Are you developing this overlooked skill?

I want to introduce you to someone. She’s one of the most effective PR pros I’ve ever worked with, and I finally figured out why.

She’s comms VP at a meteoric software company and a client of mine. Two weeks ago I spent a day with her advising several executives at the company.

First of all, I was amazed that she got two sets of these guys to take 3.5 hours out of their days to sit down with me. Some had flown in late the night before and were about to hit the road again after we were done.

Typically it’s difficult to get executives to appreciate the importance and value of media relations, let alone ask them to personally invest in it.

And not only did they show up, they listened to her. And because they trust her, they listened to me. Some of them didn’t necessarily like what I had to say to them, but they trusted her that it would make their business better, so they accepted it.

Most remarkably, she has only been at this company for a few months.

In chatting with her about it privately, it dawned on me. She’s really good at a lot of media relations skills – identifying newsworthy angles, connecting with reporters, identifying opportunities and threats. But what she excels at is influencing others over whom she has no real authority.

Think about it – that’s really the essence of media relations, isn’t it? You definitely don’t have authority over your media contacts, but you seek to build trust and match interests with them to the point where they act on your suggestions.

And to have content to share with them, you need to influence people within your organization (or your clients) to work with you. Often you need to tell people that what’s important to them isn’t newsworthy. And then ask them to change their approach or invest more effort to help you in a way that doesn’t immediately support their individual objectives.

Sounds challenging when I put it like that, but it can be done. And this stellar VP is Exhibit A.

No matter what your level of seniority, are you actively developing your ability to influence others over whom you have no authority?