As a whole, PR pros tend to be much more tactical than strategic.
To be a PR strategic thinker, you always have to look at how what you’re going to do fits into the bigger picture.
There are six habits you can accumulate to be able to do just that. Paul J.H. Shoemaker breaks down these habits in his book “Six Habits of True Strategic Thinkers.”
He lists:
- Anticipate
- Think critically
- Interpret
- Decide
- Align
- Learn
Here’s how those traits manifest in a PR pro:
1. Anticipate
Recently, P&G threatened to take their PR and advertising work in-house, like major brands did in 2008-2010. It was more cost-effective in a down economy.
History predicts agency work dries up for a few years when the large brands do this, so strategic PR pros (and agency owners) should keep a careful eye on it. If it begins to happen with other brands, have a pivot plan in place to move with the trend.
To be a PR strategic thinker, watch the trends. Pay attention to the economic signals. Watch the big moves happening in the industry. Anticipate how all of this could affect your career or your business.
2. Think Critically
People in general take things at face value and don’t use their critical thinking skills to question what’s in front of them.
You see this happen online all the time. It’s why fake news exists.
When you get complacent, stop questioning or become less curious, you lose your competitive edge.
To be a PR strategic thinker, stop taking things at face value and use your brain.
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3. Interpret
In the P&G example above, it might be easy to dismiss the company’s move as one big mistake. It’s easy to think to yourself, “Next we’ll be hearing news they’ve hired three more PR agencies.”
However, if you want to be considered a PR strategic thinker, you don’t take news like that at face value. You pay attention to what other large companies are doing, particularly trend-setters such as P&G and Visa and Johnson & Johnson.
Watch what they do with PR and with their agencies. Find similarities in how they launch new campaigns, and interpret what you think that could mean for your organization or your client’s businesses.
To be a PR strategic thinker, you must watch trends, pay close attention to industry news and interpret what it could mean for you.
4. Decide
PR pros must fight analysis paralysis. If they get wrapped up in all of the data and in trying to interpret what’s there, they paralyze themselves from moving forward.
In Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In,” she describes a poster they have on the wall at work, “It’s better to be finished than to be perfect.”
To be a PR strategic thinker, you need to be decisive, fast and finished.
5. Align
It is impossible to have complete consensus (anyone who has planned a wedding knows you will never make everyone happy), but a PR strategic thinker will listen to all sides, assess the risks, bring tough issues out in conversation and figure out where the balance is.
PR pros do this nearly every day. They know how to communicate with different stakeholders and how to turn brand detractors into loyalists.
How can you “align” the team you lead?
To be a PR strategic thinker, stop being fearful and use your communication skills.
6. Learn
To be a PR strategic thinker, you have to fail so you can learn. It’s the only way to do work on the other five habits.
What habits do you have that lead to your being a strategic thinker, PR Daily readers? Share what traits you would add in the comments.
Gini Dietrich is the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, an integrated marketing communications firm. A version of this article originally appeared on the Spin Sucks blog.
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