Lessons learned from clients: No one succeeds alone, great leaders drive PR and more

As PR pros, we spend a lot of time educating our clients on best practices for thought leadership, media relations, messaging and other brand communication strategies that help them connect with their key audiences. But we also learn from them along the way. Curious to know what my colleagues have gleaned from working with so many impact clients over the years, I asked them: What lessons learned from clients have stuck with you?

From their answers (and my own), shared below, I uncovered a few common themes: It pays to be nerdy and enthusiastic; walk the talk to lead the way on your vision; and education and action beat hopelessness every time.

Sandra: Positive communication, passion and collaboration feed success

One of our early clients showed me how to build better professional relationships. She had developed a training program to help healthcare workers form meaningful connections with patients and co-workers during long, hectic, stressful workdays. I was struck by the ways she suggested that people frame introductions and other information—and by how she used the same techniques to set the stage for positive interactions and create space for people to open up. I’ve adopted a number of those strategies to help colleagues and clients feel good about the work we do together, even when it’s hard.

Our cleantech clients have taught me that any topic, no matter how nerdy or weedy, can be made compelling for a broader audience if we have an expert on hand who is truly passionate about the topic and its potential impact.

From startup leaders we’ve worked with, I’ve learned that no one succeeds alone. I believed that before I started doing this work, but having an inside view of how visionaries make things happen has illustrated how essential it is to dedicate time for relationships with people who share your vision and can help you move it forward.

And from all our clients, I’ve learned a lot about all kinds of things I may never have considered otherwise. Devouring information about a whole new (to me) field and developing a body of knowledge is one of my favorite things about this work.

Sarah: PR amplifies impact for leaders who model camaraderie, transparency

I’ve seen how the power of genuine, positive leadership can make a significant difference in the growth and development of an organization. I was fortunate to hold a PR consulting role for more than a decade with a client whose CEO knew the positions and responsibilities of everyone who worked for the company and could speak plainly to them. Patient and thoughtful, she communicated frequently with her growing workforce to address their concerns and needs while building the business. If she couldn’t act on an issue, she’d say why in a relatable and believable way. She filled her team in on why decisions were made and really listened to their feedback.

Because of her careful communications, employees knew not just what their roles were but why they mattered. The workforce felt a sense of connection to her as a leader and to one another, as well as a sense of belonging within the organization. For more than a few people, she was a role model and inspiration thanks to this level of transparency and the fact that she had walked in their shoes.

Working with her leadership style, I advised on internal communications and parlayed my inside view into leadership articles that ran in trade publications and fed successful award applications. These external PR wins energized the organization, helping to create momentum. At the height of these integrated efforts, the business was more than the sum of its parts. Before this experience, I wouldn’t have thought that this kind of success was possible and hadn’t fully grasped how PR could be part of such synergy.

Christine (Me): Meaningful change is possible; apathy won’t get us there

My lessons learned from clients are more global. They’ve taught me that commitment, collaboration, education and hard work are always the best strategies for overcoming global challenges; that change isn’t achieved in a vacuum; and that there are thousands of smart and driven people working to make the world a safer, fairer place.

Coming to terms with these facts has opened my eyes to two hopeful lessons: the burden of achieving change is not and can’t be all on the shoulders of one person, and there is no room for apathy or panic-driven inhibition when it comes to changing the world. The daily choices we make to act, discuss and share solutions, and open leadership positions to those most affected by problems really do add up.

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