Yesterday, Richard Laermer, CEO of PR agency RLM, wrote up a pointed and critical piece (Who Gives a Hit) about how we, as communicators, may not be the best examples of sharing the wealth when a big hit on someplace like CNN comes in. As humbling as this may be, the one big image that came to mind as I read Richard’s post was one of the final scenes in the film Wag the Dog.
Dustin Hoffman’s character, Stanley, was faced with the idea of receiving payment for his services in the form of things like being granted an ambassadorship, money, etc. Stanley was insulted, exclaiming, “Money! You think I did this for money?! I want credit!”
Granted, Stanley was dealing with a different kind of campaign than most of us are used to; however, it was still the image that came to mind when Richard called the industry out (himself included) on the idea that someone has ‘dibs’ on this high profile contact or that media outlet. One of the biggest issues with the communications industry (or any other industry for that matter) is that it is filled will human beings that can easily foul up a great idea, like sharing credit for a home run. This whole concept is easier said than done because EGO is involved. Like Stanley, we all want credit, praise and validation.
However, striving for true collaboration and equal credit in communications is something worth fighting for. We just need to check our egos at the door.
Nothing big, right?
It would be sooo worth it. Checking your ego at the door would support:
- collaboration – when you’re humble, you’re open to hearing out everyone’s ideas – regardless of what their ‘title’ may be.
- teamwork – the best work gets accomplished when you have people in a variety of teams and practices helping each other out…all moving towards one common goal.
- the need for a sense of humor – you don’t take yourself too seriously and realize that you are NOT finding the cure for world famine. Yes, you are doing something important; but you’re keeping it all in perspective.
And more than that, you’re actually a person that people WANT to work with.
Method + Moxie 
You know, this social media thing makes it even easier to let our ego’s get a little out of control. Sometimes it seems like we treat our number of followers like ego food (for example) maybe the number of subscribers to our blogs in the same way. It’s eyes ono US!!!
Yet, at the same time, these tools have a remarkable way of humanizing the famous and making them more real – and thereby humbling the rest of us.
People are people and I love it when I am reminded of that.
Now, more than ever, you ego will kill you
PR agencies need credit to justify existence- and retainers. The best relationships are when the client and agency are comfortable enough with each other to know where the value lies, without the agency feeling they need to be on the defensive if a journalist calls the client directly.
Do we need to take credit? Survival depends on it in many ways. However, trust means not having to bend over backwards and making it look like you are taking credit for elements of the program you actually didn;t control (ah, but you may have laid the foundation for that call… see, now I’m doing it).
Great message. Egos just get in the way of getting stuff done. Rock on.
Aaron | @aaronstrout
After reading this and the referred article (Who gives a hit), it reminds me of what I often tell clients: The better you can WORK with people who are your competitors, the stronger you all are! We all are special in some way, so allowing others to claim their glory AND get credit for it makes THEM stronger and more secure and willing to work WITH us, not against us.
Margie
Nice post, Narciso. In my experience, PR people get (or take) too much credit for that great hit, and receive way too much blame when the big hits don’t occur, e.g. smallish company who gets upset because BusinessWeek is not interested in them.
It’s really mostly about the quality of the story. I would rather have a really strong story pitched by weak PR folks than a weak story pitched by strong PR pros. Strong story and strong PR representation works too!
Awesome Post! – please stand on the highest building and shout this from the rooftops! The best campaigns tend to be those where collaboration took precedence over Ego.
This is such a great post! Too many times we are focused selfishly on our own personal credibility and the win. Whether it’s PR or professional sports, it takes a group of talented and skilled people to create a winning team. There’s something about being in the spotlight that we all may crave individually, but it would be so much better to look at the big picture, which is the collaboration and the teamwork that you mention. If we all keep our eye on the ball and the strategy, the prize can be equally shared and enjoyed.
The strength of the idea – not the personality – should always be first and foremost in communicators’ minds.
Ego has a way of tripping the pros up, too, when it comes to dealing with audiences.
I was reminded of this recently when my 6-year-old daughter made two excellent points while watching Oprah’s “Twitter” episode.
“Is Twitter that thing that looks more fun than it really is?” she asked, reffering to Twitterrific’s little bluebird icon.
“Are they (Oprah, Gayle, Ashton, Twitter guy, etc.) talking to us or each other?”