Media & Communications Strategies Senior Account Executive Kipp Lanham was featured on Bulldog Reporter’s “Daily Dog”. The original article can be found here.
February 9, 2015
Four Agreements of Communications Wisdom in 2015 for Your Clients
By Kipp Lanham, Senior Account Executive, Media & Communications Strategies, Inc.
This is the time of year when we have renewed our goals in a new year to lose weight, eat better, go to the gym, watch our finances, and more. Newly elected politicians swear an oath to lead as an extension of their campaign promises. As communicators, we can encourage our clients to recommit to their clients and their brand to provide topnotch products and services with inspiration from The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.
In his book, Ruiz proposes four agreements for how a person can live a fulfilled, meaningful life of love and happiness:
1. Be Impeccable with Your Word: Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.
It may seem hokey and trite but this has deep resonance for communicators in guiding their clients. Problems with products or services arise without warning and observing this agreement can prevent unwanted consequences and damage to a client’s reputation. The client is served best by speaking the truth transparently and what is being done. The New England Patriots have learned this lesson recently with “Deflate-Gate” in the controversy over how hard their footballs were for playoff football game that decided which team would go on to the Super Bowl. The quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick have held press conferences explaining what they know to have happened to dispel the gossip and rumors swirling around their performance. The investigation by the National Football League is still under way, but it was in the best interest of the New England Patriots franchise, Brady, and Belichick to address the rumors head on to protect their reputation and retain the trust of the public and their fans.
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally: Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
Our clients will have good days and bad days. The news will be in their favor and then just as quickly they can be raked over the coals. The billionaire and entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson experienced this first hand but remained optimistic. His Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo space endeavor encountered an unexpected tragic crash but he did not let the unfortunate event keep him from continuing to pursue flight in space. We can cajole our clients to ignore the adversity, embrace it as a challenge, but persevere in serving their customers and industry.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions: Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
In a simpler, applicable manner this agreement can make the difference in how communicators represent their clients in branding and messaging. As we get to know our clients, ask them probing questions about their business and their goals, it is the stories that tell us that help us shape the image and voice that their customers will see and hear. We cannot hesitate to emphasize that in particular with crisis clients, is there anything that you haven’t told us that you should tell us that we don’t want the public finding out or us finding out after the fact? The case of Lance Armstrong and his wins of the Tour de France are a prime example where at first no one questioned the unbelievable victories until reports came out later that he had cheated.
4. Always Do Your Best: Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.
Clients can rest on their laurels and grow complacent from having achieved repeated success from certain services or campaigns only to have a sudden jarring reality check. It behooves us as communicators to advice such clients to accept their moment of human frailty and aspire to make a new attempt another day. Author J.K. Rowling had completed the lauded Harry Potter series and had come out with her first novel after the series The Casual Vacancy, only to receive mixed reviews. Still she continues to write under pen names and remains an international bestseller. We cannot let our clients get disheartened over what can be perceived as a significant stumbling block but is actually a pebble to remove from the shoe. As Taylor Swift so aptly sang, our clients just need to shake it off!
These four nuggets of wisdom will serve you and your clients well in the coming year and beyond. Use them to fulfill the vision you both share in doing the best you can for your market and industry. What other thoughts and suggestions do you have that you find have shaped success for your clients? Please share them with us on Twitter @MACStrategiesDC!