Monthly Archives: February 2014

Leadership difficulties have played a role in nearly, if not all, organisational dysfunction I have encountered. Any person involved in leadership should be casting a questioning and philosophical eye over the practice and topic of leadership. Few (I’m being generous) have a good word for the leadership of their organisations. While this hyper criticalness is partly a reflection of the dominant worldview, their comments have merit.  What follows does not attempt to replicate what has been already written on the topic but captures some of my thoughts from conversations on the topic. There seems an increasing number of people who are somewhat cynical about leadership and leadership training however in the end it is still best to engage with the topic and continue to learn. Ignoring or sabotaging the learning will lead to no good! Recent events such as including terminations by email or Text message require a different discussion again – courage and respect.

Leadership without the optional bits: The ‘corporate’ worldview loves leadership, a Continue reading →

Sustainable, Sustainability: A term meaning something is able to be maintained indefinitely. Also a term that is easy to understand and has obvious and endless practical applications despite being challenging to define in each context. This characteristic means that it can be attached to almost anything, at which point it begins the process of becoming common, misused and abused. Soon enough it enters the popular list of buzz words used in Public Relations and marketing. Here it is finally stripped of any meaningful public definition, appearing in endless glossy brochures for any product, development or business plan. Thereafter using the term appropriately will be viewed with the suspicion that the author is practicing Public Relations. Ironically, once ‘sustainability’ is finally rendered useless as a buzz word by the PR industry it can again become a useful concept informing public discourse and practical applications as they struggle to determine what it actually means and how to achieve it. A further irony is that most businesses using sustainability as a PR buzzword would materially benefit from exploring and applying the concept.

In Australian politics, the conservative right is likely to view any serious use of the term ‘sustainable’ as a sign you might be a lefty – unless you are from the farming sector. Meanwhile, the left is likely to view any attempts by capitalists to actually apply sustainability to projects as PR and inherently paradoxical.

Peter O’Reilly ©

Public Relations: A corporate practice designed to maintain the illusion of:

• communication;
• news reporting;
• participation and consultation;

while seeking to look good (Image management), and if possible exercise control and certainty for the paying client.

Absolute control and certainty is never really possible however PR works pretty well to shape the beliefs and behaviors of the ‘targeted public’. This makes a good working definition of propaganda.

It should be no surprise that the rise of Public Relations firms has coincided with greater demands for Governments and business (Corporates) to consult on issues and projects affecting citizens. Any increase in power the citizen feels is offset by the increased levels of spin and propaganda commissioned by Corporate organizations in an attempt to redress the power balance and maintain the status quo. This strategy seems to work and so will continue for the foreseeable future.

PR is great at manufacturing and distributing memes. Memes do not need to be true, just interesting, gossipy and with the possibility they are true.

Using PR to discredit a politician involves using bad photos, impugning motives, highlighting  inconsistencies and holding them responsible for operational failings (See Ministerials). Do the opposite to support a politician. Present this as news. It helps PR support of a politician when the politician can lie and be inconsistent without guilt or shame.

Peter O’Reilly ©