Being a PR professional in today’s rapidly moving, digitally driven landscape certainly has its challenges, but also tremendous opportunities to set yourself apart from others—yet only if you are brave enough to make the jump.

1. presented by:
If you are happy with the status quo, and envision a career where you are relegated
to sending out boilerplate press releases over a newswire, then you may want to
stop reading now and go work on that press release.
However, if you want to learn, grow and build a career where you proudly take a seat
at the proverbial table (as opposed to being a “side dish” where your job is to put
First, ask yourself: Am I ready to be a PR leader? If so, then the following areas are a
leader is all of these things (and more!):
PR Outside the Box:
Traits of an
5Being a PR professional in today’s rapidly moving, digitally driven landscape certainly has its
challenges, but also tremendous opportunities to set yourself apart from others—yet only if you are
brave enough to make the jump.

2. Today’s PR professionals understand
the technology, marketing, advertising,
content and strategy functions of the
organization, including how they fit in
among them.
Why? Because as communicators, they are
responsible for connecting a tremendous amount
of dots so the right messages are being pushed out.
Aligning public relations with other aspects of the
business allows them to amplify everyone’s efforts,
not just their own.
Self-Aware:
They understand how their role fits
within the organization.

3. Practicing PR without data is like skipping sunscreen:
It’s totally feasible, but not recommended and will
soon become a thing of the past. Without data or
metrics, you are essentially practicing old-guard
PR that doesn’t position you for leadership or prove
your value.
Data enables you to make forward-looking decisions using historical
information. However, with data, you may also be inclined to run and
hide if it doesn’t make you look good. This is where you have to suck
it up and realize that if you want to learn and grow, it’s just as
important to embrace and learn from the ugly as it is to highlight
the good-looking.
Data Driven:
They use data to drive everyday
decision making.

4. If you spend your whole career silencing
your voice, what you’re really saying is
“I’m not worthy of having an opinion and/
or I’m too lazy to assert myself.”
Constructively Opinionated:
They speak up.
In essence, leaders
are those who have
conviction about
something, and their
opinions are rooted
in experience or
trustworthy sources
of information.
How can we give a voice to clients for whom we work, if we don’t have our own? If
we want to lead companies and clients in the right direction, we must speak up.
We must build trust by making sound decisions consistently, then develop our own
voices—without giving into our smaller selves and cowering in the corner.
Get really good at voicing your opinion via thought leadership opportunities,
and you could even influence public opinion!

5. Furthermore, they question those around
them (even bosses) who encourage
check-a-box behavior.
There’s nothing worse than receiving a press
release or pitch that hasn’t been given thought
in terms of proper targeting. This sends a
loud message to the recipient saying:
“I don’t value your time, and I’m too busy to
put strategic thought behind my actions.”
Thoughtful:
PR leaders plan with purpose
and think outside the box.
Leaders don’t just
do things to check
something off a list.
They critically think
about why they are
doing something
before aiming
and firing.
I have data to support that when you send a thoughtful, targeted story that gets a journalist 50% of the
way there, your shot at landing that story increases exponentially. This is a big boost, and it illustrates
how spending a little more time on your work in the beginning pays off in the long run.

6. If you’re working for someone who is demanding you do
arbitrary tasks with no foresight, then you should question
whether or not your workplace is somewhere that will allow
you to grow. This “activity-based approach” to PR is one of
the reasons the industry is criticized—it implies to others that
we’re all tactics and no strategy.
If you work in PR and consider yourself a leader, you have to
question this kind of misguided work. You can’t be afraid to
point out fault, even if the thought of doing so is scary. Think
about it this way: If the agency you work for isn’t empowering
its employees to be all of the things listed above and you
continue to work there, your reputation is on the line just
Brave:
They aren’t afraid of getting fired or
finding a new role elsewhere.
as much as the agency’s. A leader
doesn’t hand over the reigns to their
personal brand and reputation.
Speak up, take charge and find a
better fit at a company where
leadership and innovation are
encouraged. Fulfilling tasks without
a greater purpose is just-plain
boring anyways.