PR In A Jar

On the twelfth day of Christmas

 

As we happily dispense Sensei's gifts of wisdom pre-Christmas, we should point out that the twelve days of Christmas start at Christmas and end at the beginning of Epiphany (January 6th; the 12 days count from December 25th until January 5th).  We, perhaps like many others, were convinced that the carol was a count down to Christmas.  Realising our error we investigated a little further and discovered the true meaning of the lyric's of the Twelve Days of Christmas.  So, in the true spirit of Christmas, we would like to share them with you and at the same time wish you all a very merry Christmas and a wonderful new year.   The Twelve Days of Christmas   1. True Love refers to God 2. Turtle Doves refers to the Old and New Testaments 3. French Hens refers to Faith, Hope and Charity, the     Theological Virtues 4. Calling Birds refers to the Four Gospels and/or the     Four Evangelists 5. Golden Rings refers to the first Five Books of the Old     Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history     of man's fall from grace. 6. Geese A-laying refers to the six days of creation 7. Swans A-swimming refers to the seven gifts of the     Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments 8. Maids A-milking refers to the eight beatitudes 9. Ladies Dancing refers to the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit 10. Lords A-leaping refers to the ten commandments 11. Pipers Piping refers to the eleven faithful apostles 12. Drummers Drumming refers to the twelve points of       doctrine in the Apostle's Creed     On the twelfth day of Christmas my leader said to me - 'Take a real break you deserve it....' It's Christmas make sure you have a real break, reconnect with that is really important in life and come back refreshed andreinvigorated for the challenges that lie ahead.    Courtesy of Sensei

The power of Twitter

Don't ask me to explain Twitter.  I'm really bad at it.  But what I hope this example will demonstrate is the power of this medium and why everyone needs to be part of the global conversation that Twitter facilitates.

At 1:25am yesterday Mike Wilson, aka @2drinksbehind, live-Twittered that he had just been in a plane crash in Denver.  At 1:58am @breakingnewson picked up the story and issued the first news bulletin about Continental Airline's 737 that had slid off the runway and crashed in Denver.  By the time that any UK media had even been alerted to the story, I knew the first hand details of the crash via @2drinksbehind as well as the details of the 'how' and 'why' as the news spread on Twitter and the facts were verified by those that I 'follow'. 

In terms of the PR professional the learnings of this is that news travels much quicker than you think, it really is a 24 hour news cycle.  And in dealing with any crisis, it is important that you do so with transparency and integrity.  'The truth will out' has never been more apparent as illustrated by this breaking news story.  And this is a good thing, because as much as this story has any number of sources it also has the equivilant number of advocates. In dealing with this devastating event, Continental has had the opportunity to demonstrate that it is a caring and public-facing company that really puts its customers first.   I wonder if it has?

Ten, nine, eight...

On the eighth day of Christmas my leader said to me - 'Get your  talent focused you will need it next year more than ever.'  In too many organisations the reward and feedback systems are not  aligned with strategy and are not encouraging and discouraging the  appropriate behaviours. The best people are busy shopping their CV's,  the mediocre are getting the plum jobs by corporate 'gamesmanship' and  then practicing the corporate equivalent of inbreeding, by hiring even  more inept acolytes.  On the ninth day of Christmas my leader said to me ‐ 'Planning isn't strategy no matter what the bureaucrats say.'  Strategy and planning are often mistaken for each other. The strategic 'plan' is 80/20 weighted towards planning and has all the strategic  insight and visionary inspiration of a pre‐budget statement.  On the tenth day of Christmas my leader said to me - 'Your  job is to produce leaders...not just more followers.'  Career development and succession planning are rarely wedded,  in some organisations they are not even in a relationship! As goes  a leadership pipe-line, to a large extent, so goes the company. Are your leaders developing, seeding, mentoring and proactively preparing  other leaders? Use this as a measure to forecast sustainability in growth  and results and the real health of the organisation becomes clear.    Courtesy of Sensei

