Getting above it: why a non-PR perspective makes for better PR

Last Friday I caught up with a very clever colleague (Paul) who also runs his own successful professional services business.

Let me be very clear. He's not a PR person. But he and his team do advise many leader in financial services on communication. And as he and I agree, there's a lot to be desired about the standard of public relations - whether in Australia or the world, and both inside and beyond financial services

How does a non-PR person end up giving advice to financial services leaders on communication? Pretty simple - they "get" strategy. And PR folk often don't. Sure they (or should I say "we"?) think they do. But fundamentally, and if you ask a CEO, they don't.

The non-PR perspective in PR seems to be the x factor that elevates communication people beyond being PR people to being a valued part of the management team. 

It's the ability to see beyond the communication that makes communication advice truly useful to leaders in business, in government and the not-for-profit sector. That's simply the ability to "get above" the PR and communication agenda to see the broader business context...and thus offer more meaningful input to content.

I have a personal experience around this that illustrates the point. Years ago, as a fearless sub-30 year old, I thought I was pretty good at "getting" strategy in financial services (thanks to the management degree I had rather than the communication honours degree I couldn't be bothered finishing).

Now, as a business owner, and with experience at creating and executing on strategy to create a culture, deliver services and achieve targets, I'm a much better communicator. Because I "get" strategy in a much deeper way. I've created a business in financial services communication from scratch, set it's strategy, then trialled and refined approaches until we got it right.

I, like Paul, advise finance clients on things way beyond the "communication" or "PR" brief. And our communication and PR advice and execution is much the better for it.

So what can PR people do to "get above it" and improve their ability to advise on  the problems and how do we fix them?

Education: Ideally something other than pure communication...commerce, business, management, philosophy, law, economics, marketing and journalism are some of the qualification in our team. I'm not a massive fan of arts degrees as an employer, for similar reasons to my somewhat anti-PR views....narrowness of perspective being my chief concern. A post-graduate or masters degree is a pretty attractive addition - especially in finance, business or management. The smart move is often simply a post graduate diploma in applied finance. And that's not as hard as it sounds. Yes, you'll need a calculator and some maths ability, but a lot of it is conceptual rather than applied maths per se.

Experience: Ok so what if you have an arts, communication or PR degree? A bit of commercial experience in a line management role might be a good idea. Any role that helps comms people get a more informed perspective on the commercial reality of business will give them a way better ability to advise on communication. That means backing yourself - having the confidence to work your way out of the communication box even if it's only a secondment.

Expectations: In some ways leaders, senior executives and PR firms get the PR capability they deserve. If their expectations of their PR and communication people is to receive only tactical communication advice then that's exactly what they'll get. On the other hand, if they make the effort to ask for more from their advisers, or to seek out those who can "get above it", then they'll lift the standard of PR across the board - and the business will benefit.

If we lift our gaze, our own careers and the organisations we work in, will be much the better for it.

PR - catalyst for CSR or defender of the indefensible?

As public relations advisers we can be a powerful catalyst for change inside business - whether from within or outside - as influencers of leadership. 


Or we can accept the status quo - and end up defending it after it's use by date.


Some PR leaders achieve great change by sensitising their colleagues on the leadership team to the need for change. By actively seeking and sharing signals from the external environment about trends, community standards, and potential issues or opportunities. And then setting out a path that will see their business or client deliver both commercial and social dividends - real shared value as defined by Michael Porter and others. 


Socially responsible business is now about creating shared value. The PR profession can, and should, be leaders of that agenda as they proactively seek information and insights to feed into strategy, decision and management action.


After more than 20 years in profession I'm a great believer that (it's not original) the best PR people transcend our profession. They're smart, commercial and highly aware of what's going on inside and outside their organisations. And they almost always have a broader education, career or expertise than "public relations". It's that last bit, I believe, that makes them truly great.

Other PR people simply defend the indefensible. They don't question, they don't challenge, they simply "do". It's a path that leads to (at best) missed opportunity or (at worst) mis-selling.

In financial services the quality of the leadership in PR matters immensely. Why?


In the words of an industry stalwart we're selling "promises and pieces of paper". These days we're selling promises and online communication. The role of the communicators is to make sure what we sell is in fact responsibly represented. Not mis-represented or mis-sold. 


Surely the single most important socially responsible action we can take as communicators in financial services is this:


"Help people make better decisions about their financial futures."

