Community

Managing the communications or marketing programs of government is a vast and complex undertaking – but having seen the communications business “from all sides now”, so to speak, I know these simple truths to be true:

Tell a story: people are engaged by storytelling. The more familiar the characters and the more compelling the plot, the better your chances for really getting through and affecting real change

Build relationships: people want to feel connected with each other. Challenges are meant to bring out the best in people – but that can only happen when you enable them to turn to each other for support.

Have conversations: as my mentor Yves once said to me (and, I confess, a few others since him), you have to listen first and talk second. As a PR practitioner, I’ve loved these conversations more than any other aspect of the profession. Get to know your publics and you can really deliver what they need, when they need it, in the manner they most desire – and lives can be changed.

Respect the sacred trust: once you have promised to deliver, you must never break that promise. Without integrity, all of our efforts turn into meaningless chatter, and we lose our audience. Game over.

Social media allows us to build virtual communities – where we can tell our stories to people who want to hear them. It reminds me of building a campfire on the beach, pulling out the guitars, and seeing who turns up. Miraculous things can happen. The advent of social media tools within government is finally allowing us to start building connected communities within this vast subculture we occupy 37.5 hours a week. Perhaps, if we really listen to what those folks getting ready to retire, and to those just coming into the public service, have to share with us, we can really learn how to make this machinery work better.

Christmas reclaimed!

For years now, I've called Christmas the Season of Should. I can't really remember the last time I really enjoyed the holidays, or the chaos that accompanies me to the malls and shops during these last few weeks of every year.

Don't get me wrong, I still delight in seeing just the right thing go to just the right person. But most of the persons in my life have everything they need, and most of the things they want. We've moved into the time in our lives when it's all just more crap to accommodate in an already crowded life.

This year, we said enough. I will not buy any more crap, nor do I want any more in my home. Instead, we did all of our shopping at the old Foster Parents Plan - now called Plan Canada. By spending the same amount of money we once would have dropped at Walmart - in a decidedly miserable mood and grumbling all the way - we have now sponsored a veritable menagerie of farm animals, medical supplies, books and other things which will actually make a difference in someone's life.

More important than the avoided stress is the reclaimed Season of Giving.
I'm still eating turkey, though!

It’s about The Work

Lately, I have been deep in thought along the themes of purpose and calling. I am a classic example of the John Grey model for our emotional progression through life: approaching 50, I have satisfied my baser needs, partnered up, and am moving on to try to address a deeper calling to contribute to my community and be a Force for Good. In PR, this is a double-edged sword: it is a quest with which we can certainly resonate professionally, after years of helping clients answer that call. But when we lack it in our own lives, we are painfully affected to the core of our own self-image: if I don’t have Purpose, what am I?

Like most people, I have always been most effective when I am inspired by Purpose. Whether that purpose was to bring a new audience to ballet, or to create a new town centre, I felt a deep sense of calling and commitment that is difficult to replicate. When I find myself fussing over the 14th rewrite of a briefing note, I confess that sense of purpose escapes me altogether. Being a bureaucrat had the potential to sever me from my passion permanently – were it not for the fact that public service is a vast smorgasbord of opportunities to be a Force for Good, if you just look at it the right way. The trick is reminding yourself of your greater purpose, while you’re fighting the good fight in the idiocracy.

Most recently for me, this balancing act has been focused around the notion of a promotion. I’ve spent the last five years working my way back up to the level of contribution – and access – I had when I was consulting, and at times it’s been enough to literally make me cry with frustration. Without access to the minds of my senior leadership, I’m at the mercy of those in the middle management layer who must interpret my Purpose for me. And it rarely translates well. As for my ability to provide high-quality strategic counsel, I’ve always done best when I can be a participant in management’s conversations in the C-suite.

So what happens when I don’t? There are two options: fight to change the circumstance (ie move or agitate), or focus on the work. This week, I decided to once again cleave unto my Purpose: in this case, to lead an employee engagement strategy which will give life and expression to the Service Canada Brand. It’s one of those projects which is just hard enough to define to make it truly interesting. And at the end, it is about telling a story – and storytelling is where I live and breathe as a practitioner. That is my Purpose. It is my work – and it’s the work that will always keep me going as I soldier on through this bureaucratic adventure.