Somewhere in the last month on a flight I came across the dark comedy, “Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer” which starred Richard Gere and came out last year. The film is about a well-meaning “fixer” who gets in all kinds of unique places, mostly tough ones, as he tries to spin things for clients, and as he networks through a maze of people over the course of his career .
Recently we have also heard about another “fixer,” Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former designate who is also in all sorts of problematic places as he wound his way through nefarious affairs big and small. We also saw another fictional “fixer,” played by George Clooney in the film “Michael Clayton,” one whose character finally came through for the greater good.
While most definitions of a “fixer” are pretty dubious and often involve illegal activity (see the Bernard Malamud novel of the same name, as well as the character Johnathan Banks has played), in reality much of what can be done around the strategic communications area can be attributed, with maybe a little more high ground, to what a fixer can do to move the needle.
What do we fix? Take issue A and look at issue B and see how to use effective skills to solve the problem, or create the opportunity, that didn’t exist before. The skills of a fixer are pretty generic, no matter what side of the aisle of legality you are on and they are essential to good communication pros.
Here’s a look:
Good listener. While the world around you is panicking the fixer takes the beat to look at the bigger picture, usually calmly or at least semi calmly, and determine exactly what can be done. He or she notices things that others don’t, and usually figures out ways to piece them into an effective narrative or solution.
Problem solver. While addressing an issue, the Fixer takes from past experience to come up with creative alternatives that can reach a suggested outcome for the issue at hand. It is a skill to be brought into a delicate or collapsing or challenging situation and find ways to right the ship, and come up with answers to issues big and small.
Crisis manager. Every fixer ever encountered, real or fictitious usually arrives when the chips are down and the issue at hand, is full blown. The problem to be solved may seem unsolvable to some and there is massive fallout to be dealt with. That too is key for any lead communicator. How does one deal with crisis and come up with the scenario that answers questions, builds consensus, and helps limit collateral damage. It is an acquired skill, not one that comes easily, but it is certainly in the mix of the fixer mentality.
Networker. In order to solve the issue at hand, the fixer needs a network big and small. While the fictitious fixers tend to drop names in order to connect people, and in the case of Norman, embellishes relationships to the extreme, the best communicators are the ones who have taken the time to build healthy and effective networks and relationships that open doors and bring value in solving the task at hand.
Confidant. The best fixers know when to speak and when not to. They become reliable and invaluable assets when working through situations good and bad. That is not unlike what the best strategic communicators do for those around them. From coaches to corporations, the best know how to use their skills and provide key advice at the most important times. They have a seat at the table, and can provide invaluable assistance in righting an issue.
Strategist. The fixer has to be the person with the plan. The one who can pull together key partners, constituents and connect one to the other to close a gap or solve an issue. He or she can look big picture and bring solutions those sometimes in the weeds cannot see or identify. Same with good strategic communicators. Their experience can help them see big picture and bring about results while those in the day to day keep things moving.
GSD. End of the day, the fixer needs to problem solve and provide results. Sometimes they are of the predictable and tangible kind, sometimes they are creative and innovative. In a bottom line business, Getting Stuff Done and delivering what’s planned, and sometimes what is beyond planned, is the invaluable, sometimes intangible role that is needed, and desired and achievable and it is how the best strategic communicators do their problem solving.
Like the term “flack,” which is sometimes stull bestowed upon communications professionals like “bean counter” is thrown on financial professionals, a “fixer,” real or fictional, can be looked upon with a dubious eye. He or she is in the background, doing whatever it takes to solve the problem no matter what. Blind loyalty is key.
In reality the best communications pros and storytellers have the DNA of the fixer. They are master problem solvers and strategists, albeit without the nefarious baggage and hopefully, without the dastardly ending that we hear fixers sometimes tied to.
Is it positive to put anyone in a box for their career? Not really. However being able to correctly fix things and be “in the room” as a problem solver and strategist is what a character like Norman aspired to. Fixing is a valuable amalgam of skills acquired and innate, so long as we stay on the right side of the goings on.
