Perfectionism is destructive to the PR industry
Perfectionism is often cited as PR professionals’ biggest strength. But it’s the enemy of productive, healthy and sustainable success, explains Fuel Communications’ Melody Chew. And PR leaders must take steps to reverse, and stamp out, this culture of perfectionism.
Tell people in a social setting that you work in PR and, more often than not, they’ll conjure a mental image of Samantha Jones in Sex and the City. Immediately, you become someone who lives and breathes confidence, someone who can hold their own in a room full of senior business executives, tackle hard-hitting journalists head on, connect with people from all walks of life, and, of course, persuade the most sceptical.
And it’s true. For the most part, PR professionals are absolute guns at doing all of this. But what’s also true is that we tend to put an unreasonable amount of pressure on ourselves and are far too afraid to expose our vulnerabilities.
The most common personality trait of a PR (or flaw, depending on your point of view) is perfectionism. Our industry is full of anxious, over-achieving personalities. With this comes an insidious set of unspoken voices in our heads that question everything we do and make us constantly mindful of how our thoughts, words and actions will be perceived by others.
Perfectionism is not something I’d associate with the PR industry. Maybe the law etc.
The nervousness and anxiety might be born from people with (e.g.) poor time management skills eager to create a positive impression as they are insecure, or vain, but it’s not necessarily born from striving for perfection.
Also I think we all know that perfection is not a goal worth striving for – any tech release of a product waiting for the customers to identify the bugs is a good example of that.
Sounds like you haven’t met too many PRs then. Also your point around people eager to create a positive impression because they are insecure – isn’t that exactly what perfectionism is?
“Instead, we require curiosity, bravery, and the ability to be vulnerable, make mistakes, and learn from them.”
I adore and agree whole heartedly with this. I think it very true for most young professionals starting out in all roles across marketing too. Aiming for perfectionism is more often than not a roadblock rather than a push in the right direction.
It’s PR not ER
[Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
Although valid points, I don’t think what you’ve described is unique to the PR industry or PR agencies.
A mindset geared towards iteration, nimble learning, and use of data/insights is going to achieve bigger improvements/outcomes than seeking perfection. That’s true for PR as much as it is for all agency partners in creative through to digital and media investment.
What are we iterating on? What are we learning? How are we applying those to gain incrementally better results and business outcomes YoY? All worthwhile questions across the comms and media spectrum!
Hi Derek, I agree. I think this issue is present across the wider marketing industry. Our industry’s low mental health compared to others probably has something to do with this. The ability to be curious and constantly challenge our own thinking is so important for our success – as you say.
Lower mental health in PR land? Is that factual or anecdotal?
In marketing, media and creative:
http://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazo.....ndings.pdf
Who’d have thought wheeling out the same guest lists of influencers every brief and fawning over Instagram hashtag inspo hashtag boho could be so stressful?
Consumer PR has always been the kids table of the wider industry.
Now has anyone seen my white linen shirt? I’ve got to get my Bondi apartment in Design Files and write a bunch of blog posts no one will ever read.
If only that was what working in PR was like!
Ha ha yes… great analogy!
“will you kids quieten down over there?!”
Hey Hashtag, you’re describing I’d guess less than 5% of the sector there. But don’t let facts get in the way of your hatchet.
I never get the hate that PR opinion pieces seem to foster here.
I do really dislike the term “PRs” when referring to people in the industry. I work in PR, I am not, a PR.
Having had experience at a consumer agency that said they didn’t place a high importance on perfection but wouldn’t practice what they preached – I think you can write about it til the cows come home but at the end of the day it’s the agency leaders that need to instil this kind of culture properly.
How can you say, let’s improve our mental health and have a better work life balance all the while the rights to work from home during the busiest time of year are revoked? Or that the only ‘culture improvements’ are made through forcing staff to hang out with each other after work when they just don’t want to do that? I think there’s more that needs to be thought about. Practice what you preach.
My daughter was showing my ‘perfectionist’ traits, which I hadn’t picked up on or realised could be a negative (fellow PR here). Her kinder teachers were onto it early though. They said that perfectionism can lead to anxiety issues in later life and should be addressed, so this must be an aspect they’re incorporating into education.
These great kinder teachers worked with my daughter to ensure she tried everything – not just the things she was good at from the outset. I feel this work made a really positive difference for my daughter – her foundation teacher last year commented on how great it was that she writes without fear of mistakes.