Again, Rebuilding Trust...

It could not have been coincidence. This week, in the U.S., two eminences who appeared before the U.S. Congress to answer questions by legislators on the Obama stimulus package,   pointed out the need for rebuilding Trust.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the U.S. Senate: "The American people have lost faith in the leaders of our financial institutions and are skeptical that their government has, to this point, used taxpayers' money in ways that will benefit them."

Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs Group, said in the House of Representatives, on Feb. 12: "We have to regain the public's trust and do everything we can  to help mend our financial system to restore stability and vitality." (Wall Street Journal, Feb. 12 2009).

We could very well be saying the same things in the Philippines. While we, as individuals, may be resolved to stay strong and keep on enhancing our performance, say,  in business and the professions,  we still  need our institutions to hold us together. We will always need leaders to look up to. We will always  need to believe that those we see as blundering, faltering  and going about motivated by  greed and dishonesty are far outnumbered by those who are good and will stay true to their oath as public officials and  their commitment as leaders of business, community and society.

We earn trust by what we do, and not by what we claim. PR can help rebuild  trust in our leaders by laying out to them the power of  corporate governance and of genuine public service. Authentic leadership means those in whom we have invested Trust must serve us, and not themselves. It means curbing greed and self-aggrandizement, and keeping in mind, quite up high there, what will be good for our employees, stakeholders, and our community. And what is according to law and to regulations.

Better, the difference between right and wrong.

It will be difficult to tell our leaders, in government and business, who could well be our Clients, that they must toe the line and help restore trust in our institutions. We in PR, must, nevertheless, try. The price for not doing so may be unbearably high. The biggest,  most imaginative economic recovery plan  any one can put together may be of not much use if those who will be tasked to deliver it  will not have what it will take. Our Trust.

The PR Job This Year:Hunkering Down

This year, we in the PR Agency  business really have to hunker down, and work like we never did before.  Just a few weeks ago, I thought I had it all figured out--use the old formulas that worked before, and hope for the best. But...how can we resist facts? 

Hardly a  day has passed since the beginning of the year without  one or more companies announcing layoffs, losses, lower profits or reduction of work shifts. That  old reliable of the Philippine economy, the remittances of our OFWs, is said to be bound to be lower in coming years. People have begun to lose jobs. When Intel announced in January  it was closing up its plant in Cavite,  after several other big firms had laid off  employees or declared redundancies, I said, we really must brace up. Who's going to be next?

I would say let us hold hands, and look deep into ourselves, into how we do things, and see how we can keep improving our work. In the PR Agency business, we are what we deliver,  and the value that we add to Clients' business.  Clients will try to stay with us, as long as they themselves are viable and need us. The critical point is proving that not only are our counsel and services needed, but that they are indispensable. 

Keep strengthening the hopes of our personnel, especially the young ones. Let us hold on to them, even if ourselves, the owners and managers, have to give up some of what we have. 

Jack and Suzy Welch wrote in October last year something about connecting with our people. "We're not talking about walking the hallways saying 'hi.' We are talking about building visceral relationships by hanging out where the work gets done, talking and listening, eye-to-eye."

Let us show our people  how to expand on some of what we learned through our early struggles---that Clients are kept and sustained by the strength, relevance and value of the programs and initiatives that we present them. Clients need timely ideas that work and help them realize value, enhance their reputation, and  win in the marketplace. 

And to deliver these, we need  to keep people,  who will help us  think with quality and work with commitment and idealism.