Be your Own Press Secretary

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Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we each had our own presidential press secretary to answer tough questions and “spin” our message all day long against any and all adversaries? (It would be great for us perhaps, but I’m not sure I want to live in a world where everyone is “spinning” everyone else.)

That said, there’s something to be learned from the methods that politicians employ to stay in power.

Chief among these is staying on message — i.e., knowing what you want to say and then repeating it with extreme discipline and near-shamelessness, until it sinks in. If there’s one thing we’ve learned in this noisy media age, it’s that simple, un-nuanced messages break through the clutter and hit home with high impact. (I’m not saying that’s always a good thing, but it’s a fact of life. Deal with it.)

It’s no different when you’re attempting to change. Like a politician making headlines for introducing new legislation, if you have a new initiative at work, you have to do something dramatic to announce it. (Reagan taught us that.) For sheer drama, apologizing fits the bill. What could be more theatrical than telling people that you’re sorry for some transgression and you’ll try to do better in the future, especially people who think you cannot change?

Don’t stop there. You can’t just apologize and say you’re trying to do better just once. You have to drill it into people repeatedly, until they’ve internalized the concept.

It’s the reason politicians in a hard election campaign run the same ads over and over again. Repeating their message — relentlessly — works; it sinks the message deeper into our brains.

I don’t want to push this political press secretary analogy too far. I’m not asking people to obfuscate or display selective memory or avoid questions, all of which are valuable weapons in the press secretary arsenal. All I’m saying is that you cannot rely on other people to read your mind or take note of the changed behavior you’re displaying. It may be patently obvious to you, but it takes a lot more than a few weeks of behavioral modification for people to notice the new you.

That makes it all the more vital that you proactively control the message of what you’re trying to accomplish. Here’s how to start acting like your own press secretary.

• Treat every day as if it were a press conference during which your colleagues are judging you, waiting to see you trip up. That mindset, where you know people are watching you closely, will boost your self-awareness just enough to remind you to stay on high alert.

• Behave as if every day is an opportunity to hit home your message — to remind people that you’re trying really hard. Every day that you fail to do so is a day that you lose a step or two. You’re backsliding on your promise to fix yourself.

• Treat every day as a chance to take on all challengers. There will be people who, privately or overtly, don’t want you to succeed. So shed the naiveté and be a little paranoid. If you’re alert to those who want you to fail, you’ll know how to handle them.

• Think of the process as an election campaign. After all, you don’t elect yourself to the position of “new improved you.” Your colleagues do. They’re your constituency. Without their votes, you can never establish that you’ve changed.

• Think of the process in terms of weeks and months, not just day to day. The best press secretaries are adept at putting out the daily fires, but they’re also focused on a long-term agenda. You should too. No matter what happens day to day, your long-term goal is to be perceived as fixing an interpersonal problem — to the point where it isn’t a problem anymore.

If you can do this, like the best press secretaries, you’ll have your personal “press corps” eating out of your hands.

Excerpted from WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON’T GET YOU THERE by Marshall Goldsmith with Mark Reiter. Copyright 2007 Marshall Goldsmith. All rights reserved. Published by Hyperion. (January 2007;$23.95US/$29.95CAN; 978-14013-0130-9) Available wherever books are sold.

Posted in: theatrical October 2008


11 Responses to “Be your Own Press Secretary”

  1. paper mage Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 8:36 am

    If you were president, which political pundit would you want as your press secretary?
    More than just another policy advisor, the press secretary is the most visible member of the administration; the shield between the president and the press corps. They have to be clever, occasionally funny, and of course, fast on their feet.

    Who would you pick? Fox News, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, PBS, anywhere in or outside the alphabet; what pundit, anchor, or reporter would you want representing you in the press?

  2. IanHarStantoN Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    Lou Dobbs CNN, because he tells it how it is.
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  3. Chuck G Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 1:40 pm

    Michelle Malkin, attractive and smart as whip.
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  4. Bill H Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 1:42 pm

    Dennis Miller
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  5. danrathersdrunkagain Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 1:44 pm

    Not the one who gets a thrill running up his leg when he thinks about me. He won't get the job.

    Barrack Hussein Obama.
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  6. Buttercup B Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 1:46 pm

    she would have to have long legs…well not too long…she will have to be able to fit under my desk.
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  7. Artie Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    I would think the world needs a good laugh about now, so I would pick Bill Clinton
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    or Frank Caliendo

  8. caliguy_30 Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 1:50 pm

    None of the above they are all free thinker. A press secretary is someone that you can asked to tell a lie and will never question it.
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  9. Ned m Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 1:52 pm

    Sean Hannity, so I can give the neo-cons something to jerk off about.
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  10. Obama Wrong Tribe! He's Luo Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 1:54 pm

    Rush, Coulter or Hannity. All three are loyal to the core. Oops, almost forgot one of the best. Malkin.
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  11. Janet VdL Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 1:56 pm

    Wolf Blitzer simply because he looks like a press secretary,and wasn't he anyway for Bill Clinton?

    I honestly don't know who I'd pick,but I'd definitely never pick anyone from FOX News like Hannity,O' Reilly, Coulter. I would also not pick people like Chris Matthews, Lou Dobbs, or Keith Olbermann (even though I'm a liberal)

    I'd just pick someone who's intelligent,quick thinking,and loyal
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