Don’t Just Talk, Say Something

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By Maureen Legg, Account Executive

You’re at the end of your rope and they’ve given you enough to hang yourself. They wanted the job done yesterday but they’re not playing with a full deck. That big idea they had is on the tip of your tongue but you can’t put your finger on it. You’ve got a lot on your mind and need someone to take this project off your hands so you can get a grip and figure out what the heck they want. Well, wake up and smell the coffee, my friend. You’ve got to break a few eggs to make an omelet. So if you really want to whip up something special you’ve got to bite the bullet, mosey back in there and ask them what they meant.

Communication.

As communications professionals, we know better than anyone that it’s an art. Especially when it comes to giving direction. But what many people don’t realize is that it is also a critical component of productivity.

How many times have you stalled on a project because you really weren’t sure what was being asked of you?

As the loquacious Mike Meyers said in The Cat in the Hat,  “Well, sure, he can talk. But is he saying anything? No, not really…”

Quality communication not only engenders efficiency, it also boosts employee morale and impacts client satisfaction. Did you know that Communications is one of the top 10 college majors, according to The Princeton Review? And yet, the workplace is a minefield of unclear communication. People get confused. They waste time. They do it wrong. They miss deadlines. They feel bad about themselves. It’s a vicious cycle that can be broken by brushing up on a perhaps obvious but often underutilized skill set.

Be specific. If you’re asking somebody to do something, presumably you know a bit about what it’s going to take to get it done. Share that wisdom with your co-worker. While everyone loves a “self-starter,” pointing them in the right direction utilizes your big brain and helps them to be successful.

Invite questions. Co-workers may be embarrassed that they don’t know something they are expected to understand. While it’s great when someone “gets you,” giving them an invitation to clarify lets them off the hook when they don’t.

Bear the burden of successful transmission. I once had a supervisor say to me, “You need to read my color chart to figure out the best way to communicate with me.” Successful communication is not a one-way street. As a supervisor, take responsibility for making sure the task is understood.

Check in. Instead of waiting until it’s too late and they are long down the wrong path, schedule a status call to confirm all is well or respond to new questions that have surfaced.

Set deadlines. You know…with a date and time. Contrary to popular opinion, ASAP is not a real deadline, and “when you get a chance” is not really respecting someone’s time.

Confirm expectations. While we assume everyone has the same quality standards, reminders that the data should be proofed, fact checked or recalculated is never a waste of time.

Stay on point. Burying direction in a long and complicated explanation only dilutes focus and understanding on the receiving end. Try bullet-pointing the direction via email and then following up with a live discussion. This also gives a co-worker time to digest the direction and formulate questions.

Keep the team in the loop. Being clear on who’s doing what avoids duplication of a task and allows everyone to plan their workflow. It also enables managers to communicate effectively with clients about the status of projects.

Communicate about communication. In fact, make it a core value in your workplace. Review this skill set, discuss expectations and determine how course corrections will be made on a one-to-one basis.

In conclusion, I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

If that’s the case, call me.

Image credit: studiom1 / 123RF Stock Photo

Making a Difference

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By Grant Wright, CEO

At (W)right On, there are principles by which we operate that we call our Core Values. They’re how we roll, or try our best to.

Written some years ago, they have evolved a bit, sometimes to add greater clarity and sometimes to simply articulate a new Value that through experience was realized to be there all along.

It’s # 3 – “We are inspired by our clients” - that prompted me to write this today. Well, part of its precept actually: “We choose to work with people who and organizations that are visionaries, leaders and changing the world for the better…”

This notion largely relates to another belief, that life is short and there are far more great things to do than we have time (a precept of Value # 13 – “We act with a sense of urgency.”) So at (W)right On, while remembering the bills that still need paying and all other things being equal, when we can turn our team’s capabilities toward maximum good, we should, and do.

While we have other great stories and outcomes for our visionary for-profit clients, over the years there have been numerous not-for-profit organizations we’ve been privileged to support. Currently, these include Toward Maximum Independence, The Roddenberry Foundation, New Haven Youth & Family Services and Tri-City Hospital Foundation, to name just a few.

Toward Maximum Independence is a nonprofit agency with a long standing reputation for “best practices” in providing personalized assistance to people with disabilities enabling them to live, work and participate in their communities. The positive attitude and work they and those they assist do everyday is extraordinary, and personally inspiring.

The Roddenberry Foundation, founded and chaired by Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, for its part has a vision of supporting efforts to expand new frontiers for the benefit of humanity.  Focused on the four pillars of the Environment, Science & Technology, Humanitarianism and Education, its Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Research at Gladstone Institutes was established one year ago. A couple weeks ago, Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, who divides his time between Japan and the Roddenberry Center, was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his stem cell research discoveries. How cool is that? And how profoundly privileged is (W)right On to help carry on the Star Trek legacy established by Gene Roddenberry so many years ago?

