A Public Relations Must Have- Don't leave home without it!

All the communication exercises, excel and PowerPoint lessons, internships, natural or acquired skills are useless in PR without one key ingredient….work ethic.

I may not be the best ( yet ;) ) and I know I’m not perfect by far…and perhaps there is nothing I can do about these things...so instead I focus on something I can have a say in. I determined a long time ago that I will not let anyone 'out-work' me. I believe there is something to be said for someone who is naturally good at something and makes it to the top, but even more to be said about someone who isn’t and is still there. I’d want that person on my team.
 

I think this is where a college degree comes into play. Sure college courses train us in the details of  press release writing, pitching and etc. but the real 4 year lesson ( sometimes longer it seems for our generation ) is endurance.

Just as college athletes come to train to have what it takes to make it into NFL, we come to learn what it takes to make it into corporate. Sure natural ability will take you far…but it can only take you SO FAR…and then the work ethic has to kick in, the hunger for more knowledge, the ability to adapt and conquer the new.

 

I will screw up, you will screw up- it’s inevitable. The extent of the screw up is dependable…(depending on  if I wisely choose to evaluate sooner than later or ask for guidance before things get too far)…but I will only make the mistake ONCE. After that time- it is filed, evaluated and noted. If I trip over a rock, I now know it’s there. It becomes a stepping stone the second time around. I think this is the difference between a person who shows up "TO" work and a person who shows up "AT" work. (Think about it :) )

I can’t help but appreciate how often the lessons in PR apply to everyday lives. Ie: Don’t lie, don’t put too much information on the internet, stay positive and foster/ value relationships- but the lesson today is a little different. You will mess up along the way but don’t let it intimate you from giving it your all…and then some. Nothing in life worth having is without putting in work…no career worth having can be attained without the same concept.