If you’re a PR or Communciations Manager you can only be successful in your job if you win the respect and confidence of your CEO.
Therefore you might want to take a look at what a survey of US CEO’s said they wanted/expected/valued from those running their PR and communications. Its a good indication of what it takes to head up a PR or Communications Department in a large organisation (at least from a US perspective).
It’s a further extract from ‘The Authentic Enterprise’ from the Arthur Page Society which I thoroughly recommend to all PR and Communication Managers. These are just the ‘headlines’ – I suggest you go to the report and read the detail. I think you will get a lot from it.
- A detailed knowledge of the business
- Extensive communications background
- A crystal ball
- C-suite credibility
- Extensive internal relationships
- A team player
- An educator
What’s interesting to me is that coming through the criteria is the need for the PR/Communications person to have credibility and standing as a ‘business person’. In other words communication theory means little if you can’t hold you own with your other executives. You need to be as business focussed as the best of them!
That, I believe, is the difference between being seen as an instigator of policy and strategy around the table, as opposed to being outside the room and just entrusted with the delivery of what’s already been decided.
What it means is that in order to climb the ladder to get the opportunity to be a PR or Communications Director or Manager you have to show competency and expertise in areas such as conventional and social media engagement, research, communication theory etc.
But once you get there you need to overlay that with a strong business orientation. You also need to win the confidence of those across the whole of the executive structure.
However, the balancing act that the real PR professional has to play is being sufficiently in touch with the business to win credibility within, but be sufficiently detached to be able to give objective ‘devil’s advocate’ advice when new initiatives are being introduced i.e. be able to look from an audience or stakeholder perspective.
I don’t believe there are many within the business environment who have to straddle that fine line. That’s what often makes the PR role so difficult for many. At times you have to stand up to the CEO or the Marketing Director, whose combined support you need to get around the table in the first place, in order to tell them that what they are planning has some flaws in it from a communications perspective.
PS You might want to also read a previous comment on this report from the Arthur Page Society.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I’m not overly suprised by this. I think that in any business your key executives should have a very sound business acumen. You department managers need to understand where the business is going and how their departments function in the global business. To often people who are good technicians, dont make the best business people.