PRovoke Media 04 Nov 2022 // 10:00AM GMT
After more than two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, it can be hard to quantify the ways in which we have changed. Our pandemic coverage helps us understand the industry impact, and it seems unlikely that any of our content has been untouched by the unique circumstances that have taken root since the start of 2020.
But so much of that change has occurred at a human level, where many of the lessons emerge from the various conversations and anecdotes that underpin our stories and events. To better showcase these learnings, and provide a measure of insight into how the global PR industry is responding to such a transformative era, this series asks people what they have learned, according to three specific areas.
In the latest installment in our series, we hear from Racepoint Global President Bob Osmond.
Three things I've learned...
Career
What the pandemic taught many companies was that work doesn’t only happen in front of a screen or at a desk, or in an office setting. Inspiration comes from everywhere. I learned recently that the word career derives from the Latin carrus, meaning chariot. In that case, our professional lives, by definition, are all about movement. Working as a communicator and an agency leader requires me to move about and make connections between and among things happening all around me. Navigating constant change requires that I challenge my own perspectives, through media, the arts, culture, my family, and my colleagues.
PR
The pandemic proved how essential talent is to any enterprise (why this wasn’t obvious before is still a mystery to me, but here we are). Employees are the best brand advocates and they are an underutilized asset in communications. I favor the term employee communications over internal communications. The idea that we can keep things internal and hyperconnected at the same time feels almost impossible to achieve. Don’t we want engaged employees to both improve the stories we tell and spread them far beyond our company walls? That’s what we want our clients to do, right? Storytelling moves people—and markets.
Personal
Shifting deeper into the second half of my life, I’m getting better at knowing what I don’t know. I get into more trouble when I try to wrestle certainty from the unknown and when I pretend that entropy isn’t a thing. I’m slowly figuring out that, sometimes, it’s better when I sit still and let things sort themselves out rather than try to force a solution. Related to this, I’m learning that I can feel contrary things at the same time. For example, immense grief about the state of things and the losses we’ve all experienced in varying degrees over the past few years and joy and gratitude for the life I am lucky to live. Finally, I believe that empathy (I get you), and compassion (let me help you), are as essential in business as they are in life.
If you'd like to share your three lessons, please let us know.