Rather than simply being spectators of a show being played from Washington, Toronto or Westminster, it means rethinking basic journalistic conventions about covering issues, such as CSR from other perspectives, including its own. 

In his NY Times blog: The conscience of a Liberal, journalist Paul Krugman, describes Ted Kennedy as “a great man.” Yet he reminds us of the days many remember when Ted Kennedy was a figure of derision

A social conscience is the way we used to express having an attitude towards the world in which each individual acknowledged his/her own actions and the impact these made upon the world. These days, this attitude is commonly call social responsibility.

Seemingly, Ted Kennedy was born with a social conscience.. However, let's not confuse social responsibility of individuals with social justice of entire nations. I'm speaking here of individual actions, not the collective acts with a democracy of policy and government that further freedom with social justice initiatives of fairness and equality.

Much has been written about corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a new value in business. Some would argue it's always been present in the form of a leader with CSR values. Most writers though point to a WIFFM (what's in it for me) position which argues for increased profitability as motivation for businesses to "do the smart thing" by initiating CSR programs that retain customers from switching to more socially responsible brands. Here it's not a socially conscience leader but the boardroom which plays a major role in converting senior managers to a new way of communicating with staff and customers, using the profit and loss lens to deal with any resistance and avoidance to change. Having worked on CSR internal communications within an organization, I can say that this approach only works well when the strategy is championed by leadership and it engages the passions of staff, as well as reinforcing the organization's CSR values.

Doing the right thing.

What about the example that Ted Kennedy sets? He wasn't doing the "smart thing". Born into wealth and privilege, he identified not with the rich and powerful, but with the marginalized and disenfranchised. He was doing the right thing!

Any successful CSR business mandate would be wise to combine the two positions - business and profit as the "smart thing to do" alongside the moral position of the"right thing to do." This parallel approach paves the way for business to more widely engage in CSR - it harnasses employee's passions and provides a space for new leaders to emerge.

Corporate social responsibility is a new practice area for communicators. There is no clear career path laid out, as yet. Courses are beginning to be offered, but as business need increases, many are behind in the upward curve. Some of us are reaching deep inside ourselves from our personal experience as we consult and write for business on corporate social responsibility. As a former documentary maker, my experience comes from telling the story of environmental impact of nuclear power, human rights in the third world, community action for chronic health education and fundraising, and women’s rights in obtaining rights in Canada’s Charter of Rights. A colleague has created a foundation for funding African development, another is helping orphans in Kenya, and yet another is teaching CSR and traveling the world.

Affecting change in oneself or in an organization requires learning new skills. Ted Kennedy remained true to his values. For business to succeed in the CSR space requires the same ethics and transparency. This means consistency and honesty - the ethical piece. Anyone working in CSR communications must stay away from a “corp speak” to touch hearts and minds of stakeholders. Just like Ted Kennedy did.

As business and marketing communications writers we must steer away from catastrophic and apocalyptic thinking – the spectre of doom and gloom is counter-intuitive.

Companies that engage our services are now looking at the turnaround.  Now that the sky isn’t falling, where do we firmly plant our feet? I think it behooves us to provide counsel where it’s needed.  One of my mediation friends gave me some good advice about dealing with chaotic and uncertain situations:  Stay resolutely constructive!

When things get better it tends to be a maturing process.  Our illusions get a reality check, but our courage and determination to survive no matter what the cause, give us the stamina and resilience to change and adapt.

Look for ways your clients have strengthened their brand and positioning, how they’ve let go of what doesn’t work anymore, and become aware of strengthened belief in their product or service.  Faith isn’t about omnipresence, it’s simpler than that. No, faith is about what’s left after we go through a harrowing experience and everything has been stripped away.  It’s the key to a true identity and for that reason, it’s golden. 

The journey towards growing and marketing green business is proving promising.  There is ample opportunity for companies and individuals applying for a dot eco address, but they would have to understand the ground rules in order to play in that space. 

These are interesting times to be witnessing the shaping of social responsibility frameworks and the forging of valued business partnerships.  This is truly an unprecedented opportunity to align business agendas with sustainability’s triple bottom line.

The Internet’s democratic legacy is playing on.  It can only get better.  Dot eco domains will go on sale in 2009.  

Tackling the sustainability issue triggers key issues that arise from within the corporate zeitgeist.  Are we doing this because it’s the right thing to do or the smart thing to do?  Is the driver for sustainability a means to an end, i.e., profitability, or is it a moral imperative, about high minded ethical behaviour towards the planet, environment, diversity, our people?

