A Lesson in Transparency

I am guessing I was around 7 or 8 years of age at the time. It was a summer day and I had nothing to do and no one to do it with. As a die-hard little leaguer, I finally came up with the idea of practicing my pitching skills by throwing a rubber ball against the side of a wall that ran parallel to our neighbor's house. I remember being impressed with how fast I could throw the ball. Unfortunately, it would have been better if I had focused more on my accuracy. In one of my pitches I missed the wall and threw the ball through one of my neighbor's basement windows. The sound of the shattering glass was like an explosion. I stood motionless not knowing what do; yet was fully aware that I was going to get in trouble due to my carelessness and inaccuracy. Finally, I bolted from the scene and ran to the opposite side of our house to hide. This was not my shining hour.

Perhaps if I had had an ethical public relations professional to guide me, then I would have not fled the scene. As outlined in the Public Relations Society of America's code of ethics, one of the benefits of having an ethically-driven professional communicator on board is to help keep a spotlight on the organization or entity for whom they work and on the executives to whom they report. Yes, the communicator is on the pay roll of the organization, but at the same time a key part of this professional's job is to maintain open lines of communication between that entity and the internal and external publics to which it strives to connect. Transparency is the key. Does this mean the public relations professional should publicize every misstep an organization or a CEO makes? No. But it does advocate openness and honesty as opposed to cover-ups and half-truths. A range of strategies exist that can be initiated to maintain this kind of transparency: public forums, internal newsletters, annual reports, press briefings and staff meetings are a few examples. Publics need to have ongoing opportunities to obtain information and communicators need to do what they can to ensure those opportunities remain viable, constant and timely. This is a never-ending challenge but the pay-off is enduring credibility and public support.

Postscript: Come to think of it, I actually did have two communicators with me on the summer day I broke my neighbor's window. They were my parents. After the incident, it did not take Mom and Dad long to tell something was troubling me. It took them even less time to learn what that "something" was. They had me confess my misdeed to our neighbors and then reimbursed my neighbor for the expense of having to replace the window. My parents deducted money from my allowance to reimburse them. This meant I had to go awhile without being able to buy new comic books, but, hey, no one ever said transparency comes without sacrifice.

Learning and Unlearning

Life would be so much easier if we all just moved in a straight line. How great would it be if we simply moved from point A to point B and, then, perhaps after a lunch break, moved onto point C before calling it a day. And then the next day we repeated this steady pattern taking some time, occasionally, to give thanks to the orderliness of it all. Unfortunately, that is not how life works. Particularly as we get older, we become all too aware of the uncompromising reality that life contains lots of trial and error, stops and starts, road blocks, stumbling blocks, reverses, steps forward, standing still, back tracking, do-overs, unexpected opportunities - golden and not-so-golden - and temptations. Just when we think we have all the facts, know where we are heading, or feel secure in our decisions, life drops an unexpected twist or turn in front of us that gives us pause, raises doubt and reminds us we do not know as much as we think.

After spending time in the Soviet Union back in the early days of the twentieth century and then returning to the United States, the famous muckraking journalist Lincoln Steffens talked of the unexpected challenge he faced of having to unlearn all that he had learned while living abroad. Life back in the U.S., he found, was different than what he had been experiencing. All of us, I believe, face this kind of challenge even if it is not triggered by something as dramatic as having lived in a foreign country. Each day we are confronted with new information, new perspectives, and new variations from what we consider to be the routine of our lives. Consequently, we are forced to take what we have learned and, if not literally caste it aside, then gather new information so that we, too, can give ourselves more tools that better enable us to cope with, understand or, at times, handle the challenges before us.

This constant learning and unlearning requires two things: an acceptance that this ongoing change is the very essence of life and the communication skills needed to navigate it must include an openness of mind and the willingness to continue building on what we feel we already know. Successful communication is only possible when openly embraced. Once this occurs, then the need to listen, devise strategies to communicate information and knowledge to others, and maintain connections become less imposing. Collectively, they will even help us move from point A to point B even it is not in a straight line or without a few side trips along the way.

Legacy

When I was a little boy, after a hard day of playing with my toys and spreading out a seemingly endless array of paraphernalia all over the floor of my room, my parents used to constantly remind me of the importance of putting away all my play things rather than leaving them scattered around. It is fine for me to bring out all I feel I needed in order to have a fun afternoon, they said, but when I was finished - at the end of my time - it was my responsibility to return my room to how it was before I began the play day and, if possible, leave it even a bit more orderly and organized than it was at the outset. I always asked why and lately, perhaps now more than ever, I have come to appreciate their response. It was my responsibility, my parents said, to leave my room in good order as a way of helping not only me but others get a better start on the next day.