New Haven Youth & Family Services is yet another organization making a difference. Established in 1967 and having helped more than 15,000 families to date, today New Haven is transforming lives for at-risk adolescent boys through an innovative education model that supports troubled youth, guiding them from despair to hope. Every young person they help not only helps them and those around them, but helps the community today and for the long term. It’s truly win-win.

Tri-City Hospital Foundation was established in 1964 with a mission of inspiring community health and wellness through support of Tri-City Medical Center. Recently I had the opportunity to trial for a few minutes Tri-City’s incredible new da Vinci Robotic Surgical System in part made possible by the Foundation. Humbling, to say the least. (No human or anything else was harmed in the process!) And while Tri-City helps thousands every year, it made a difference in the life of Caleb, and through a new law and its own ‘Code Caleb’ now other newborns that you should read about.

Each of these organizations I do injustice by mentioning them so briefly, and there are many others. I hope you’ll take a moment to check them out, and in a world all-too-focused on pop culture, or the latest talking head on what used to be legitimate news channels, think about what really matters to you.

There are many worthy organizations, and I hope we hear from you on the above or any of the other great things you know of going on around us.

And if you’re curious what the rest of WOC’s Core Values are, shoot me an email at gwright@wrightoncomm.com.

Lance Armstrong’s Race to Redefine His Legacy

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By Julie Wright, President

How will you remember Lance Armstrong? As one of the most celebrated athletes in the world? As a cancer survivor who has inspired and helped millions of people around the world? Or as a fallen sports idol and fraud?

Say what you will about the doping case being built against him, but Armstrong’s Aug. 23 announcement that he would neither fight the charges nor arbitrate with the U.S. Anti Doping Agency (USADA) may  just be the first time in his storied personal and professional life that he has ever given up on something.

He can beat cancer and win seven Tour de France titles, but he doesn’t have the will to contest these charges and fight to clear his name? At a net worth of $125 million, he certainly has the scratch to lawyer up and arbitrate or take it to court. But he doesn’t think he can win this case – either because it’s unwinnable, as he alleges, or because he is guilty, as the USADA alleges.

So, Armstrong is, instead, seeking to win the PR battle. If he can hang on to his reputation and convince fans to give him the benefit of the doubt, he will continue to have value as a product pitchman and cancer spokesman. By staying out of arbitration, he can continue to say that he has never tested positive, and, thus, the allegations will always be only allegations. In addition, Armstrong has been depositing a lot of credits in the goodwill account for many years through his Livestrong activities. This goodwill is a major asset during this crisis.

Ultimately, what do people want to believe? There is an emotional and rational component to this controversy. His innocence is a better story and outcome for sports fans and cancer sufferers than his guilt.

The USADA filed charges against him on June 12. On Aug. 23, Armstrong answered those charges by announcing he would stop fighting them. He was banned from the sport for life. His statement on the Livestrong website said “I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. The toll this has taken on my family and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today -- finished with this nonsense.”

Had he persevered and fought the charges, a hearing may have been held in December with witnesses for and against.

This is a defining crisis for the Lance Armstrong brand and by not choosing his legal right to clear his name, he will forever be under a dark cloud of suspicion. But what can be learned from Armstrong’s public relations activities to counter this crisis and spare enough goodwill to maintain the credibility of his Livestrong efforts and his legacy to cancer if not to cycling?

First, bad news is bad news. You can choose to hide from it and let a bad situation define you or your brand. Or, you can step up and attempt to fill the vacuum with your own message. Armstrong chose the latter by announcing he wouldn’t fight the charges, unequivocally stating his innocence, casting doubt on the fairness of the process and reminding fans that he would rather spend his time supporting his foundation and the cause of cancer patients.

He also lined up a slew of communications and endorsements to reach fans with these messages. His Livestrong blog shared a message Aug. 23 from the Foundation’s founding chair Jeffery C. Garvey: “Faced with a biased process whose outcome seems predetermined, Lance chose to put his family and his foundation first and we support his decision. Lance’s legacy in the cancer community is unparalleled. Lance could have left cancer behind him and never looked back. Instead, before ever winning the Tour de France, he established a foundation that today has served 2.5 million cancer survivors with its free patient navigation services.”

The Lance Armstrong Foundation would clearly like to ensure his legacy is one of helping the cancer patient community.

Also lining up to throw their support behind Armstrong in this post were John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society and Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

But Armstrong and his supporters are just getting started.

Attorney and former San Diego Chargers spokesman Mark Fabiani is representing Armstrong and getting the message out through the media now that the USADA has released its report. The details contained in the report might be exactly what Armstrong was hoping to keep out of the public eye by avoiding arbitration as the USADA-released report concludes that the U.S. Postal Service Team was engaged in a doping conspiracy that “was professionally designed to groom and pressure athletes to use dangerous drugs, to evade detection, to ensure its secrecy and ultimately gain an unfair competitive advantage through superior doping practices.”

