First Follower Leadership and the Communications Pro

In the last few months I've had various people share or present on the (now widely popular) video, First Follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy. 

It's a pretty simple, great video lesson on leadership from Derek Sivers. If you haven't already, take three minutes and watch it:

"...Being a first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. If the leader is the flint, the first follower is the spark that makes the fire..." [full transcript]

So why is the first follower leadership lesson important for communication professionals? We have dual roles for movements within an organization: Communicators should serve as (one of the) first followers or promoters of the first follower(s) for senior management. From an internal communication perspective, the communication and public relations team should be on the front-line to help propel a movement for employees. We should look for and share the bright spots in programs and initiatives to fan the flames of positive progress so others can see the how and the why and importance of things.

Sivers sums it up nicely: 

"It was the first follower that transformed a lone nut into a leader. There is no movement without the first follower."

Are you a first follower?

Scope media coverage before sending your news release

Yesterday, a horrible bus accident occurred in Irving, TX on a major highway. A private charter bus carrying seniors to an Oklahoma casino veered across a busy DFW freeway and crashed. First responders, onlookers, and local media outlets quickly portrayed a chaotic scene for rescue of dozens injured or trapped inside and unfortunately, recovery of two people who lost their lives.

As the story developed, national news coverage broke with local affiliate footage from the scene as well as area hospitals where trauma teams awaited the arriving ambulances. The media echoed the calls from first responders to alert area motorists to avoid that and nearby roads. Additionally, reports came in citing the clean record of the bus company. The investigation will continue, but for the most part, I think it was a solid example of textbook media coverage for area outlets. As residents in DFW, our hearts go out to the victims and their loved ones affected by the accident.

So what does this tragic accident have to do with public relations? Yesterday was not the day to send irrelevant news releases to local media. I was reminded of this as we had some district information to share in partnership with a local hospital on something pretty fun for elementary students. But...yesterday was not the day to send out our news release. It was not the time to bother with something lighthearted in comparison to the day's events on the roadway.

The lesson: PR pros must pay attention to what's happening in local media coverage before pushing send on news that will fall on deaf ears because of something much more important. Situational awareness is a valuable asset.

Get to know the PRSA Code of Ethics like the back of you hand

Score one more for the value of the Public Relations Society of America. Last week, PRSA launched an app for the Code of Ethics.

Oh no, public relations ethics. How boring.
Wrong!

PR ethics is what separates the wheat from the chaff. It separates those public relations professionals who are useful and valuable to an organization from those that are all but worthless.

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is committed to ethical practices. The level of public trust PRSA members seek, as we serve the public good, means we have taken on a special obligation to operate ethically...Each of us sets an example for each other - as well as other professionals - by our pursuit of excellence with powerful standards of performance, professionalism, and ethical conduct....We believe our professional values are vital to the integrity of the profession as a whole.

Codes of ethics are not unique to PRSA, a quick search of a few other related communication organizations, National School Public Relations Association, International Association of Business Communicators and the Society of Professional Journalists, found well-crafted and robust ethics guidelines.

According to the announcement, the ethics app provides easy reference to PRSA’s Code and Statement of Professional Values and Code provisions. It also includes:

• PRSA ethics-related blog posts
• Professional Standards Advisories which offer timely guidance on emerging ethics issues such as illegal recordings, ethical use of interns, professional conflicts of interest, use of VNRs as a PR tool, etc.
• Email access to members of PRSA’s Board of Ethics and Professional Standards
• A short Ethics Quiz

The PRSA Ethics app is available for free for Android devices on Google Play and Apple iOS devices. Is this mobile ethics app a game-changer for the profession? Probably not. What it tells me is that the PRSA continues to find ways to provide resources to its membership for the benefit of the public relations profession.

Good work and thank you, PRSA.

We Choose Texas Public Schools

Over the last decade, it seems numerous groups have thankfully formed to advocate for public school districts across Texas. While these groups have strong commitments to public education, each has its own vision, mission, and objectives, often leaving school districts, parents, employees and public school supporters without a simple unifying message or call to action. My hope is for more people to stand up and say, "We Choose Texas Public Schools."

We Choose Texas Public Schools is a concept campaign offered freely for public school district communities, parents, students and staff. I came up with it for a public education celebration rally in February that my school district hosted with four other districts in North Texas. We had yard signs (pictured above) made to distribute to attendees. (The cost of these signs was covered by a sponsor.)

School choice continues to be a major topic of debate and conversation both in the Legislature and out in the public space. Texas public schools educates nearly 5 million students. I'm not going to delve into the arguments for/against restoring state education funding, school vouchers, high stakes testing, or other un-funded mandates in this space. Again, there are other public education advocacy groups already making positive steps for these debates. Healthy debate is good in my opinion. I offer this simple idea as a counter-message to the negative notion repeated again and again that students are “stuck” in public schools. In actuality, many families simply choose public education. I want to give a unifying message for those parents who freely choose Texas public schools.

