Lessons in PR

It’s amazing what a cameo appearance on a Netflix show can do.? Since ‘Scoop’ aired, there has been a steady stream of messages, profile searches and requests to connect. All based on an actor playing me for nano seconds.

That said, it was a useful prompt to remind me to update my LinkedIn profile after taking a deliberate 18 months away from work and to reflect on a 30 year plus career that started off at London Underground and ended as the Communications Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II. ?

As I sit and think about what next, I thought I should use my relative infamy to reflect on my corporate and royal experiences to pass on some of the lessons learned.?

Never get in an argument you can’t win or control how it ends – the corporate fight whoever it may be with, should be avoided. What might be a small distraction to your organisation could be an existential fight for your opponent and more than likely too good a PR opportunity for them to ignore.? Nearly always, the mud thrown will be remembered long after the actual cause of the fight is forgotten. Never complain, never explain is tried and tested for a reason.

Think first, act second - take time before responding to something and don’t be afraid to question if you should respond.? Just as you take time to tell your story (think of the time spent on a quote in a results announcement), you should think closely about responses to unplanned events. So, when something is brewing and the pressure is on to respond, don’t be afraid to take some time to consider the repercussions before you speak and if you must respond, often you have more time than you think.

Don’t try and win an emotional argument with logic – even if you feel logic and facts are on your side.? Such an approach will almost certainly mean you are perceived as cold and distant whereas acknowledging the emotion means the audience will at least listen to your side of the debate.? Recollections don’t vary on this point.

Attention spans are short.? A nuanced or complicated point is often lost.? Time is never wasted in writing down what you want to say and then spending time making it shorter. As the saying goes, excuse the long letter but I didn’t have time to write a short one.

Avoid the ‘C’ word (crisis) – if you are heading towards one, sound the alarm and do what you can to steer away from it and if you are in one, act fast to end it.? Remember some people like a crisis, they want to report it, have an opinion on it or even profit from it.? A crisis brings a whole new narrative, often controlled by others, that takes a lot of energy and resource to wrestle back and from which the fall out can colour your narrative for a very long time.

No’ is the most overused word in communications - very few people lose their job because they said no to a new idea, to trying something new or to spending money on a new project.? Few people get asked by their boss why they said no to something, but 99% will get asked about why they said yes.? So, if you have a great idea, a new way of working or a pitch that moves your team or client out of their comfort zone, prepare for no and work on the reasons for why they should say yes.? And if the answer is no, keep the idea warm, refine it and keep plugging away.?

Creativity is undervalued.? The creativity to package up things differently, bring a new slant to an argument or even look at new ways to present data is a real skill.? Too often a fear of failure holds people back, but it shouldn’t.?

Don’t be afraid of failure - as long as you learn from it, refine your ideas and go again.? We should encourage our teams, especially the new entrants to the profession to be prepared to fail.? How else will they, or we, learn?? From ‘London Blunderground’ to ‘Kinky Boots’ I have had my share, but I always felt I learned more from these sort of headlines than I did from the positive ones, now forgotten.?

Finally, don’t take yourself too seriously.? Enjoy the job, be professional and commit to it but remember we rarely are the ones with our heads above the parapet.

I hope it was worth the five minutes to read and feel free to disagree as none of us have a divine right to be right all the time.? As for ‘Scoop’ – I’ll be taking my own advice and not complaining or explaining.