PR Leadership

EFFECTIVE PR LEADERSHIP

When it comes to effective leadership, there is no one-size-fits-all. Since no two individuals are completely alike, and, therefore, no two teams are completely alike, a wide variety of leaders are needed to accommodate the diverse number of followers out there. 

While the qualities, strengths, and weaknesses of leaders vary greatly, there are a few different behaviors that the most effective leaders possess on the whole. According to Strengths Based Leadership, these behaviors are: 

  1. Investing in the strengths of individuals 
  2. Surrounding oneself with the right people
  3. Understanding the needs of their followers.[1]

The overarching theme that I took from these findings was that a good leader is concerned about his or her people. They are not merely looking out for their own professional advancement, but also for the people who they lead. 

When it comes to an effective leader within the public relations sector, the same principles remain. I would argue, however, that another behavior must also accompany the three above. That behavior is the concern of the wellbeing of the publics outside the organization as well. Public relations has often been described as the frosting in an Oreo cookie, with one of the wafters being the organization and the other being the public. The frosting keeps the cookie together. In the same way, the PR professional represents the organization to the public and the public to the organization, serving as a bridge between the two. 

Therefore, an effective PR leader must not only look out for their own organization but for the public that their organization comes into contact with. They must look out for, advance, and invest in the needs of the public. 

MY LEADERSHIP STRENGTHS 

The most recent time that I took StrengthsFinder, my results were (1) Connectedness, (2) Strategic, (3) Belief, (4) Individualization, and (5) Adaptability. I have taken StrengthsFinder three times previously. By averaging my results by rank, I have determined my top eight strengths to be: 

  1. Connectedness: “People talented in the Connectedness theme have faith in the links among all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has meaning.”[2]
  2. Empathy: “People talented in the Empathy theme can sense other people’s feelings by imagining themselves in others’ lives or situations.”[3]
  3. Individualization: “People talented in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how different people can work together productively.”[4]
  4. Belief: “People talented in the Belief theme have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their lives.”[5]
  5. Strategic: “People talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.”[6]
  6. Communication: “People talented in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.”[7]
  7. Maximizer: “People talented in the Maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb.”[8]
  8. Adaptability: “People talented in the Adaptability theme prefer to go with the flow. They tend to be “now” people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.”[9]

One of the biggest take-aways from this list was that my leadership style and characteristics are majoritively “Relationship Building” strengths. CliftonStrengths breaks down their StrengthsFinder into four categories: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, and Strategic Thinking. I think my biggest overarching strength is to see patterns and between the lines of what is being said by utilizing my strengths of Connectedness, Empathy, Individualization, Communication, and Strategic all together. 

A weakness that I can see within the context of finding these strengths and what I have seen at various employment and internships is that I can often place so much weight on relationship building that I can sometimes prioritize that too heavily over the actual work. One example of this was at my internship at FamilyLife. I worked in a very central location with a very open desk. Not a day would go by that someone wouldn’t come by my desk to chat, ask for advice, or have a question about a project. Every time I would stop my work in order to give that individual all of my attention. These little interruptions were often the highlights of my day, but had the potential to leave me stressed trying to make deadlines if too many occurred in a single day. 

In order to complement my strengths and balance out my weaknesses, it would be helpful to have a teammate who has more strengths in the Executing category in order to make sure that there is a strong and healthy middle ground between the relational building aspect that makes the work worth doing and the actual doing of the work. Strengths Based Leadership states that, “having a team composed of individuals who look at issues similarly, who have been the product of comparable educational backgrounds, and who have experiences with similar track records and approaches is not a sound basis for success.”[10] Therefore, on a team, I would look for members that have strengths in all of the different categories, making the group well rounded and more effective. 

