Established
Directive	Dominating, Positional	Obedient	Dependent
Engaged	Persuading	Empowered	Interdependent
Coaching	Counseling	Receptive	Interdependent
Consensus	Gaining Agreement	Equality	Interdependent
Affiliative	Empathy	Team-Oriented	Interdependent
Expert	Knowledge	Autonomous	Independent
Source: Bill George, True North, pg. 195.

Leadership Styles

• Directive Leaders: Demand compliance and obedience with rules
• Engaged Leaders: Mobilize people around shared purpose and values
• Coaching Leaders: Develop people for leadership roles
• Consensus Leaders: Build agreement through participation
• Affiliative Leaders: Create emotional bonds and harmony
• Expert Leaders: Expect competence and self-direction

Source: Bill George, True North, page 191.