3 Scary-Easy Tips to Present Yourself as a Serious Leader

Halloween is right around the corner and while developing the theme for my next Connect2 blog post I thought, “what is the scariest thing that could happen to me professionally?” Losing my job is of course at the top of my list, but a close second is not being taken seriously. The thought of it makes my skin crawl! I know I work hard and put a lot of thought into (most) everything I do, so how could someone not see that I am a valuable resource to my team? Chills my bones.

In reality, I can probably count on one hand the number of times someone has made me feel underappreciated or insignificant to a team. I am lucky to work for a firm that always finds value in its employees. We also promote professional development with consistent constructive feedback to ensure our team members present themselves as confident PR leaders.

I’d like to share with you some of the constructive tips I was given in my career, as well as the most common feedback I give to young professionals. Following these tips will help ensure you present yourself as a mature team player from day one at your new job. Not following these tips could lead to some seriously scary consequences.

1. Unless zombies are chasing you, don’t use an exclamation point in that e-mail.  This form of punctuation was created to express excitement, surprise, astonishment or any other strong emotion. Are you strongly emotional about the fact that you attached an excel sheet to your e-mail? Are you surprised that you figured out how to attach it? If so, then feel free to type, “The excel sheet is attached!!!” But also realize we may have to talk about your qualifications for this job if you didn’t know how to do that yet.

I find that many college or grade school students (myself included) make this punctuation mistake because exclamation points are informally used to emphasize happiness, kindness, good moods, etc. In a professional environment, though, it emphasizes inexperience.

2    2. You might have to find your way out of the Haunted House alone. Many young professionals expect to learn a lot in their first few years starting a career. What many don’t expect is that they will often have to act as their own teacher.

Your superiors at work aren’t there to show you how to load the printer correctly or fix a faulty Outlook calendar. If something isn't going quite like you expected, not go to the CEO hoping she will tell you what to do next. Instead, problem solve. I bet some simple Googling would suggest what might be wrong and get you on your way to a solution. This may sound harsh, but I honestly don’t care that your Outlook calendar isn’t working. I just need you to send out that meeting invite.

The point is that there are many resources at your disposal to help you be self-sufficient. We want to see you use those tools and demonstrate you can think for yourself and think on your feet. Your superiors aren’t there to be your mama, your babysitter or your teacher. They are there to guide the best teams to deliver the best results for customers.When you gain independence, you'll also gain respect.

3    3. Blame the Werewolf, not the Moon. Learning to become accountable for your actions is one of the most crucial steps in demonstrating maturity and leadership. This is a lesson that many people struggle with because it is natural for humans to deflect blame. However, having an excuse every time you underperform is childish and not a behavior you want to practice at work.

If you’re at fault, own your mistake and point it out! (Yes, I got excited there so an exclamation mark is appropriate.) I have much more respect for team members that can point out what went wrong and how to avoid it in the future. That second element is key: when something goes wrong, demonstrate you understand the mistake, why it is an issue and what changes you can make moving forward.

As you move into a role where you are managing others, the ability to own your mistakes is critical in leading your teams. You will be responsible for their work, so you will be held accountable when something goes wrong. I doubt blaming Intern Jane for missing the team’s presentation deadline will go over well the next time you need Jane’s help on a project.

While leadership isn’t a scary concept, getting there can sometimes be intimidating. Luckily, there are many professionals out there willing to offer their insight on how to best navigate the road to success -- I know some good resources right here on the Connect2 blog (wink wink)!

R.I.F. to Success in Media Relations – Part Deux

My blog post earlier this week addressed the importance of reading to be successful in media relations. I talked about how Vocus and Cision only get you so far in your goal to secure coverage. Today’s post will be an ode to Research.

You may be wondering what does research have to do with Vocus and Cision?

Well, consider this – Vocus and Cision sell its database products based on the idea that PR agencies will enjoy unbridled access to complete research on all of the various reporters and editors covering any number of topics. Personally, I don’t know how Vocus and Cision can keep up with the myriad staff changes in multiple industries. But they try.

Here’s a scenario: You are meeting with a new client and reviewing a media list hot off the press – fresh from your Vocus database. Your client, the SVP of Public Relations for a global enterprise software company points out that your list contains the New York Times reporter covering Google. You acknowledge the mistake and think to yourself that the account coordinator just didn’t know how to put in the correct terms to get the correct information. After the meeting you check Vocus for yourself and can’t find Vindu Goel in the database!

For the record, Vindu Goel is in the Vocus database with an expansive pitching profile, this is just a hypothetical example to make a point.

If you have experienced this frustration, you know that Vocus and Cision will only get you so far. You have to train your teams to do research.

Frank Strong, director of public relations for Vocus, agrees. “You have to understand who covers your area. Technology only gets you to a point.”

Heidi Sullivan, director of media research for Cision said, “We give you the starting point… great PR people do research.”

I think that unless you’ve worked in a PR firm and understand how the business is run and the unique needs of various clients, you can’t possibly create a product that is the “be all, end all” to help me everyday. I’m not bashing all databases. Different agencies or in-house teams have found a great use for them. In a previous life, I was a fan of Bacon’s MediaSource. Although, I have to admit that I was on the phone with the research team at least weekly to correct errors in the database.

There is a new kid on the block in ITDatabase. Former tech PR industry veteran, Travis Van, founded this service that is only focused on the technology sector. Just hearing that makes a lot of sense. If you are focused on tech PR, why buy a database from a company that tries to be everything to everyone? Because ITDatabase focuses only on the tech sector, you can place a stronger reliance on the quality of its research. Connect2 Communications does not use ITDatabase, but several of my colleagues and I have evaluated it extensively. It contains a lot of the same research that we already have in our lists so I trust it.

Our clients appreciate the time we take to read everyday and our research matches up with all of the industry changes. Because of this, we have been able to build media relationships which are critical to our success.

By taking the time to read and do some research in equal measure, you too will be successful in media relations.