These many years later I have come to interpret my parents' response as a small lesson about legacy. In the case of putting my toys away, my parents were talking about my own personal legacy toward myself. But as I have gotten older, I have come to equate the views of my parents with those expressed many years before either I or my parents came on the scene by philosopher Edmund Burke. In one of his many writings, Burke talked of a "partnership" between "those who are living and those who are to be born." The current generation, he said, have a responsibility to leave those that follow a habitation rather than a ruin.

This relates to how all of us communicate. As communicators, what kind of legacy do we wish to leave behind? Do we wish to be remembered as someone who sought to build bridges or someone who did not? Do we wish to be remembered as someone who sought to establish an atmosphere of mutual respect and collegiality or who did not? In my personal and professional life I encounter those who care about those sorts of things and those who do not. I also see people do not even view their style of communication as having impact on others or on what is carried on when they are no longer present. This is short sighted and tragic because how we communicate does shape the present and affect the future. It is part of our legacy.

Champion Communicators

All of us wear different hats throughout the course of our days. Worker. Friend. Child. Neighbor. Citizen - to name a few. With each "hat," comes a set of communication challenges that are often unique to that specific role. When Barrack Obama, to give one example, puts on his presidential hat each day, there is no doubt he faces an endless array of communication challenges. The same is true for those public servants who serve as the mayor of any municipality - large or small. And let us not forget those who work as school teachers. But if I had to select one role that brings with it the most difficult communication challenges, day in and day out, then I would have to go with parents. Not only is what they do enormously important, but the complexity of the communication challenges these men and women face only seems to increase with each passing day.

Just the other day, for instance, I was in a museum in Washington, D.C. when in the quiet of this environment came the blast of a child's screams. A number of us turned toward the sound to see a little boy, still in his stroller, who was not being shy about making known his profound unhappiness at that moment. The boy's parents busily collected their belongings and moved themselves and their upset child out of the room. As a parent with memories of this sort of incident, I know evacuating the immediate premises usually represents step three in the universal drill of dealing with a screaming child. (Step one is making sure there is nothing physically wrong with the child. Step two is attempting to reason or, in some case, negotiate with the child to get them to stop screaming.) Once out of sight, I have no doubt the parents moved into step four, which included more attempts at "reasoning" and perhaps even taking the child out of the stroller and holding him.

For the parents, this particular moment represented a tiny portion of a day full of emotional swings on the child's part that tested each parent's resolve to deal with each moment, yet do so in a way that continues to reassure the child he is loved and safe. As this particular child ages, he will carry with him more communication challenges for his parents to face. As they do just that, the parents will also be working to provide their child with the skills to deal with his own problems in ways that are wise and successful. Further, they will be doing so in ways that perhaps give this same little boy the skills and fortitude to be a responsible adult and citizen and perhaps go on to make significant contributions to our world. As an imperfect parent myself, my hat goes off to the Mom and Dad I saw in action at that museum. They faced this particular communication challenge, managed to get their child and themselves through it in one piece, and seamlessly readied themselves for the next one that was waiting in the wings. And in doing this, day after day, in their own quiet way are striving to make our world a better place. They are the champion communicators.

Shame on the Media

I love the media. A free press is essential to a free society. Reporters and editors carry an enormous responsibility on their shoulders. It is they that have the important job of asking hard and pointed questions of our leaders, digging out truths regarding complex, life and death issues, and providing society with insight into events that ultimately become our history. Lately, however, members of the national media have displayed a pettiness and fascination with triviality that is a great disservice to our society and is unbecoming of the media as a profession. Following are several recent examples:

The first involves 89-year-old journalist Helen Thomas. I hope she is able to come out of her forced retirement. I hope she returns to continue doing what she and - sadly - only she seems to be doing with any kind of regular consistency: asking tough and pointed questions of of our president and other elected leaders. I concede the comments Ms. Thomas made recently regarding Jewish people may not have been well-advised, but she is as entitled to her perspectives as any of us. I am disappointed that many of her so-called colleagues seem to be distancing themselves from her now. Shame on them. And shame on those members of The White House press corps that are now arguing over which one of them will get to occupy Ms. Thomas' seat in the press room. Our nation deserves a better caliber of media than we have been getting

A second example pertains to the BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast and coverage of President Obama's reaction to it. Rather than focusing on the actual actions being taken by the federal government to deal with this environmental disaster, a number of national reporters and commentators have been blasting the President for not appearing to be angry enough over the whole incident. I wonder: what exactly is angry enough for you? What kind of behavior do you need to see before you are convinced someone is angry enough? Meanwhile, the ecology of one of the most beautiful parts of our nation and the world is close to being destroyed and a giant oil company needs to be held accountable for this terrible event. Let's focus on that as opposed to whether the President is showing sufficient anger.

