Nick Andrews
My Fleishman Hillard colleague in Brussels, Nick Andrews, has a nice rumination on the desire for many companies to be left alone. He notes that companies in the throws of some public affairs crisis pine for the indifference of government for what they do. He brilliantly describes the mindset:
Broadly, this depends on a line of argument which goes something like this. “We’re really important to the (normally global) economy. You don’t really understand what we do because you’re not technical like us. We’re quite capable of self-regulating. We’re really very responsible (no, really). Best to leave us alone.” Whilst I totally understand the attraction of this approach, I have one small issue with it. I’ve never seen it work. Ever.
I am very familiar with this attitude and I agree with Nick that it is utterly self-defeating. But I do think he underestimates the path from this attitude to ultimate success in the way a company conducts its public affairs program.
The challenge is always to look beyond the immediate crisis, to the positioning opportunity. A positive, solution-oriented, industry-leading point of view, stated passionately, widely and consistently, can only stand organisations in good stead. It puts their opponents on the back foot and shapes the debate. It raises morale internally and galvanizes the sector. After all, they might as well. The one thing we can say with certainty is that they won’t be left alone.
As usual, Nick’s guidance is spot on and companies would be wise to take it. But I’m reminded of the scene from beginning of Peter Pan when Peter is trying to help the children to fly. As long as they were simply following Peter’s instructions, they were unsuccessful. It was only when the “truly believed” that they were lifted off the ground.
So it is with a successful corporate public affairs program. If it is done because it is something “you have to do” to keep the government at bay or even if it is done because Nick Andrews said so, it will fail in the end. It is only when a company appreciates the fact that, in the current policy and political environment, companies have responsibilities greater than to provide jobs for their employees, ROI for investors or even good value for customers. In fact, the broader public now holds companies accountable for larger social goals, like sustainability or humane treatment of their stakeholders, very broadly defined. It is only when companies embrace these values will they achieve their proper role in society. Like it or not, corporate leaders are put in the same pot as government leaders. The general public believes all such elites have failed them in their obsessive search for power or money. The burden falls on all societal leaders to demonstrate their commitment to the greater good.
And, if they do it right, they might even, in the end, be left alone by government. Thank so?
Nah!