Managers Who Tap Into PR's Value

Business, non-profit and association managers get a ton of satisfaction when they do something really positive about the behaviors of those outside audiences that most affect their operation. Especially when they deliver external stakeholder behavior change, the kind that leads directly to achieving their managerial objectives; and even more so when they persuade those important outside folks to their way of thinking, then move them to take actions that help their department, division or subsidiary succeed.

Or, if this doesn't sound all that familiar, is the money you spend on public relations pretty much dedicated to buying personnel mentions in the newspaper and product plugs on radio talk shows?

Want to branch out a bit and get some core PR benefits?

How Values Affect Leadership

When we engage in the process of reviewing a leader in the conventional sense of the word, meaning as a person who is in charge of guiding others toward a certain goal, we cannot escape also examining his or her values.

In leadership, there are two types of values that play an important role:
1) Personal values: those perceptions about what matters and what not, what is important and what not, and what is allowed and what not. These values are mainly inherited from one’s upbringing in a certain environment.
2) Organizational values: the principles that are fundamental to the institution the leader leads. These values are, in turn, oftentimes determined by the local political, economical, and social values.

The first term that comes to mind when reviewing the above categories is: compatibility. There has to be at least some overlapping between these two types of values. A leader who is very religious, for instance, should probably not get involved in an organization that is anti religion or pro violence. That is, of course, if his or her religion is a peaceable one.

The 3 Pillars for Good Managerial Decision-Making

Decision-making: a point that is crucial to good management. And one that should be approached with care, as it involves great risks. For let’s be honest: it would be wonderful to have all the information at hand when you have to make a decision, wouldn’t it? However, 9 times out of 10 it doesn’t work that way! We have to make almost all our decisions based on incomplete information.

One of the things you have to be sure about is that before making a decision you really understand the problem or opportunity at hand. You should also make sure that you are comfortable choosing from the options you have. If not, you may want to consider waiting a while…unless the waiting will eliminate some very good options!

You probably already see it: decision-making is a delicate matter. Aside from all the attention points mentioned above, there are 3 points you may want to focus on when facing decisions:

THE PROBLEM WITH MANAGEMENT - PART 3 (Simplicity for Success)

In the story so far, I have suggested that management languishes in the industrial dark ages. I have pointed the finger at an upside-down management culture. And I have suggested that being a manager is like being a cyclist because, well, the analogy works - and I happen to like cycling. Let's ride this particular bicycle home.

In early July this year, cyclist Lance Armstrong will try to win a record breaking sixth straight Tour de France. Winning this three-week, 3500km event just once requires overcoming enormous obstacles. So to have won it five times on end is simply awesome.

How does he do it? Yes, there is enormous personal preparation and effort involved. But this would amount to little if not for the approach and support of his U.S. Postal Service team.

Managers: Why PR is SO Key

When outside audiences important to your operation do not understand what you are all about or, worse, harbor misconceptions, inaccuracies, untruths and false assumptions about you, you are likely to suffer negative, key audience behaviors that can prevent you from achieving your operating objectives.

As a business, non-profit or association manager, you simply cannot avoid such consequences when you allow external target audiences to hold negative perceptions about you which lead inevitably to those hurtful behaviors.

If this describes your operation, why not do something about it now?

Spend some time with the public relations people assigned to your department, division or subsidiary. Review together the fundamental premise of public relations which contains the answer to the challenges outlined above.

The Top 10 Reasons Businesses Succeed

Only one of every 5 businesses makes it to its 5th year, and fewer still make it to 10 years. What do the successful businesses have in common?

1. The experience and skills of the top managers. Over half of business failures are directly related to managerial incompetence.

2. The energy, persistence and resourcefulness (the will to make the business succeed) of the top managers. Many business owners have failed or come close several times before their "instant" success. Don't give up.

3. A product that is at least a cut above the competition and service that doesn't get in the way of people buying. There must be a compelling reason to buy; the product is great, the people love to provide service, and the buying experience is easy and fun.

Managers: Why Not PR Like This?

I mean public relations that presumes from the get-go that the right message, strategy and communications tactics can change perceptions among each of your business, non-profit or association audiences. And do so in a way that produces the behaviors you need to achieve your objectives.

It all comes together when you persuade those important outside audiences to your way of thinking by doing something about their perceptions, thus moving many of them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed.

I believe the Rosetta Stone that allows such "magic" to happen is the fundamental premise of public relations, and it looks like this: people act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

What a Leader Should Consider

One of the interesting parts of being a college professor is, that you can obtain the most interesting and holistic pictures of the examined topics, through the fairly straightforward process of horizonalization, which is placing all answers from all participants on one level and subsequently eliminating the redundant parts.

On my question: “What, in your opinion, are the most important aspects for a leader to consider?” my students recently came up with the following.

A good leader should consider:

* His or her mission and vision. The strength of a leader starts with having a clearly defined purpose in life.

* His or her conviction and the most appropriate leadership style, given this conviction.

The Problem With Management - Part 2: The Upside-Down Manager

(Read Part 1 at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aabusiness/message/6509)

Have you ever noticed how much more relaxed things are when the boss is away? Or the feeling of freedom you get when another department is attracting all the boss's attention, leaving you relatively free to get on with the job? Somewhere behind the cause of these liberations lies the heart of the problem with management.

As a manager, you have a job to get done. No matter what your rank or what size the organization, you are accountable for making sure that something happens. It might be generating sales at a certain level, keeping the customers happy, achieving target production rates, balancing the books - or all of these and more.

Can You Say No?

As a manager you are constantly being asked to do things - by your boss, by one of your fellow managers, by the head of another department, by one of your staff.

Your working life is a constant bombardment of requests coming from all quarters.

Your boss will ask you for a quick report on something or other in time for his upcoming meeting with the directors or his visit to see overseas customers. The report is, of course, very urgent.

Or you will be asked to give a presentation about some aspect of your department's work to colleagues elsewhere in the company. It will be an important communication between departments and will result in good publicity for you, your team, and its work.

Why Bosses Don't Get All the News

Not long ago, a friend who works in television complained that the industry has no interest in real business stories. And, I had to agree with him, since we don't see much coverage that doesn't involve stock prices or some sort of scandal.

But, there has been one important exception. A few years ago, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) began airing a business show that became as popular as some of its regular prime-time fare (American and Canadian television networks followed up with their own versions of the program).

Fast Company magazine told us about the BBC program, which sees CEOs leaving their corner offices for a stint on the front lines. And, as they work on the front lines, the cameras are rolling.