Be proud, Texans and share that choice.

Please feel free to share, use, distribute the We Choose Texas Public Schools concept. I've shared the PDF of the yard sign art for others to use. I look forward to seeing how this concept develops.

Texas Rangers Ryan-Daniels Drama Power Play or Publicity Stunt?

The Texas Rangers issued a press release at the end of the day on Friday, March 1 at 4:54 p.m. CST with a headline that read, "Jon Daniels Named President of Baseball Operations/GM - Rick George Named President of Business Operations." This left the obvious question hanging out there of what's going to happen with Nolan Ryan, who up until Friday was President/CEO? The release explained that like this:

The Texas Rangers announced today the promotions of General Manager Jon Daniels to President of Baseball Operations/General Manager and the promotion of Chief Operating Officer Rick George to President of Business Operations.

In their respective roles, Daniels and George will continue to oversee the day-to-day baseball and business operations of the Rangers organization under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Nolan Ryan.

And so the Dallas/Ft. Worth sports media proceeded to go absolutely nuts. One of the first to do so was longtime baseball writer/columnist and ESPN radio host, Randy Galloway who was quick to speculate that this move might signal the end for Nolan Ryan. Others piled on over the weekend and well into this week in the local jock media kingdom and abroad. 

The media has portrayed this move as a power struggle between Jon Daniels and Nolan Ryan. At one point we've heard Nolan Ryan could be out by season's end or as early as the end of spring training. Speculation and rumors have been swirling since day 1 and it has truly been interesting to observe locally as a sports (and Rangers) fan and as a public relations pro. 

Bungled PR or Savvy Publicity Stunt?

One of the common themes that's out there is that the Rangers front office had bungled the public relations aspect of this news. At first, I was on board with this assessment. First, they release the news at the end of the day on a Friday anticipating some level of attention, but hoping the weekend takes care of most of the issues. I didn't see/hear/read anything from the Rangers organization until Tuesday of this week with the new President of Baseball Operations/GM, Jon Daniels basically saying all is well, nothing really has changed. By that point, the narrative of major speculations and rumors had taken over. 

The media had settled on this was either a power grab by Jon Daniels or ownership being more interested in keeping Daniels (the young baseball mind) over Ryan (the Hall of Famer and well-loved veteran). If you frame this as a fiasco waiting to happen, then the Rangers' ownership has seriously miscalculated the fans' potential for push-back and disdain. 

At least that's how the media has portrayed this mini-drama will/would play out.

But what if it was orchestrated this way? What if the Rangers ownership, Nolan Ryan, Jon Daniels, and Rick George (who ever that is) were all in on this as a way to get major media attention. Since the announcement, the Texas Rangers have been at the top/front page of most local media outlets sports pages and newscasts. If it is/was an elaborate ruse to get tons of coverage while in spring training, it's working. 

A quick look at the local sports landscape is good for this type of play. The Dallas Cowboys are not major news right now, the Dallas Mavericks are struggling to keep playoff hopes alive, and the Dallas Stars are trying to get people to remember they like hockey. The Rangers lost some key players, personalities, and bats. They are continuing with their youth movement. The team, in my opinion, will be contenders again, but will do so with the strong players on the 40-man roster as well as minor league talent. But all that doesn't keep the attention of the casual sports fan until the season starts (or well into the season). This team news provides that narrative of controversy and puts the Rangers front and center. 

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe this is a sign of real fissures within the team management and foreshadows rough days for the team in the very near future especially if the fans revolt. But all it would take for this to stop would be for Nolan Ryan to come out and say publicly, in his classic country drawl, "everything is good, I'm fine and we are looking for another great season of Texas Rangers baseball." If he said that, the story would have nowhere to go and we'd move on. If he said that, this episode might have just been all a publicity stunt. And it will have worked.

(Photo credit: phoca2004 via Flickr Creative Commons)

Duality of Conscience and Credibility for the PR Pro

Public relations professionals who provide ethics counsel to senior management do so out of an understanding that they serve their organizations as well as the public interest. Advocacy of truth and honesty from within the organization should be among the primary functions of senior PR pros. A recent study takes a look at some how's and why's of this PR role as organizational conscience.

The study, "PR Professionals as Organizational Conscience," published in the Journal of Mass Media Ethics, was conducted by Marlene S. Neill, Ph.D., APR a lecturer in the department of journalism, public relations and new media in Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences and Dr. Minette Drumwright, an associate professor of advertising at the University of Texas at Austin. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 30 senior PR practitioners from 10 states in the U.S. and Australia, who had an average of 27 years of experience.

