Communications as Ikor

오늘은 PR인의 자세에 대한 글을 하나올립니다.
저는 PR인은 “성직자”라고 믿습니다. 또한 한국적의미로는 “선비”라고 믿습니다.

옛날 성경에 보면 많은 성직자 (예언자들이라고 하지요)들은 왕이 부패하고 부도덕했을 때 왕앞에 죽을각오를 하고 나아가서 제대로된 행실을 요구하곤 했답니다. (성경에서는 이것이 하나님의 말씀이라고 하지요..) 물론 그 말로 인해 죽은경우도 있겠지요.

오래전 우리나라의 경우에도 나라가 부패하고 임금이 부정할때는 많은 유생(선비)들이 한양으로 올라와 궁앞에서 글을 올리고 엎드려 임금의 자성을 촉구한적도 있답니다. 물론 잡혀가서 죽을 각오들을 하고 말입니다.

기업내에서 우리 PR인들은 이런 성직자와 선비의 역활을 해야 한다고 믿습니다.

그루닉 교수님의 주장처럼 우리 PR인이 “Dominant Coalition”에 들기만 하면 뭐하겠습니까. 무조건 CEO옆에서 Yes맨의 역활만을 한다면 무슨 가치를 인정받겠습니까. 기업을 위해서, 사회를 위해서 그리고 우리의 공중을 위해서 제대로 생각하고 실천을 건의하는 진정한 “전략가”가 먼저 되어야 하겠습니다.

이 자세가 선행되어야 우리는 진정한 Dominant Coalition속에 편입될수 있으리라 믿습니다. 경영자층의 PR에 대한 가치를 알아야 한다고 주장하는 것 보다 그들이 우리의 가치를 알아 챌수 있는 행동을 스스로 꾸준히 해야 합니다. 그러면 당연히 그루닉 교수님의 주장이 먹혀들겠지요.

아래의 글은 PR Attitude라는 제목으로 우리 PR인들이 가져야 할 자세를 재미있게 정리한 글입니다.

참고로 O’Dwyer’s의 사이트에 가보니 PR Pop Quiz가 있더군요.
한참 문제들을 풀고 나서 채점을 메기고 자신의 수준을 점검 하는 란을 보고 한참 웃었습니다.

이렇게 등급이 매겨져 있더군요…(총 10문제)

How do you rate?

10 right: PR Guru

9 – 7: PR Master

6 – 4: PR Journeyman

3 – 1: PR Novice

0: Attorney

당신이 0점이라면 이건 분명히 변호사일꺼라는 얘기인데..유머치고는 상당히 의미가 있는 것같더군요…

아래의 글에도 이와 비슷한 구절이 있어서 한번 올려봤습니다.
참고하시기 바랍니다.

홍보!
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PR ‘ATTITUDE’

The sex discrimination suit against your company has attracted front-page headlines.

Six middle-level executive women have sued the firm for $10 million on the grounds that they make less than male counterparts who perform the same work. The company and the CEO are embarrassed and would love to settle out of court.

And so, after six months of contentious depositions, a $3 million settlement is reached. As part of the agreement, your company’s attorneys prohibit the plaintiffs from “communicating the results of this settlement to any outside individual.” In other words, no publicity.

But what, if anything, do you say inside the company?

· Legal says: “Say nothing, as per our agreement with the other side.”

· Human Resources says: “Say nothing, or other women will sue us, too.”

And your advice as PR advisor?

· PR says: “Communicate not only ‘what’ we did but ‘why’ we did it, in order to preempt the internal grapevine.”

The practice of PR, if it is to be implemented effectively, is no place for the weak of heart. A good PR person must be willing to stick his or her neck out, go against the grain, take risks.

Stated another way, an effective PR person is somebody with an “attitude.”

You hear it all the time. “He’s got an attitude” or “She’s got an attitude.”

Often such a reference is not a particularly endearing one.

But in PR, a practitioner must have an “attitude” if he or she wishes to become an accepted member of the management team.

What kind of “attitude” does effective PR require?
More often than not, the best PR attitude is one that leads with “sharp elbows.”

That is, PR professionals must be willing to “stand up” for what they “stand for.” They must be willing to speak up for the values they represent.

And what are those values?

· First, be pro disclosure.

Apropos the sex discrimination case example, PR professionals must always be biased toward communicating, toward getting the word out. They must look at every situation in terms of what should properly be disclosed to the public.

This pro-disclosure attitude often conflicts with the non- disclosure attitude of an attorney. Lawyers, by nature, look at a situation in terms of saying the barest minimum permissible by law. “The less said, the better” is the precept to which they subscribe.

A PR professional, by contrast, must think in terms of keeping pertinent publics informed; voluntarily disclosing information, rather than having it leak out. Is there any question if the firm above followed its lawyers’ advice and said nothing, that the settlement eventually would leak? Of course not.

The PR “attitude” must always lean toward using disclosure to help “control” a situation.

· Second, be an advocate.

Having a pro-disclosure bias doesn’t mean revealing information that would hurt the organization. Indeed, in every situation, confidential or proprietary information should never be disclosed.

Stated another way, the PR professional must always be an advocate for his organization. Of this, there should be no confusion.

Your loyalty as a professional PR person is to the one who signs your paycheck. Period. This is particularly important in as visible a role as PR. PR practitioners must “believe in” their employers.

If they don’t – if they doubt the veracity of the people for whom they work or the goodness of the institution for which they work – then they really can’t adequately perform their critical public function of speaking in behalf of the organization.

When Presidential Press Secretary Gerald terHorst, for example, disagreed with President Gerald Ford’s decision to pardon predecessor Richard Nixon for the sins of Watergate, terHorst resigned his position. He could no longer be an “advocate” for his boss. So he quit.

· Third, be a counselor.

Also essential to a winning PR “attitude” is always to seek to advise your management and clients.

You are – or should be – an expert in communications.

You are the expert in the organization who knows the media and how to write, who understands how legislation gets passed and how employees are motivated. This is the expertise that management doesn’t have and needs desperately. And you must be willing and eager to counsel them.

Since most managements are “fuzzy” about what kind of specific “expertise” PR professionals possess, you must volunteer your counsel without being asked. When management starts listening to your advice, you and your function begin to get the recognition both deserve.

· Fourth, be ethical.

What kind of counsel should a PR professional proffer?
Ethical counsel.

The first question any PR person must ask management is, “Are we doing the right thing?” That’s a question that lawyers will rarely ask.

The primary role of a PR advisor is to preserve and defend and enhance the credibility and reputation of the institution. Thus, the advice that PR people must give management begins and ends with acting properly.

Dan Rather once said, “There is a big difference between doing well and doing right.”

A public relation advisor must always counsel to do right.

· Fifth, finally, be positive.

Proper PR advice is occasionally bitter medicine for a timid management to swallow.

It would be a lot easier, for instance, to follow the lawyers and “say nothing” about the sex discrimination settlement than it would be to follow PR counsel and “get the bad news out.”

There is not a CEO alive who welcomes a negative headline. So proper PR advice is often difficult to deliver and more difficult to follow.

That’s why PR advisors don’t win every battle. Nor should they expect to. But they must remain “positive,” even in the face of management rejection, and must keep going toe-to-toe with the others who advise the CEO.

In the 21st century, a savvy CEO will always consider the PR consequences, as well as the legal ones. A PR professional, with the right “attitude,” can ensure that the CEO gets the kind of sensitive, sound and straightforward PR advice that he or she requires.

출처 (http://1pr.com)