On the sixth day of Christmas I was in meetings all day

Which is weird when you consider that on the sixth day of Christmas...   ..my leader said to me - 'Stop dissipating precious time and energy.'  There are too many meetings that take too long and are  overwhelmingly focused on sharing information, the worst possible  reason to have a meeting. The organisation's talent and energy  are squandered internally instead of applied externally. Burn out  happens as in these meetings the same issues are brought up in  different verbal camouflage, without being decisively  tackled and confronted.    On the seventh day of Christmas my leader said to me - 'Listen carefully...your business  health depends on it.'    The customer's perceptions of the organisation's products, services,  and relationships are different from the organisation's perception.  Rather than becoming an avid and zealous student of this mismatch,  (which mined properly could be a great impetus for continuous OR  discontinuous improvement), we deny a difference exists and shoot  messengers who bring these insights to the fore.    Courtesy of Sensei

On the fifth day of Christmas...

...my leader said to me - 'Department alert: who is stopping you  doing a great job?'  All staff functions exist to serve internal customers who in turn provide value to real customers  and stakeholders. All too often we blame 'them' for not letting us do a great job, but who is  'them'? 'Them' is all of us and in truth there is sometimes too much staff interference instead  of genuine support; frequent offenders include HR; Finance; IT; and Legal.    Courtesy of Sensei

Social media predictions for 2009 by Alison Dwyer

Todd Defren has just posted what he and other great minds predict for social media in 2009.  You need to read.

Which tool rules? by Alison Dwyer

Without sounding very geeky it would seem Smith & Smith have split ranks over two great tools.  A major battle is being waged about which handy tool rules supreme in PR.  Zamzar's file converter or the Snipping tool...

Which one do you think a PR can't live without?

The gift of giving continues...

Christmas shopping was on the agenda this weekend.  Having gone into battle early on Saturday there was no time to post a blog, so today offers you a trinity of gifts.   On the second day of Christmas my leader said to me - 'Beware of  teams ‐ spontaneous combustion rarely works.'  Team building is often mindlessly sought. We need to identify where  focused individual efforts are just fine, as distinct from areas where  disciplined groups directed by a leader are ideal. We also need to  preserve our 'adaptive' energy for where real teams are actually  needed to add the multiplier benefit of real collaboration. For the  latter, 'structure' won't do it; genuine authentic relationships have  to be built.  On the third day of Christmas my leader said to me - 'Get out of the  bunkers - you have a limited view in there.'  Silos headed by powerful people defending turf effects the value  chain and some fiefdoms are more entrenched as pressure to  perform builds. Be careful, your functionally biased measures will  not help you here; they almost institutionalise unhelpful friction  and conflict.  On the fourth day of Christmas my leader said to me - 'Beware  'Solutions' looking for 'Problems'.'  "Problem solving" is often prized over innovation. "Black belt nine delta" nonsense can take over people's minds  like a bad science fiction movie from the 50s. Statistical fidgeting  to the 'nth degree' becomes a new bureaucracy and Six Sigma  chain gangs (or the new fad‐du‐jour equivalent) are on patrol to  put violators into organisational gulags.    Courtesy of Sensei

On the first day of Christmas...by Alison Dwyer

According to Sensei business consultants (not a client) the 12 days of Christmas could offer gifts of a different kind.  Insight into effective leadership.  We will share these insights with you each day as we count down to Christmas.  We hope you will find them useful in embracing 2009 with energy and resolve.

On the first day of Christmas my leader said to me: "You are being watched and your behaviour counts."

Leadership is not about 'talk, talk' it is all about 'walk, walk'. Leaders have to serve as avatars of the behaviour they are seeking in others. 'Do as I say not as I do' is all too abundantly practiced and has to be stopped.  - Courtesy of Sensei

Branson says PR rocks!

Click here forBranson's nugget of wisdom about us PR good eggs.