Interesting article in the Ottawa Citizen today.
I'm blogging about this article because it is a rare example of something that is so important for folks practicing PR out there to think about.
The mayor of Ottawa has basically come out and said he did a lousy job as mayor, this right before elections are held for who will be the new (or re-elected) mayor. Now, on the surface this would seem like a pretty unwise PR strategy to take - "I did a horrible job, hire me again!"
And yet, it's actually not a bad strategy (especially if you actually did a lousy job). I say this for two reasons.
The first is that what it communicates is that O'Brien, whatever you may think of him, is not so ego-obsessed as to not be able to admit to his failings. That will resonate with voters who vote on the ever-hopeful desire of electing a straight-shooting, tell-it-like-it-is politician.
More importantly though, and this is something PR folks need to think about, is that sometimes in life you lose, and if / when you lose, there are different ways to lose.
There's the mature way - where you take ownership of the choices and decisions that were made and own your failings - or there's the immature way - where you basically recite a laundry list of reasons why your failings were not your fault but the result other people and events that were beyond your control.
There's also the rare and delusional, but entertaining, position that some take where they simply refuse to admit that any failings exist at all and that everything was a total success (think of the Bush administration for an example of this).
When faced with failure most organizations, politicians and people in general take the immature way out - it's not my fault, it was x, y or z's fault. They often lose nonetheless and the world is a little worse off for how they handled that loss, as their behavior merely helps reinforce a societal norm of immature behavior and lack of personal responsibility.
I was impressed with O'Brien's openness about his failings and think that regardless of how the election turns out he'll be able to take pride in handling himself in a mature fashion. Whether he is mayor or he moves on to do something else, I think embracing honesty and personal responsibility will serve his reputation far better than had he chosen to lay blame purely on others.
This is one of the more stressful situations a PR person can be in though.... to put forward the honest facts or to put forward a selection of carefully selected facts that seek to form an impression that is not fully in line with the reality of the situation. To stand by your messaging 100 per cent or to simply craft messages that fit the moment.
I think the latter often has short-term results at the expense of one's long-term reputation and the former often has long-term results that sometimes come at a short-term expense.
For PR folks it's important to gauge the management team you are working for and which model they have a preference for, because that preference will have significant impacts on how you structure and communicate your messages.
I'm blogging about this article because it is a rare example of something that is so important for folks practicing PR out there to think about.
The mayor of Ottawa has basically come out and said he did a lousy job as mayor, this right before elections are held for who will be the new (or re-elected) mayor. Now, on the surface this would seem like a pretty unwise PR strategy to take - "I did a horrible job, hire me again!"
And yet, it's actually not a bad strategy (especially if you actually did a lousy job). I say this for two reasons.
The first is that what it communicates is that O'Brien, whatever you may think of him, is not so ego-obsessed as to not be able to admit to his failings. That will resonate with voters who vote on the ever-hopeful desire of electing a straight-shooting, tell-it-like-it-is politician.
More importantly though, and this is something PR folks need to think about, is that sometimes in life you lose, and if / when you lose, there are different ways to lose.
There's the mature way - where you take ownership of the choices and decisions that were made and own your failings - or there's the immature way - where you basically recite a laundry list of reasons why your failings were not your fault but the result other people and events that were beyond your control.
There's also the rare and delusional, but entertaining, position that some take where they simply refuse to admit that any failings exist at all and that everything was a total success (think of the Bush administration for an example of this).
When faced with failure most organizations, politicians and people in general take the immature way out - it's not my fault, it was x, y or z's fault. They often lose nonetheless and the world is a little worse off for how they handled that loss, as their behavior merely helps reinforce a societal norm of immature behavior and lack of personal responsibility.
I was impressed with O'Brien's openness about his failings and think that regardless of how the election turns out he'll be able to take pride in handling himself in a mature fashion. Whether he is mayor or he moves on to do something else, I think embracing honesty and personal responsibility will serve his reputation far better than had he chosen to lay blame purely on others.
This is one of the more stressful situations a PR person can be in though.... to put forward the honest facts or to put forward a selection of carefully selected facts that seek to form an impression that is not fully in line with the reality of the situation. To stand by your messaging 100 per cent or to simply craft messages that fit the moment.
I think the latter often has short-term results at the expense of one's long-term reputation and the former often has long-term results that sometimes come at a short-term expense.
For PR folks it's important to gauge the management team you are working for and which model they have a preference for, because that preference will have significant impacts on how you structure and communicate your messages.
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