Finally, a few days ago, Carly Fiorina, the Republican nominee in the race in California for United States Senate, was caught on tape making a catty comment about the hair of Barbara Boxer, her democratic opponent. This, of course, has generated a number of national stories. The state of California has never been in worse shape than it is today. The results of the Boxer-Fiorina race in all likelihood will have significant impact on whether California will be able to regain economic stability, yet true to form the media is choosing to hone in on a casual aside about a person's hair. Really? Is this the kind of matter you - the media - wish to bring to residents of California and have them wrestle with? It seems so. It is not surprising that more and more polls indicate people hold media in low-regard.

What the media does is serious. Even when it comes to human interest and light-hearted stories, the media needs to meet its responsibilities with an unblinking focus on what is best for its readers and listeners. Nothing less than the essence of our nation is in the balance. Electronic and print reporters and editors need to begin acting that way again.

A Group Effort

Effective communication at its best is not a solo act. While there may be only one person in front of a microphone, one person behind the boss' desk, one person in the spotlight or one person in front of a classroom, for that single man or woman to do what they are doing well, then there must be others involved. If you are a president or chief executive officer, then you need advisers to help you formulate policy and create talking points and staff members to help you judge the wisdom and success of your decisions. If you are a teacher, then you need students with which to engage and hopefully teach. If you are a singular individual, then you need others with which to interact and help you meet your needs. Collectively, these and other examples reinforce the reality that for communication to be effective, then it requires the active participation of more than one.

Too often we hear various individuals, often times public figures, praised as being good communicators. President Obama is an easy and timely example. Rightfully, he is is lauded as a solid speaker. Make no mistake, his skills in speech making and ability to handle unexpected questions deserve the praise they continue to receive. But every time he does speak, whether it is via prepared remarks or ones that are more off-the-cuff, The President is just the most visible piece of that communicating he is doing. We sometimes lose sight of the fact that as we watch him on television, for instance, the thoughts he is expressing - even though they are his own - are the results of input he has received from a wide of range of people and sources.

The same holds true for all of us. How and what we communicate are the result of all that we have gleaned from others. This reality, then, points to the notion of just how interdependent we all are even when it comes to times when we share our opinions, add our "two cents" to a conversation or attempt to shed light on a situation with facts. Bottom line: none of us are solo acts. It might be good for all of us to never lose sight of this truism as one way of helping keep us humble and even respectful on those occasions when we are disagreeing with others or are even trying to persuade them to see things our way. Yes, we may be articulate and we may even be able to draw upon facts and examples that others can not at that moment, but the fact is we could not do that without the help and input of others.

Hard Truth

Sometimes looking in the mirror is not easy to do. Sometimes it is damn hard, especially when what is looking back at us is a truth we do not like, a truth that is unflattering, yet one we know to be accurate. As the horrendous oil spill off the Gulf Coast rapidly approaches the three-month mark, I believe Americans are ever so slowly looking in the mirror and not only not liking what they see. Yes, Americans hate the incredible irresponsibility of the British Petroleum Oil Company and the consistent lack of candor displayed by the company through the disaster. And, yes, they are becoming increasingly resentful of the cozy relationship that BP and other oil conglomerates have had with the U.S. federal government for decades now that contributed to this situation. But there is another truth that is even more unsettling that either of these. When fully grasped, it has the potential of being life altering.

Throughout our country's proud history, we have been a nation of consumption, expansion and virtually limitless potential. With our many freedoms, we have become the envy and beacon of much of the rest of the world - and rightfully so. Unfortunately, we have not always worn that mantel well. At times we have displayed greed and arrogance most unbecoming. Yet through it our times of benevolence and aggression, selflessness and pettiness, we have lived lives of more, more and more. Collectively, we have behaved much as the grasshopper in the fable where the ant prepares for the winter while the grasshopper frolics and consumes, putting off for another day what it should be doing today. That "today" is here. The BP oil spill is that hard truth.

