Advice - EthicalVoices

What do you do when your work does not align with your personal values?: Mark Mohammadpour

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • January 4, 2021 • 0 Comments

Welcome to Ethical Voices in 2021. A New year, but the same great content. Since one of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight and improve wellness, I could think of no better guest to kick off the year than Mark Mohammadpour, the founder of the Chasing the Sun Health Coaching for communicators and marketers. I’ve enjoyed reading his insights in the Public Relations Society of America’s Strategies & Tactics, and that’s what caused me to reach out to invite him to be a guest.

Mark discusses a number of important issues, including:

1) What do you do when your work does not align with your personal values?

2) How PR executives can convince brands to take a stand

3) What are agencies missing when it comes to recruiting and retaining talent?

4) Why you need a personal wellness crisis plan

The Top Ethics Posts and Podcasts of 2020

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • December 28, 2020 • 0 Comments

I realize that not everyone has time every week to read the blog, so I wanted to recap the five most popular ethics blog posts of 2020 and the five most popular ethics podcasts of 2020. Surprisingly, there was no overlap this year.

Your Company is Accused of Making People Sick. Now What? – Ken Hunter

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • December 7, 2020 • 0 Comments

Ken Hunter, the President and Chief Strategist at The PowerStation and a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University. He discusses a number of important issues, including

1) What to do ethically when your company is accused of making people sick

2) How to make ethical issues seem less like personal attacks

3) What to do when your boss makes unethical promises

4) Dealing with media bias

Landmines and Fine Lines: Ethical Issues in Public Affairs – Kelly Davis

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • November 30, 2020 • 2 Comments

Kelly Davis, the Public Relations Sequence Head at the University of South Carolina, discusses a number of important issues, including:

1) How to avoid landmines and understand the fine lines in public affairs and lobbying

2) How can nonprofits ethically get their message out when faced with well-funded opponents?

3) Ethical issues with data, media and society

4) How to make sure you are sharing accurate information

100 Ethics Issues for Thanksgiving Dinner Discussion

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • November 23, 2020 • 0 Comments

Following are 100 ethics issues the students and I identified and discussed. These stories were ripped from the headlines. If you missed them, they are worth another review. They make great reading and great discussion over Zoom

When Lite isn’t Lite: Ethical Issues with Misleading Claims – Ron Culp

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • November 16, 2020 • 1 Comment

Joining me on this week’s episode is Ron Culp, the director of the Public Relations and Advertising Masters Program at DePaul University.

Ron discusses a number of important topics, including:

1) What to do when asked to make absurd and misleading claims

2) Why PR professions need the industry to have their back

3) Where companies make mistakes in countering disinformation internally
4) How to make your company attractive to potential employees

When and where do you draw the ethical line? – Helio Fred Garcia

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • November 9, 2020 • 2 Comments

Helio Fred Garcia, President of Logos Consulting Group discusses a number of important ethics issues including:

1) When and where do you draw the ethical line?
2) How structures and clear protocols make courage less necessary in ethical dilemmas
3) What can we learn from Bernays’ definition of public relations?
4) What are some positive ethics lessons from Goldman Sachs
5) Three key elements in determining the “right” thing to do

The ethical trap of enabling toxic, abusive high-performers: Lisa Gralnek

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • August 10, 2020 • 1 Comment

Lisa Gralnek, the Principal and Founder of LVG & Co., has some great insight to share, including:

1) The ethical trap of enabling toxic, abusive high-performers
2) How can companies best live their values?
3) Why you shouldn’t always fall on your sword
4) The perils of “me before we”

Do Organizations that Make Mistakes on Race and Systemic Injustice Deserve Help? – Kelley Chunn

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • July 13, 2020 • 0 Comments

Kelley Chunn, the principal of Kelley Chunn and Associates, discusses a number of important ethics issues, including:

1) What to do when your employer and you have diametrically different ideas?
2) Do organizations that make mistakes on race and systemic injustice deserve help?
3) Advice for making substantive diversity strides

Sixteen Ethics Words of Wisdom

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • July 6, 2020 • 0 Comments

I figure everyone is either still gone/checked our for the long July 4th weekend, or is insanely busy covering for those that are out, so Ethical Voices this week is just sixteen words of wisdom about ethics.

Category: Advice