The Gut

Posted: October 6th, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off

By Sarah Hawley, founder and principal of Mockingbird Public Relations.

Hi, all. I’m your last guest blogger as our dear Aly is just about back from maternity leave. I have to admit I’ve been having a bit of anxiety about what to write. Something about people reading my inner thoughts suddenly makes them seem completely blasé!

But, after some false starts, I came back to a thought I’ve been tossing around. The Gut. Yes, mine is full of a fabulous lunch from Four Peaks, but that’s not exactly the one I’m talking about. I’m talking about the Gut that is my divining rod; the one that helps me navigate when all other signs are pointing in circles when I really need to go straight. Each of us has one and I, personally, think that it’s an under-utilized PR tool that has led me on some remarkable career journeys.

In many ways I think that the Gut is just as important to the PR discipline as a media directory, a really well vetted target list or the ability to write a compelling pitch. Unfortunately, in the quest to please clients and generate results, the Gut can sometimes be ignored, told to be quiet or just simply forgotten about.  How many times has each of us not pushed back when a client has chosen to submit the wrong abstract for a large speaking engagement? Or agreed to go to a journalist with a story suggestion with a twinge deep down that a) the writer won’t be interested or b) the company isn’t 100% ready to tell the story?

These lapses in judgment can be attributed to a number of things such as not wanting to ask what seems like an obvious question or being afraid you’ll lose the client account if you don’t “please” them (read: do what they want you to do). Most of the time, however, the client will be in a better position if you stop, center and listen to what the Gut has to say. If you are experienced enough to be interacting with clients on decision making, then odds are that the Gut has a good number of years backing up its counsel. If you don’t trust the Gut’s level of expertise on a topic, do what a former boss of mine used to say, “Go ahead and ask the dumb question. Just ask it in a smart way.”  And, if you are making decisions that are fear-based, well, that’s another problem for another blog post.

Keep in mind, I’m not advising you to move forward with every knee jerk reaction the Gut has. Rather, ask the little fella what he thinks, allow him time to give you a solid answer, and stop to listen. Compare his answer to your knowledge and to the question at hand, and most times, if you’ve done your homework and know your space, your internal barometer will spout off an answer that you didn’t know you had in you.

And, remember, if the Gut is taking his own sweet time giving you an answer, don’t be afraid to take him out for Four Peaks’ Tap Room Tenderloin sandwich in beer bread to talk it over.

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