Authentic Leaders in the Public Relations Workforce

An authentic leader lies within everyone, it just needs to be discovered within the mind first. To be a successful leader in the public relations (PR) workforce, it is necessary to remain true to your genuine beliefs and ideas that you feel passionate about. But this all starts with one question, who are you?

Authentic Leadership is a form of leadership that focuses on and emphasizes the importance of creating and implementing an individual’s own personal values or morals into the workplace and their role as a leader. These sets of values will then be used to guide the decisions and actions they make as a leader in the future. Becoming an authentic leader in the PR workplace does not happen overnight, but it can happen if you are strongly committed to learning and understanding your personal views. This journey entails much exploration of the internal domain where your true voice resides. For this blog post, I will highlight the ways in which you can become an authentic, transformational and extraordinary leader in public relations. In order to become an exemplary leader, you must fully understand what it is that you value and it all starts with exploring the deeply held personal values, morals, beliefs, standards, ethics and ideals that may drive you to be a leader.

Leading others often begins with leading yourself. To lead yourself in the direction of successful leadership, you must first question your personal ideals and ask yourself difficult questions such as what makes you, you. You then must truly express your authentic self to your employees, genuinely communicating your personal beliefs in ways that uniquely represent not only who you are as an individual, but exemplify how you lead others. Once you have deeply thought about yourself, clarify and choose the principles and values that you will use to guide your future decisions and actions as a leader. It is impossible to successfully lead a group of people without having a purpose to do it. 

As mentioned in Kouzes and Posner’s The Student Leadership Challenge, “When leaders do not understand their own personal leadership philosophy, their communication and actions can be confusing. Furthermore, if their leadership philosophy is not clear, that person's team will not know what values and beliefs should guide their actions when encountering daily challenges” (Kouzes and Posner, 2018). This internal conflict and confusion will only lead to low levels of team commitment, as people are not able to either identify with or support their leader's values. Shared trust and beliefs are two of the most important aspects within a public relations organization. It is necessary in the field of PR that a set of shared beliefs is created and used to guide their decisions and the work they do. Without it, misinformation and miscommunication will be the main components transpiring in the workplace. It is important to remember that as a leader, you are not just speaking for yourself, but you are also speaking for the people you lead.

In addition to personal values, there must be some sort of agreement on the values that will guide your employees throughout their time at the company. Shared values not only give individuals a reason to care about what they are accomplishing, but they also give a purpose as to why they are accomplishing it. Shared values can make a significant difference in workplace attitudes and overall performance. While finding shared values is a long and treacherous process, it is worth it in the end. With much debate, dialogue, understanding and commitment, a set of shared values can be discovered. 

An example of how a company successfully implements authentic shared values and beliefs is Erika Long’s experience at Procter & Gamble. Long, who is now the senior human resources (HR) manager at Procter & Gamble, started with the company as an intern and was immediately impressed with how leaders demonstrated their values and the core principles of the company in the decisions they made. She says: 

“Leaders at P&G are constantly affirming these values. Anytime they are faced with a difficult decision, they will look to the PVP [the company's Purpose, Values, and Principles] to guide their actions. I met with the director of sales for the Hong Kong and Taiwan regions. I asked him, how he makes sure he is always making the right business decisions. He said, simply, “I look to the PVP. It guides the way I do business. If I am put in a position that is in conflict with those guidelines, I simply don't do it.” 

Erika says, “People who work at P&G are proud to say so, and everyone feels they are part of something special. Their core values align with those of the organization” (Kouzes and Posner, 2018). This portrays how a set of shared values not only increases overall organizational productivity but also lays out a guide for employees to look back on throughout their entire experience.  

According to Kouzes and Posner’s Model the Way leadership technique, it begins with clarifying values by finding your voice and affirming shared values. This means you must: 

1. Identify the values you use to guide choices and decisions.

2. Find your own authentic way of talking about what is important to you. 

3. Help others to articulate why they do what they do, and what they care about. 

4. Provide opportunities for people to talk about their values with others on the team. 

5. Build consensus around values, principles, and standards. 

6. Make sure that people are adhering to agreed-upon values and standards.

An authentic public relations leader creates a vision for the future, service for others, conviction of values, genuine relationships, and a foundation of self-awareness.

References:

Kouzes, J.M. and Posner, B.Z. (2018). The student leadership challenge: Five practices for becoming an exemplary leader. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Exploring Leadership: Yvon Chouinard

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9gY56F33mc