Becoming a “Renaissance” Man or Woman

Recently, I was involved in a discussion about what it takes to be a Public Relations professional and an academician. Although the topic seemed innocent at first, it started me on a journey of discovery.

What does it take to succeed in the field of Public Relations? Do you need to be smart? Experienced? Aware of the world around you? Able to see social, business and interpersonal issues and conflicts before others? I am sure it is all of the above. If this is true, what kind of experiences and training does it take to get there?

We tend to define “Public Relations” simply as “Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other” – which probably works as well as any. But what does it take for us as individuals or organizations to be able to “help an organization… adapt?”

Obviously, there is no substitute for experience. If you “haven’t been there,” it’s hard to see what’s going on. Understanding a culture and its challenges is critical to developing plans, strategies and effective tactics in a changing environment. For example, I remember when one media friend of mine swore that this well known athlete we knew wasn’t taking drugs , but when the athlete was exposed as a ‘user’, the backlash was quite understandable. Regardless of the illegality, the athlete wasn’t thinking ahead when she – for years – held herself out as ‘clean.’

Besides experience, education and training are critical components. I ran across an interesting site on developing a “Well Trained Mind.” Although the site is more about the education of children by parents, it has something to offer to all of us. It reminds me that we develop our minds by not just focusing on one subject until we know more and more about less and less, but try to broaden our perspective by learning a little bit about everything.

Lastly, “looking at the world honestly,” not for what we want to see but for what is really there has been a theme that has meant the most to me in Public Relations and also in life.

Whoops, I need to go back to studying!

Karen:)