We have allowed ourselves to become too dependent on oil and that needs to stop. Sure, BP is negligent, but so, too, are we for being so immorally casual about something so vital to our lives and to the welfare of our nation. We have allowed our thirst for profit to over shadow our need for safe and responsible survival. A balance between the two must be restored. I believe people are slowly beginning to realize this. It is this realization that, in part, is driving the anger we all feel even if many of us do not yet recognize it. Such a shift in national priorities is enough to make anyone angry, especially if it not a change we really want to make. Nevertheless, it is adjustment we need to make and soon. As terrible as the BP oil spill is, it also represents an opportunity for all of us to regain a more appropriate balance. Doing so, of course, represents a giant communication challenge for our nation. But the good news is people are in a listening mood. Yes, I'm talking to you President Obama, members of Congress, community activists, and anyone who says they give a damn about our country's future.

An Ode to Imperfection

I am one of the thousands of people who smacked their forehead on June 2 at the missed call by American League umpire Jim Joyce that ruined a perfect game for pitcher Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers. It was the ninth inning and Galarraga was one out away from pitching the 21st perfect game in professional baseball history. The 27th batter to face him hit an easy grounder and was just as easily thrown out by a step when unexpectedly, inexplicably Jones signaled the runner was safe. The batter, he said, had just barely beaten the throw. To everyone else in the stadium and the announcer's booth, it was the throw that had beaten the batter. The instant replay confirmed this. By then, of course, it was too late. The game had already ended as Galarraga had retired the next batter and walked away with a very respectable one-hit shutout instead of a history-making perfect game.

There's no doubt the umpire's missed call was heartbreaking and blatantly unfair to Galarraga. But some solid good emerged from this incident that not only gave all of us a glimpse into the character of both Joyce and Galarraga, but also served as a vivid reminder that not being perfect is not necessarily as bad as it may seem. When setbacks or negative incidents occur, with them comes opportunity to stand tall, take responsibility if it is appropriate or be wise, strong and in the aftermath of the mistake be part of the effort to move forward in a positive way. By their actions, Joyce and Galarraga communicated just how good we imperfect humans can be when something negative happens. Upon seeing the instant replay, Jones was quick to admit his mistake and take responsibility for his bad judgment on that particular play. He also was very apologetic to Galarraga and to the fans. For his part, Galarraga was extremely gracious and inspiring.

Life as well as baseball, of course, will go on. But thanks to these two men, at least for a little while, all of us are the better for seeing what can happen when honesty, good intentions and responsible behavior join forces. They generate good feelings, solidarity and desire to emulate those brave enough to be the best they can be at a difficult moment in their lives. There may be times when actions speak louder than words. But the best attention-grabber of all is when the two are in harmony.

Turtle Crossing

The other day while working in our yard I noticed a turtle in the middle of the street that runs in front of our house. I went over, picked it up and moved it to a nearby grassy area so it would not be run over by a car. As I returned to what I was doing, a question about that turtle popped into my head: "Suppose it actually was heading to the side of the street opposite from where I had placed it?" Perhaps the turtle was on a journey to a specific destination and I had just moved it back to its starting point. Obviously, I had and have no idea if that's true though I have to assume the turtle was not wandering around aimlessly. (I always thought people were the only creatures that did that. Or maybe we just blog instead.)

Through no fault of its own, the turtle was not communicating with me as to what it was doing or where it was heading. Consequently, I guessed. And it is very possible I guessed incorrectly. As a result, I may have made the turtle's journey longer and more difficult than it needed to be. This little encounter with the turtle got me to thinking how often many us make incorrect guesses or assumptions about other people in terms of what they are doing, where they are heading or even what they are thinking because we have not attempted to communicate with them; or they have not communicated their intentions or thoughts with us. I bet this happens a lot. As a result, a great deal of miscommunication occurs that could easily be avoided if only we made the effort to connect with each other.

When miscommunication does occur, a void or hole is created many of us feel a need to fill. For instance, "my friend has not returned my email in a few days and I don't know why. I think that's rude, so now I'm angry with them for treating me that way." In this example, the person has filled the void of not knowing why their email has not been answered with feelings of hurt and anger. Never mind they do not know why the other person has not responded to the email as quickly as was expected. Here's another quick example: a boss reorganizes their staff without offering explanations for their actions. The hole created by this action without explanation is filled with feelings of confusion and possible resentment that would probably be minimized if only an effort had been made to properly communicate th actions. One only has to look at the front page of any newspaper these days to see how prone we as a species are to making misjudgments and mistakes. Perhaps if we made more of an effort to be open with each other, then the level of frustration and even tension in our lives would be reduced. In the meantime, I sure hope that turtle reached its destination alright.