And, in line with that:


"Help business make better decisions in light of the internal and external environment"

My colleague Kaitlin Walsh blogged and tweeted from the first Asia Pacific regional GRI conference this week and posted this blog. In it she said 


"At its heart, the sustainability story is about making sure your business or organisation is here for the long haul. That it’s prepared not only to survive but to flourish in the face of the constant and unrelenting change that characterises our living and working environments. That it follows practices that are likely to cement its position as a stayer, and not put it – and more importantly the many who rely on it both directly and indirectly – at risk. (Consider here the mammoth impact of the conduct of financial services organisations concerned with stewarding our retirement incomes …)"


So my recommendation to you as a PR person is this: make your choice. 


Choose either to lead - to be part of the catalytic mechanism that sees our organisations increasingly deliver shared value - or resign yourself to defending the indefensible. 


Maybe not now, but at some stage in the future if you didn't stand for the change that's needed it's guaranteed you'll find yourself defending something not worth saving.


Harsh words? Maybe. Or perhaps just what my colleagues and management writer Patrick Lencioni would call "the kind truth". 

Why I can't do what you want if you can't explain it well enough...internal communication

Now I may not have started out as a guru at explaining myself to others. Just ask my team.


But what I do know a little about is explaining (on the large scale) strategy to staff - in financial services but also other industries. 


What does that mean, exactly? The bit about "explaining strategy to staff"?


It means this... what the context is, where the company aims to be in that picture, how we're going to get there (together)...and...drum roll...what your part is in that bigger game plan.


But here's the trick. And listen up leaders because most of you get this wrong. Consistently. I say that with due humility because I get it wrong too.


The "trick" is this:


1. Get clear on the actual strategy
2. Get clear on the context (outside and inside including what your team are thinking, feeling and experiencing right now)
3. Get a sense of what needs to be done to deliver on strategy then (this is really important) 
4. ASK the top team (maybe up to 10% or more of your team) how to do it...and listen to what they say - that's the operating plan! And the messages.
5. Finally, tell everyone. Again, and again, and again, and again and again...until they start to mock you.


There are many other, longer, ways of explaining these top five essential actions in making strategy relevant to teams - and whole organisations.


But after more than a decade and a half inside, and outside (advising), large and small financial services companies (and some others) on internal communication, I can offer you the short version.


Of course the real test is my own business, BlueChip Communication. In recent years I've worked with a mentor who is not a communication expert, at least in the "corporate communication" sense. And yet what he said about communicating strategy is absolutely right. I use this wisdom everyday at BlueChip. 


Paraphrased, it's the summary version of how to make strategy real. 


"Define your strategy in five or six key sentences. Then repeat them. All the time, to everyone."


Has it worked? Well ask one of our people next time you see them...

Flashback Friday

With the weekend now about ten minutes away I wanted to do something a bit unusual. And that's talk about us. Not me, mind you. Us. Otherwise known as BlueChippers. 


This week, as we've worked together to hit home runs for current clients, pitch to new clients and improve how we work, a few things really leapt out. So, at risk of having you see me as a a bit soppy, I want to pause, and to 'flash back' to some great moments for our team.


It's different here
Everyone says that when they're recruiting right? For example: "We're different. We do x, y & z for our people. We really care." And then by week three you're wondering how they even made that stuff up, let alone said it with a straight face. 


But here's what our people (not me!) say:


1. The values are real - respect, integrity, persistence, excellence - with actions behind them 
2. There are no politics
3. People tell the truth even when it hurts
4. You have a real opportunity to do your best work and to grow personally and professionally
5. We have fun and laugh together...


Although at midday today when we were all heads down, hands on keyboard you might wonder about that one!


A star team...not just a team of stars
"You know it's harder to get a job at BlueChip than it is at [insert name of leading investment bank here]" said a well known recruiter recently.


Well actually it might even be harder because not only do we hire hungry, humble and smart people, we are uncompromising when it comes to "fit". And by "fit" we don't mean a gender, cultural or educational background or personality type. We mean "fit" with our values. 


While we do unashamedly go after the best people in the market, we want to only work with other people we want on our relatively small "boat". 


People who say stuff like:


- "I don't want to delegate that to him/her because it won't give them enough challenge"
- "We can do this better...here's how it might work"
- "So and so did a really good job on this" and (yes, it's true)
- "We shouldn't charge our client for that because..."


Doing our best work...so clients get REAL results
When we're recruiting and an entry level candidate says "I don't want to do that fluffy kind of PR", they suddenly have our full attention. 


People who are already BlueChippers want to make a difference, do their best work and achieve a great outcome for clients.


They hate fluff, they loathe tactical-only campaigns, and they always want to understand the big picture. 


In many ways, while the recruiters think we're mad, BlueChippers are actually people who already work like we do. Our culture calls out to the right people.


They're people who want to do great work. And they are prepared to hear feedback in order to get better and better at what they do. 


