Many senior public relations executives consider ethics counsel to be one of their core responsibilities since ethical conduct is associated with trust and credibility. Raising ethical concerns to more senior leaders, however, can be quite intimidating. The reality is that, often, “speaking truth to power” can have serious consequences for someone’s career. For these reasons, senior public relations executives have mastered the art of using less confrontational strategies to approach their superiors. This book ranks and describes these various strategies and offers specific examples of how public relations executives have used them in practice. The insights are based on nearly 150 in-depth interviews with public relations executives—professionals working in a variety of industries, as well as original survey research. Readers learn about the process of gaining influence and the mistakes to avoid when navigating internal politics. For young professionals interested in advancing into management, this book is a must read, not only for the advice from senior professionals about issues that can be career altering, but also because that advice covers topics that few actually talk about. While this book specifically examines influence and counsel from an ethics perspective, many of the lessons are applicable to public relations counsel generally.
Keywords
allies, coalitions, corporate communication, ethical culture, ethical leadership, ethics, influence, internal politics, mentors, public relations, social capital, whistleblowers