MY DESIRED STRENGTHS FOR A LEADER

When it comes to a leader, I need someone who actually cares about who I am as a person. When reading through Strengths Based Leadership, some of the tips for leading people with my strengths are to “figure out how to align her values with those of the organization”, “ask this person to learn the folklore – the theories of interesting events in your organization”, “acceptance of her spirituality will enable her to become increasingly comfortable around you”, and “arrange for this person to work with positive, optimistic people.”[11] All of these things require a careful and intentional observation of how I work best.

When it comes to the identification of leaders that I can work well under, this can even be done in an interview. Before and after the bulk questions of an interview there is often some chit-chat that takes place. This is where it can often be apparent that the interviewer is either very interested in who you are as a person or not. Through this time of lighter conversation, I can then determine whether or not the organization would be a place in which I could thrive under the leadership in place. 

LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION

The lifeblood of any leadership team is communication. As with strengths, there are many different communication styles and methodologies that work based upon the sender and receiver. However, there are also communication behaviors and best practices that contribute to the overall effectiveness of that communication, whatever the specific qualities of that communication are. In one study conducted by Bergman, Dellve, and Skagert, it was found that “a take-home message is that the outcome of the meetings is sensitive to the physical arrangements, the size of the group, lack of technique to stimulate dialogue and, above all, the culture within the unit … Workers seem to regard information and the potential to influence decisions about the development of the workplace as important. This would also affect the outcome of the care provided.”[12]

In the book by Emerald Group, it is said that best communication happens through authenticity, clearness, feedback from the receiver, interesting delivery, and note to the attention spans of the receiver.[13] With these resources in mind, I would argue the hallmarks of effective PR communication are:

  1. Genuine care for the receiver. If you are apathetic to those who you are communicating with it will quickly become apparent. Good PR communication requires care for individuals. 
  2. Knowledge of the reason behind the communication. If you don’t know why you are talking then no message will come across and you are adding to the noise and not assisting your organization nor the public.
  3. Informed, creative, and strategic communication deliverance. Communicate with knowledge of how people best receive. Public relations is a creative field that cares how people best receive information. If they receive it best visually, do a campaign that involves video. If it is best received auditorily, do a podcast. 
  4. Dedication to becoming a receiver of communication. The best communicators listen after they speak and adjust accordingly. Public relations today utilized the two-way symmetric model of communication in which a major facet is to listen well. Good PR cares how people received the message and if it was what was intended. Without this component, many important goals will not be met. 

RESOURCES

An Introduction to the Adaptability CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

An Introduction to the Belief CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

An Introduction to the Communication CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

An Introduction to the Connectedness CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

An Introduction to the Empathy CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

An Introduction to the Individualization CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

An Introduction to the Maximizer CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

An Introduction to the Strategic CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

Bergman, C., Dellve, L., & Skagert, K. (2014, June 5). Exploring communication processes in workplace meetings: A mixed-methods study in a Swedish healthcare organization. IOS Press.

Emerald Group, . (2004). Communication Strategies. Bradford: Emerald Group Publication.

Rath, T. (2008). Strengths Based Leadership. New York City, NY: Gallup Press.

[1] Rath, T. (2008). Strengths Based Leadership. New York City, NY: Gallup Press.

[2] An Introduction to the Connectedness CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

[3] An Introduction to the Empathy CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

[4] An Introduction to the Individualization CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

[5] An Introduction to the Belief CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

[6] An Introduction to the Strategic CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

[7] An Introduction to the Communication CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

[8]  An Introduction to the Maximizer CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

[9] An Introduction to the Adaptability CliftonStrengths Theme. (n.d.). In Gallup: CliftonStrenths.

[10] Rath, T. (2008). Strengths Based Leadership. New York City, NY: Gallup Press.

[11]  Rath, T. (2008). Strengths Based Leadership. New York City, NY: Gallup Press.

[12] Bergman, C., Dellve, L., & Skagert, K. (2014, June 5). Exploring communication processes in workplace meetings: A mixed methods study in a Swedish healthcare organization. IOS Press.

[13] Emerald Group, . (2004). Communication Strategies. Bradford: Emerald Group Publication.