So when something's not working, they call it out. To our clients, their colleagues or their boss. We call it (full credit to Patrick Lencioni) the "kind truth". One set of words to describe giving feedback to each other is this:


"Bad news does not improve with age. But the kind truth improves with observation". 


It hurts way less when the person giving you feedback cares, and has carefully observed what's going on for you. But still delivers exactly what you need to hear, knowing it might sting.


Valuing values
This week I've marveled at the ability, the team spirit and the talent here at BlueChip. 


But most of all I've been humbled by the evidence of our values at work. 


They power our team, they help us reach the stars for our clients, and they ensure we enjoy the time we spend with each other.


Above all, values help us all "be the best we can be".


Happy weekend BlueChippers - whether you work here yet or not!

The sweet spot remains (online) for financial services PR

After a lively discussion today with a group of senior corporate affairs people in financial services I thought I should check back to a few things Paul Cheal and I said in our first financial services social media seminar in 2009.

Re-reading this post it's interesting to see just how much is still the same...and fortunately a lot of what we said then held true, or still applies. Take this snapshot for example:

- choice of information channels & sales channels will proliferate…
- at the same time the rise and rise of social media means choice of marketing tools can be overwhelming.

 

Where to start?

By taking the same principles we learned in traditional PR, communication and marketing online – and playing by the new rules of the social media world.

The sweet spot for financial services is online PR.

By online PR we mean:

1. Quality and quantity content that earns you search engine superiority and viewer attention

2. Communication direct to clients in both institutional and retail marketing

3. All linked back to an effective website AND

4. Engaging your audiences with the next “P” in financial services marketing – philosophy.

Because in the new digital democracy it will be what you stand for, what you do and how interesting you can make it, that earns you the attention of the people who matter most to your business.

Download BlueChip Communication's ten steps to online PR for financial services here.

New financial crisis? "What NOT to do" public relations rules hold true

As Australia reaches the end of the first month of the 2012 financial year, we're feeling the shudders of global financial uncertainty. The US debt challenges appear handled, for now....but who knows what's around the corner?

Uncertainty, for leaders and communicators, makes it far more challenging to set, and communicate, a course. Where do you lead people "to" when the landscape is unknown and only "where we're coming from" is known?

Often the answer is nowhere. In 2007, 2008 and into 2009 some leaders and communicators were frozen into immobility by the (sometimes overwhelming) dangers presented to their businesses by global financial instability.

Yet those who came through best were often those who, despite uncertainty, took careful stock of the known and the unknown. Then acted.

Some leaders led when it was most needed. Some communicators communicated superbly - proactively, and with a strong sense of their duty of care to investors, clients, and the people working for their company.

It's those leaders whose actions are worth reflecting on now as we face another "interesting time".

Knowing what to do is hard - but what NOT to do was clearly evident.

Once Lehmann declared bankruptcy at the end of 2007, Australia's blithe "we're okay Jack" approach to our role in the world economy was somewhat dented.

When I flew into New York at the time of Lehmann's collapse, it was clear that most business people in Australia believed we would never feel any impact. Two short months later, we watched seasoned finance executives go grey almost overnight as all the rules were changed.

Few knew what to do - how to manage a crisis and how to communicate during one.

It's worth revisiting here some of the lessons we learned for communicating in a crisis.

It's all very well to  know how to communicate in a crisis that involves just one organisation, group of organisations or an industry sector. But the ultimate crisis communication lessons surely have come from the days when it looked like much more was at stake.

Here are our top ten things NOT to do.


1. Say nothing
2. Be overly optimistic or "catastrophise"
3. Make promises you can’t keep
4. Imply you know what’s going to happen now
5. Ignore technology such as webcasts, email, Skype or your website
6. Fail to educate your client with what you do know, as soon as you know it
7. Provide only complex information full of disclaimers
8. Fail to respect the intelligence of your audience
9. Self-justify
10. Understand how your audiences feel


Next post, what TO do.

Bus tale ... with a tail

Horns. Tail. Colour and movement.

I'm not normally inspired by public transport. But I'm finding buses particularly inspiring this week. Here's one I saw today. It has horns, a multi-coloured hide and a tail.

In PR-speak it's an experiential campaign...perhaps in other words a good old fashioned stunt. Best practice would be to back this great mooving (pardon the bad pun) stunt with an integrated PR campaign.

Now why is this bus relevant to PR people or to those in financial services? Because our audiences, particularly high net worth or high income people, are getting harder and harder to reach.

Their media habits are fragmented. They may be time poor. When they want information they self-serve - Google and word of mouth are favourite sources.

Hence the rise of experiential PR - a stunt, installation or "happening" backed by and amplified into traditional and social media.

It's just a shame that moove media didn't back their superb creative execution with a fully functioning website.