Their findings indicate that being an effective PR practitioner and being able to provide ethics counsel work in tandem due to the similarities in skills and competencies required for each. In fact, PR professionals willingly embraced an ethics counsel role even it was not specifically outlined in their job descriptions. The authors note,

"Their duty to the public interest was not an option; it was a mandatory professional obligation, and they were at least as fervent about it as they were about their obligations to their organizations, perhaps even more so." [emphasis added]

This research points to the need for PR pros to view themselves as independent voices in senior management which can cause uncomfortable situations when the practitioner must ask critical questions and address sensitive topics. Essentially, a PR person cannot be a "yes" man/woman. Also, situational awareness (being counted on to identify, analyze, and articulate issues before they become problems) is an important talent to foster.

Another major aspect of the study was how their respondents avoided the "kill the messenger" predicament when they had to provide ethics counsel to senior management. From mock news conferences, the headline test, and offering ethical alternatives to actions and playing devil's advocate, the study responders found ways  to attempt to persuade leadership from taking undesirable steps.

I recommend PR pros take some time to review this study for these and other important themes that have an impact, both positively and negatively, on a PR pro's ability to serve as organizational conscience.

Additional Reading:

• PR Professionals Are Not 'Yes Men' When Pressured to Be Unethical, Baylor Study Shows
• Why And How Senior Public Relations Officers Raise Ethical Concerns
• Report: Most PR pros are ethical and honest

Photo credit: peskylibrary

Thoughts from a blogging hiatus

Hiatus - n. 1. A gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break

I took a break from blogging. The holidays provided a much-needed opportunity to enjoy my family and recharge. It also gave me a catch up on some things professionally. The first was the transition from being in charge of programs to membership for the Ft. Worth PRSA. This led to some reflecting on what volunteering means for professional development. The second was time to consider the local implications of recent news-making issues in education (campus safety and security, testing, and funding). And lastly, I came across an intriguing idea for blogging worth exploring: topic buckets. 

Volunteering and Professional Development

In 2012, I was the VP of Programs for Ft. Worth PRSA and I think we put together a solid mix of luncheon programming and evening mixers for networking and knowledge. Over the break, a group of chapter members volunteered at a local mall manning the Salvation Army Angel Tree table for our service project. We assisted people in the Angel Tree donations process who wished to bless some families in need. If your group has opportunities to serve your communities, don't limit yourselves to the specific roles for which you gather. Instead of helping a nonprofit by crafting press releases or writing communication plans, a simple service project with peers met a need and made a difference.

I'm looking forward to 2013 and continuing to serve alongside a dedicated board members and committee chairs intent on continued growth for the professionals and profession. If you are a PRSA member (or any professional communication or public relations organization), please consider giving back as a volunteer. It can be a great opportunity to network with regional PR pros, learn from the experiences of others, and gain valuable feedback on your own work through connections and conversations.

Education issues and School PR

Working in public education always has its challenges and mandates from revised curriculum, accountability and testing, funding, extracurricular, attendance zoning, school choice (school vouchers in disguise) and the ever-popular, local taxation issues. Those challenges are magnified in Texas when the Legislature is in session. To be honest, school district employees in Texas hold our collective breaths when lawmakers come together every two years. We wonder what new ridiculous  unfunded mandates will befall educators, schools, and districts this time? Or, as in the last session, how much will the state cut in education funding this year? (During the last session, the Legislature cut $5.4 billion from public education.) 

This time, the realities are clouded even more because of major campus security debates across the country following the elementary school shooting in Connecticut in December. There are absolutely no easy answers to these and other issues for public education. That said, I absolutely believe school districts need to lean on professional communicators to help explain, explore, and expand on important topics facing public education. 

My advice for school PR pros is to pay close attention to the major issues and potential laws impacting education. Thankfully, we work with experts in curriculum, testing, finance, etc. at our districts that each of us should turn to for briefings on these areas. I'm also thankful for the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) has some plain-English resources for school PR pros on many of these same issues.

Topic Buckets and Blogging
On January 6, 2013, I caught a random tweet from the #blogchat Twitter chat about Topic Buckets as a way to organize and plan your blog. From mackcollier.com:

"...You want to blog more often, but coming up with ideas is sometimes tough.  Something that has helped me is organizing your blog’s focus into Topic Buckets. 

The basic idea is this: Pick 2-5 main topic areas that you want to cover on your blog...Now the great thing about Topic Buckets is that they really help you organize your posting patterns. You may be trying to think about how you can blog 2-3 times a week, but if you can create 2-3 Topic Buckets, then all you have to do is write one post a week for each topic, and you are set! Also, it’s a good way to keep track of what you’re blogging about..."

I let that idea simmer a while and have concluded that using Topic Buckets is an idea worth trying and sharing. I'll need to leave that idea unfinished at this point until I can come back with more details on how topic buckets can improve my blogging experience on this one and the blog I manage at work.

See, taking breaks is good.

Photo: svenwerk