Fortunately, “saving the world” isn’t what the best sustainability champions are pushing these days. The good ones are solving business problems by talking about the issues.  That’s where we communicators enter the conversation, because we’re trained to think in terms of messaging from a WIIFM (What’s in it – for me?) strategic perspective.

More experts agree that companies are at very different stages in declaring the benefits of sustainability and that’s where we can help in translating sustainability efforts into relevant strategies and goals.  But ensure there's a sustainability champion heading up your team (like I did) otherwise that home run may elude you.   

While demand for my client's services has never been better, striking the right emotional tone and validating the customer's situation is new and there's not a little anxiety about entering this new territory. 

So my strategy in leading this client into the B2C arena is ensuring that the brand's attributes are well defined and positioned.  After that, it's a matter of looking for ways to tease out a more client-facing positioning and finding that elusive emotional hook without resorting to hype and sizzle.

Part of a consultant’s role involves a little hand holding and emotional insight to get the client into a comfort zone and excited about going for the new direction.  Being solely a technical SME on branding can miss the point because relationships are built incrementally and trust is one of the key issues in any partnership. 

I find that the money can often take a back seat when working with new areas of business development.  Like any start-up, it's an up front investment.  The results that count are the conversion rates that become the new business. Nothing pleases me more than to see the satisfaction a client gets when new directions transform from anxiety and chaos into confidence and measurable ROI. 

I am affected by the passion of the non profit storytelling mode of persuasion. When the spark is lit, I am often very moved. I am equally swayed by the cool rhetoric of the business mind that thinks in terms of the bottom line, the ask and the takeaway. There's an elegance in watching the probing and challenging that goes into getting to the heart of a problem - defining the objectives, settling upon a strategy, working out the tactics. When both modes work together, it can be very creative. I think the trick is in being comfortable with different agendas, yet using both sets of skills to work at finding a way through to the same goal.

Today I was on the corporate side of the table watching a passionate advocate with a strong voice make a case. I expect that another time I'll be on that side of the table. I hope I can remember what I saw.

Back to basics

Independent communicators should know that deep knowledge and experience accumulated through every project is the most strategic weapon they have.  Their personal brand is also honed from personal experience and is becoming important in the age of peer to peer communications.

Knowledge and personal experience go hand in hand, have influence over one another and can be a powerful combination.

Toolkit

The use of glossy marketing in opening the door to potential clients is not longer the way to go.  Getting in the door is now about making this powerful combination of professional experience, personal brand and knowledge into a toolkit .  It's one way to optimize thought leadership towards influencing both knowledge and relationships with the ultimate goal of generating business.

As a professional communicator you probably spend a lot of time building context within organizations.  Thought leadership leverages this actiivity by generating even more knowledge, which adds to the pool of resources Directors and Managers can pull from when driving solutions.  When carried out well, thought leadership will help you navigate within an organization and across lines of business. 

Summary

Nowadays positioning thought leadership as an attribute to your brand is essential. More and more companies are using PR to position advisors and marketing communications to measure results.

There may be a lot of noise out there, but good thought leadership never develops in a vacuum, rather it creates a community of interest. 

The challenges to improving business performance are many and diverse: limited resources, deadly deadlines, market competition, budget restrictions -- to name a few. Keeping your target the focus without losing out to the realities of competing priorities is often the biggest challenge.

And what works? Getting the big picture, a thorough understanding of your business, markets, products, values and culture so that you 're not driven by tactics alone. With comprehensive problem solving, the right tools, and the steady conscientious guidance of the right strategy, we deliver quality and an ROI on the money you invest in communications.

And that’s an ultimate result of the work we do at Push A Pencil. It’s a key reason why Push A Pencil is the choice of businesses for content.  Companies such as; CIBC, Molson, Toronto Dominion Bank, Harlequin Enterprises, CBC, Kids Help Phone, Canadian Cancer Society and Toronto Police Service trust us, because delivering your message to your customers, your employees, and your stakeholders is critical to delivering results.

We provide writing, editing and consulting services from front end to delivery for:
•    Corporate Communications
•    Employee Communications
•    Marketing & Customer Communications
•    Public Relations
•    Video Scripts and Production
•    Intranet & Web Content Strategies & Writing

Contact us to discuss your next project.

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