What can I say? I’m survivin’
Crawling out these sheets to see another day
What can I say? I’m survivin’
And I’m gonna be fine
I’m gonna be fine
I think I’ll be fine
-Bastille
I thought about those words from Bastille this past week as graduations and proms and so many other special family occasions bring us back together, and we even found ourselves at some industry events that had all but left the calendar these past few years.
Surving and thriving also came up at this week’s Sports PR Summit, along with the reinforcement of the skills needed to be successful. Some key points…
“Don’t ask me to defend something that I didn’t help define.”
Longtime comms and business advisor Vada Manager was one of two honorees for the lifetime contributions to the industry, and manager provided the group with several pearls of wisdom, of which this was the biggest and the most important. In an era where having a communications voice with a seat at the table and having a trusted senior person listening and crafting from day one with any plan, Manager’s words are really impactful.
Sadly there are many instances where communications leadership is a second or third or well down the line afterthought, and may even come in when policy is set and blowback happens. It is avoided when you have that trusted advisor or leader at the table as the pie is being made, and he/she/they can help set the temperature, the expectations and the strategy before the oven goes on fire.
“[PR] is all about honesty and relationships and trust…the principles are the same. The principles are always the same. If you are not honest, your reputation is ruined.”
We have reinforced the idea of trust and honesty and not lying time and again, but it was again refreshing to hear it from Rosa Gatti, one of the legends of the communications business after forging an amazing career leading strategy at places like ESPN. The building of trust, and personal relationships, is really invaluable as we emerge in a world where faster, shorter and time challenged decisions have to be made more and more. Regardless, professionalism and the time spent listening and learning from colleagues remains key in driving storytelling.
Survivin? Sure.
Thrivin? Even better.
Great lessons from this week.
