Ethics in PR leadership - is there such a thing? Yes.

Lori Stem

loristemou@gmail.com (ls603219@ohio.edu)

I worked for a few years at a media company...a company that published trade magazines, among other things, in the horticulture and agriculture space. Long hours and hard deadlines. That was life.

I supported two publishers and three directors for five brands, worked alongside the sales staff, teamed up with the media department, and helped our journalists and events colleagues as I could. Top this off with an hour commute each way to the office and back, longer during snowstorms. Oh, did I mention it was also while being a main caregiver for my grandma with dementia and a part-time student? 

I learned plenty, and made some great friends along the way, but am happy to be in a fully remote role with no overtime! No overtime. What a difference that can make. 

Skeleton crews are exhausting

Credit: Photo by Artur Tumasian on Unsplash

Our company owner had the mindset that employees work harder the busier they are, so to say we were short-staffed was an understatement. We were like a family, a dysfunctional one at best, but tight-knit either way.

Leadership can transform a business - sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Many people are leaving that company now, me being one of them recently. Many employees spent their whole 30-plus year careers there. But it's changed. This BBC article talks about some social aspects of high turnover.

Burnout did NOT affect high ethical standards in this case (miraculously)

We worked our butts off to meet hard deadlines for lower than industry standard pay. Top leadership, including the owner (mostly the owner), sent out confusing and controlling communications, complete with plenty of mind games. But our journalists and sales staff practiced their art with the utmost ethical standards and sound judgment. Not all companies are this lucky.

We were proud of our standards and were considered industry front runners for decades in the hort and ag space. Unfortunately, one can only deal with such high stress for so long before realizing it's just not healthy or sustainable.

Work environments are key, and so are the leaders

I was the middleman between PR professionals and our journalists as well. I filtered through email after email, learning which ones to forward to our journalists. I never wondered what the PR firm's work environments were like since mine felt all-consuming.

So what makes a solid work culture? What expectations are in the PR world of their leadership? What even makes a successful leader?

There are some things that come to mind:

• One that promotes ethical standards.
• One that practices what they preach.
• One that creates and maintains a culture of professionalism built on trust.
• One that does not cut corners and leads with a vision.
• One that includes diversity in employees and ideas.
• One that fosters honesty and transparency, and leads with integrity and empathy.
• One that includes company standards and policies front and center, in the office, and to the public.
• One that actively listens and welcomes positive change.
• One that does not lead with fear, but with service. 

Interested in learning more?

Credit: Freepik.com

Here is a study on the topic of leadership skills in the PR industry. Meng and Heymen lead the Conclusions and Implications section of their research with, "this study was motivated by a desire to understand how leadership has been defined in the field of public relations and the key dimensions an effective public relations leader should possess." It's worth a read when the time allows.

If you learn better by watching or listening, take a quick five minutes to enjoy this video...

Credit: YouTube

Thanks for reading! What are some leadership failures and successes you've encountered?