Only Human

Those who work professionally in the communication field start off each day with at least one, if not two strikes against. Working with clients and carrying out various communication plans and strategies, their goal is all about control. Control the message. Control their client's talking points. Control media access to their client. Control the timing and staging of any public events. Control the timing of when messages are made public. Control who speaks to the public, including the media.  The list goes on and on. These professionals operate in an environment where control is the driving element. Unfortunately, we - and they - live in a world where control is little more than an illusion.

What adds to their uphill climb is the fact that these dedicated professionals are only human. Like the rest of us, they have only a limited amount of patience. . They can only go so long without adequate sleep. They can and do get distracted. They are subject to such emotions as frustration, anger, and bias. Bottom line: they are as imperfect as the rest of us despite the fact that so many of them are quite good at what they do.  Professional communicators, like the rest of us, have bad days and sometimes act in unprofessional ways. This does make them less than what they are. Rather, it makes them human.

I mention this in the context of a recent outburst by one of press people working for this year's Republican Party nominee for President Mitt Romney. While traveling abroad with the candidate, one of the professional communicators on Romney's staff reportedly told reporters to "kiss my ass." The press, not surprisingly, has been giving this outburst a lot of coverage. Granted, it was not that particular person's shining hour and, yes, what he said was a mistake. My guess is at this point his boss has probably given him a well deserved verbal talking-to. Given that, let's move on. I, for one, think we need to give his guy a break. His behavior was out of frustration and probably not like something many of us would have done had our roles been reversed. I just hope for his sake he does not do it again.