My first job with a public relations firm was with Earle Associates, what today would be called a boutique agency. Because it was a small political agency, with a limited staff, I was immediately given the opportunity to show what I can do. There were important lessons I learned at Earle Associates that are still relevant today.
- What’s’ taught in communication school does not prepare students for the real world of public relations, where original solutions are needed that vary according to the situation to fix problems.
- The way to catch top management’s attention is to develop solutions to problems that require out-of-the-box thinking.
- The larger the agency the less chance a person right out of communications school has to immediately be given a position of responsibility.
- What you did to help a client yesterday is secondary to what you will do to help the client today and tomorrow.
The last bullet applies directly to the situation that forced President Biden to not seek re-election.
Despite his many decades of being a Democratic Party star, and who as president passed major legislation, it did not stop repeated and growing calls from his Democratic teammates for him to not seek re-election, and that by not stepping down he’s hurting the chances of Representatives’ and Senators’ re-election.
The situation that forced President Biden to abandon his re-election plans is similar to what often occurs at PR agencies
The agency star of the past is fired because others at the agency feel that he or she is hurting the agency and will cause others to be dismissed (in this comparison, Representatives and Senators running for election or re-election).
What happened to President Biden should be remembered by PR practitioners
- You can never count on your best friends to stand by you if they feel that doing so is detrimental to their own advancement or interest.
- Loyalty in politics and at PR agencies disappears when problems arise.
The most important lesson from the Biden situation that applies to you is that you should always do what’s best for yourself, because in the final analysis when things turn sour, you’re nothing but an employee number.
