“Way too cheesy…”

Have you found your real identity as a PR pro?

Or do you shift what it means to be you based on whatever the masses seem to think is hot right now?

People in our field struggle with this more than most. There’s a constant din of online chatter declaring what’s right and wrong in PR.

“Reporters prefer getting pitched via social media,” says one site, while another proclaims, “Reporters hate getting pitched via social media.”

Understanding best practices is key, and it’s admirable to have the humility to change direction when you find out a better way.

The key is why you make those course corrections:

Is it because you’re concerned with what other people think about you? That’s a surefire way to stress and failure.

Instead, understand you’re a leader, whatever your stage of career. YOU study and learn and then determine the right path, and others will follow. You learn to ignore criticism from those on the sidelines and only concern yourself with what you see other leaders do, not what spectators say.

There was a time when an email like this one I’m about to share would have totally knocked me off balance and had me questioning my entire approach to my business. It seems crazy to me now but that’s how ungrounded I used to be.

It came as a reply to the message I sent out two days before Christmas, where I opened up about a time I was fragile and how a kind stranger helped me overcome it.

Here’s how the emailer characterized my offering:

Way too cheesy and I could have done without the theatrics.

That was the entire response.

Like I said, in the past that would have caused me to reconsider an entire side of me. But by this point I had trained myself to think like a leader who respects others’ opinions but charts my own path.

So this was my response:

FWIW, this is how it really went down, and this is who I am. Feel free to unsubscribe if my content/style isn't a good match for what you're looking for.

She stayed a subscriber (hi emailer :), but that’s beside the point.

The point is that YOU are the person who has to bear the consequences of your choices, so YOU are the person who makes those choices for yourself. Not the nameless masses on social media or commenters on PR websites.