This week we’re doing something a little bit different, and we’re speaking with Dr. Juan Meng, the Associate Professor of Public Relations at the University of Georgia, and Dr. Marlene Neill, APR, Fellow PRSA, an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director at Baylor University. I asked them to share insights from a recent journal article they authored titled The Role of Ethical Leadership in Building Influence: Perspectives from Female Public Relations Professionals.
Ellen Crane, APR, Fellow PRSA. founder of Women Elevated, addresses a number of important ethics issues including:
1) What to do when your ethical values diverge from your employer’s values?
2) How can old school strategies counter disinformation
first interviewed Felicia Blow, APR, almost two years ago. She was one of my first 15 interviews for the blog and podcast. This year she is the 2022 National Chair or PRSA, so I thought it made sense to revisit the interview.
She discusses a number of important topics including:
• How to make the ethical choice when your bosses issue conflicting orders
• What to do when your employer lies to you
• New areas of PR ethics concerns
• The best ethics advice she ever received
This week, Amy Coward, APR, Fellow PRSA, the President of AC Public Relations, discusses a number of ethics issues, including:
1) How to respond ethically when someone with an agenda attacks you
2) Effective ways to approach your boss to tell them they are acting unethically
3) Why you need to remember – what you allow, you condone
Melissa Vela-Williamson, APR, an award-winning public relations expert, national columnist and host of the great Smart Talk Series podcast discusses:
1) What to do when you are pressured to inflate numbers?
2) What to do when you are faced with nearness and drinking bias
3) The ethics issues of multicultural appropriation
Jessica Kelly, the Founder and CEO of THR3EFOLD, a leader in the ethical fashion space, discusses several key ethics issues, including:
1) Where should we start in improving fashion industry ethics?
2) Why all auditing bodies aren’t created equal
3) What everyone can do to improve ethics in the fashion industry
4) How can you maintain your moral compass when there is be pressure to succeed at all costs?
Jim Hoggan, a bestselling author, president of Hoggan & Associates, and founder of DeSmog discusses a number of key topics including:
1) Don’t confuse doing the right thing with being seen doing the right thing
2) Why even if you are right, you can be in the wrong
3) The ethical dangers of tribalism
4) The heart vs. the mind
Robert Johnson, the host of the PR Nation Podcast, discusses a number of important ethics issues, including:
1) When national security is on the line, how to you handle public relations ethically?
2) The state of truth today
3) Why PR Pros should take a different approach when a reporter asks you about confidential information
Sherry Feldberg, a seasoned healthcare communication professional who is now the principal of Leadership Journey discusses:
1) What to do when your boss asks you to burn bridges?
2) How to speak up effectively when you are asked to compromise your personal ethics
3) The importance of building trusted relationships
4) The need to show vulnerability as a leader
Emmanuel Tchividjian, the principal of the Markus Gabriel Group, and one of the top thought leaders on ethics and communication in the world, discusses:
1) Where your duty lies when you are asked to reveal confidential information
2) The importance of civility and civil discourse
3) How the absence of truth leads to the absence of trust
4) The guiding light of hope