On the same day that the USADA report came out, Oct. 10, Armstrong Tweeted “What am I doing tonight? Hanging with my family, unaffected, and thinking about this. http://bit.ly/Po6mXT  #onward”.

The Tweet links to a press release issued by his foundation on that same day announcing its 15-year anniversary celebrations in Austin from Oct. 18-21. The highlight is the Fri., Oct. 19 fundraising gala that includes Norah Jones, Stephen Marley, Sean Penn, Ben Stiller, Robin Williams and, of course, Armstrong himself. With throngs of supporters at rallies, sporting events and the gala later this week, it might be difficult for people to see Armstrong as a bad guy.

By hammering on the work for cancer and success his foundation has achieved, the public might ask whether Armstrong hasn’t done more good for people in serious trouble than he has done harm to a sport and its competitors and fans?

Clearly that is the drumbeat to which Armstrong and his closest supporters are marching.

In a survey of more than 800 people that was conducted before the USADA’s findings were publicized, it would appear that the public was reluctant to turn on Armstrong. Sixty-seven percent said they still saw him in a positive light including 29 percent who said they were disappointed but respected what he has accomplished and 24 percent who believed Armstrong that he had never doped. Fourteen percent said he is still a champion while 8 percent said he is a cheater.

It will be interesting to see what the weekend’s celebrations produce to counter the negative coverage since Oct. 10, but with serious allegations about Armstrong that go beyond doping to bullying team members, paying $1 million to an Italian physician also accused of helping athletes dope and gifting $100,000 to the International Cycling Union and a drug-testing laboratory, fighting this crisis may be the one challenge his will alone won’t be enough to surmount.


Image credit: John Kershner / 123RF Stock Photo

Step Outside Your Comfort Zone and Build Your Network

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By Chancelor Shay, Account Executive

Don’t you hate that feeling where you’re around a group of people you don’t know but they seem to know each other? Every ice breaker line you come up with sounds foolish in your heard and you’re not sure how to interject. When you finally do there’s a communal awkward look as the group doesn't get your humor. Where do you go from there? Networking can be unsettling and everyone has had this experience at some point in time, but putting yourself in a position to develop new relationships is essential to achieving client goals and career growth.

It’s often said for most businesses, but especially for public relations agencies, that relationships are everything. That means more than just having relationships with the right reporters to earn coverage for your clients; it means having relationships that add value to your client by connecting them in ways that help beyond their PR goals. Creating a valuable network takes a little bit of time, a little bit of tact and a lot of proactive effort, but opportunities to grow your connections and develop them into fruitful relationships are all around. Banquets, galas, conferences, social outings, seminars, panels. The list goes on. The trick is getting started to hone your skills, utilizing the network you already have and finding a sweet spot. Here are some tips to set you on the right track.

Start with what you know

You wouldn't swim the English Channel before you try swimming to the end of the pier, so take the same approach with networking. Look for events that will attract like-minded people around a subject you’re knowledgeable on. If you enjoy science fiction and fantasy movies, head to Comic-Con, the largest gathering of sci-fi and fantasy film/television fans and industry professionals in North America. However, more important than simply meeting a new person is being able to connect the dots to you and your client’s advantage. Perhaps you meet someone from a special effects studio in desperate need of a new website. Or maybe an IT client can benefit from your new connection to the production company that’s exploded thanks to a new, hit movie. If nothing else, having the confidence that comes with great content knowledge will allow you to practice on networking skills to translate into a different environment. Once you have a sound networking skill set, stepping outside your comfort zone will produce the biggest returns.

Don’t forget about the relationships you already have

PR rule No. 138 is, “Don’t only reach out to your contacts when you need something.” Yes, I made that number up, but it’s in the rule book somewhere. This one is simple since you’re already friends and can avoid the pressure to fill pregnant pauses after a good laugh. So call up that assignment editor you used to work with and grab coffee. Or even better, since we know how much business is handled around a few drinks, head to happy hour with your pal from the ad agency you've collaborated with. Find out what’s new with them, give them an update on what’s keeping you busy and perhaps there’s a way to connect a few dots.

Go where your clients go

Whether it’s a big industry conference or a panel discussion, go where your clients go. There’s nothing more effective than firsthand testimonials of your brilliant work to get a new connection started on the right foot – not to mention you must already have some familiarity in the space that allows for a more free flowing discussion. Attending events where your client goes also allows for invaluable face time. It’s a chance to gain firsthand experience to support communication around similar events in the future and point out opportunities for your client that they may have missed otherwise. If those opportunities are mutually beneficial for your client and your new connection, then you've just showcased your value.

It may not be what clients pay for, but the value of a good network is worth the sweaty-palm handshakes and nervous car rides that come with stepping outside your comfort zone.