Leadership, Straight Talk, Bold Action Keys to Rebuilding Public Trust, Confidence in Business, Government, Media

Role of PR Firms Growing, Along with Expectations, Demands

New York, NY – (October 30, 2009) – “We’re entering a ‘new normal’ era of profound change that requires both top-down and down-up leadership,” said keynote guest David Gergen during the annual Critical Issues Forum sponsored by the Council of Public Relations Firms (Council) at the Yale Club yesterday.  “The American psyche has suffered serious bruises over the past ten years – from the technology bubble and 9/11- to the housing bubble, financial meltdown and a long series of corporate scandals … but this is not entirely unhealthy, or new,” said Gergen, who is professor of public service and Director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University, editor-at-large for U.S. News & World report, and Senior Political Analyst for CNN. 

During a keynote discussion with Len Schlesinger, President of Babson College, Gergen affirmed his faith that Americans will rise to the new challenges, citing the enormous social changes he has witnessed in his native South, as well as the country’s response to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s leadership during WW II.  Paraphrasing author Max DuPree, Gergen said that the most important thing a leader can do is to help people understand new or existing realities, “and the second important thing is for them to say ‘thank you.’”  Citing another author, Bill George, Gergen maintained that the recent financial bubble “was not caused by subprime mortgages, but subprime leadership.”   

Speaking to more than 200 public relations leaders who gathered at the annual Forum, Gergen noted that public perceptions of both business and the media are at all-time lows.   “Government and business leaders need to build a sense of partnership to fix this.  We don’t need super star business leaders today.  What we need are leaders who see beyond the bottom line and communicate frequently and, more importantly, candidly.”  

Asked for an example of down-up leadership, Gergen noted the grass-roots movement among Harvard MBA students to take a voluntary oath pledging to weigh the bottom line against the greater social good, an idea that has spread to other business schools.  He also exhorted the media to overcome the negative influence of “the blogosphere” and partisan “food fights” to cover critical issues such as healthcare, the environment and energy independence more seriously and in greater depth. 
 
This year’s Forum opened with a “Socratic Debate” led by Schlesinger titled, “Aftershock: Rebuilding Trust & Confidence in 2010.”  The debate featured a panel of PR/marketing experts and a member of the media: Susie Gharib, anchor and senior strategic advisor for PBS’s Nightly Business report; Beth Comstock, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for General Electric; Steve Harris, who just retired as vice president, Global Communications, for General Motors; Margery Kraus, president and CEO for APCO Worldwide and the 2010 chair of the Council of Public Relations Firms; and James Wiggins, executive director, Corporate Communications, for Morgan Stanley. 

After asking the panelists to advise each other on rebuilding trust and confidence for their organizations and stakeholders, Schlesinger identified consensus on several points:

• A need for bold, leadership based on values, authenticity, and straight talk.
• A need to re-engage with stakeholders at the virtual, physical and mental levels.
• A need to link words with actions, because “spin doesn’t work anymore.” 
• A need to repair the disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street values.

Asked whether the economic crisis had increased the power of public relations within corporations, Harris said, “Yes, but expectations are higher, too.”  Comstock said that PR’s growing stature could be measured by bigger budgets, while Kraus noted that more clients have given “PR a seat at the table, which is a good opportunity to help management bridge the gap between reality and perception.”

“One thing I think everyone agreed on by the end of this year’s Critical Issues Forum is the enormous opportunity for PR to take a strong hand in helping organizations rebuild public trust using plain language backed by substantive action,” said Council President Kathy Cripps.  “PR firms will never have a better chance to practice what David Gergen called down-up leadership in helping clients make intelligent, meaningful decisions.”

Back to News Archive