Part Three

Why the Boss Doesn’t Listen to PR Advice

Self-Imposed Barriers to Entering or Staying in the Circle of Influence

Ten reasons why bosses ignore public relations people and often listen to others first, or more frequently than their PR advisors:

  1. Our first inclination is to teach public relations. Most bosses think they are great communicators.
  2. We constantly seem to be seeking approval for our behaviors and confirmation of the value we bring to everything we do.
  3. We fail to demonstrate that we understand either the business or the critical issues the business faces.
  4. We speak a language the boss neither needs nor cares to learn.
  5. We focus on the unimportant.
  6. We take up management’s time, telling them things they already know.
  7. We’d rather alienate a boss than alienate a reporter.
  8. We may write well, but our verbal skills are undisciplined, unfocused, and fall short of providing information management can act upon.
  9. Our loyalty is suspect. They know we talk about and criticize management behind their back.
  10. We want facetime but often seem unprepared; we rarely ask what management is really concerned about or what they’d like to do.

We whine a lot.

We tend to offer whiny excuses rather than better options.

Whiney Excuse #1:  They don’t understand the power of public relations.

Whiney Excuse #2:  They don’t appreciate the function.

Whiney Excuse #3:  They always consult the lawyers and management consultants before they talk to PR, so PR gets stuck cleaning up even bigger messes.

Whiney Excuse #4:  The CEO’s pretty bright, but has blind spots and prejudices that get us into trouble.

Whiney Excuse #5:  We could have told them this was going to happen, but we couldn’t break through the silos and the arrogant mentality that, “management is smart enough to handle anything.”

Whiney Excuse #6:  If I got more facetime, things would be different.

Whiney Excuse #7:  Why do they still blame PR, but avoid talking to PR or allowing PR to have input?

Whiney Excuse #8:  Everything is so last minute. Does management follow its own plan (or even have a plan)?

©2025, James E. Lukaszewski. Contact the copyright holder at jel@e911.com for information and reproduction permissions. Editing or excerpting is forbidden.