Today’s guest post comes from Doreen Overstreet, Vice President of Public Relations at Linda Costa Communications Group. What are the best mistakes you’ve ever made? Take a look at Doreen’s, and leave yours in the comments below!
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Post by: Doreen Overstreet
In 12 years working at a PR/marketing agency, I’ve had a lot of wins, but I’ve also made a lot of bad calls. Everyone says, “Learn from your mistakes,” but you can’t begin to learn from your faults if you don’t take the first step: acknowledging them.
In Carl Honoré’s excellent book The Slow Fix, there’s a chapter titled “Confess: The Magic of Mistakes and the Mea Culpa.” He makes a case to embrace your own fallibility because in doing so, you can make long-term improvements.
So here’s my confession – warts and all – and you’ll see why they are the best mistakes I’ve ever made.
“Fear of Rejection.” In media relations, you get rejected a lot and you don’t have control. It’s probably why most people don’t like it. I used to think my pitches had to be perfect – and my hesitation would hold me back. I’d spend lots of time crafting the perfect pitch. While I hesitated, the timely news value was shrinking. I had to become fearless, clear and concise to get better. I’m not afraid of getting “no’s” anymore – more importantly, I’m not afraid to ask. And after all, even if you get refused at one door, you might still be able to go through a window with another story angle. It’s all about pleasant persistence and patience – not perfection. I always joke that if I ever enter the dating pool again, I’ll be ready because I can now embrace rejection.
“Too Trusting.” One time I pitched a reporter and he wanted background from a client on an issue he was writing about. My client had one of his employees put an article together. I eagerly submitted it, but to my disappointment the reporter said the copy had been plagiarized from the web. Now, I always “trust, but verify.” Just because a client sends something – or if there’s verbiage taken from a website – it doesn’t mean it is correct or accurate. As PR professionals, we are paid to be paranoid, so question everything and ensure accuracy – your reputation and relationships depend on it.
“It’s Easier to do it Myself.” I mistakenly thought that it was easier and faster to just do certain tasks myself than to take the time to train others. In the short-term, that’s fine. In the long-term, you make yourself – and others – miserable. First, you’re not growing as a professional. Secondly, you’re not of value to your company if you can’t train others to do what you do well. The funny thing about delegation is that once you teach people how to do something, you actually become better at it. That’s because you’re challenged to articulate the process – and by doing so, you refine it (that’s why teachers are smart). As my boss says, “There’s no sainthood in martyrdom.” So delegate … or be doomed.
“I Couldn’t Channel My Enthusiasm.” As a young PR professional, I had lots of energy (which was good) – but I had so much that I came off as nervous and spazzy. I’d sit in client meetings and get so excited I’d blurt something out that was off base. In addition, I had this distracting nervous laugh. Luckily, my boss called me out on it and I explained that I wasn’t comfortable in some of these situations, so my spazz tendencies surfaced. I combatted this by channeling my enthusiasm. I went to Toastmasters, which helped a lot. I didn’t change who I was – I’m still quirky and not super serious – but I have more focus and control. After all, perception is reality (one of the first rules of PR).
“Trying to Write to Impress.” I’m not a natural writer. I envy people who are PR writing ninjas. My boss is a really good writer and editor and I work (and have worked) with amazing writers … which intimidated the heck out of me. So I spent a lot of time arguing with the voice in my head that I couldn’t write well. Whenever I’d make a mistake (like spell the country Colombia as Columbia), it added fuel to the fire that I wasn’t good enough. But instead of backing away from writing, I backed in. I wrote, read and edited more – and more importantly, I stopped comparing myself with others. I took on challenging writing and dedicated the extra time to get the assignments done. Gradually, I improved. Writing better takes time – like anything (or like Honoré would say, it’s a slow fix).
“Forgetting to Take my Birth Control.” Eight years ago, my workaholic nature propelled me to always take on extra work and enter nine FPRA Image Award nominations. Because of all the late nights, I neglected to refill my birth control. Assuming that it would still be in my system, I learned after getting pregnant that a woman is most fertile right after getting off birth control (another mistake … not taking enough science classes). Having my son with my husband was one of the best mistakes I’ve made because it made me achieve a work/life balance. I had to learn to say “no” and be more efficient and effective – and for someone like me, that is a gift. My bosses gave me flex time to accommodate the new schedule as well. Planning to have a child is always a futile exercise because you’ll never have one at the “right” time in your career. Surprises are wonderful – embrace them.
I’ve made more mistakes than this, but luckily, I’ve made a lot of good decisions, too – such as staying in touch with coworkers (benefits of guest blog posting), never being satisfied with the PR status quo and always learning things.
Next time you catch yourself in a mistake, instead of overcompensating or trying to justify it – work on fixing it … even if it’s a slow fix. Then it won’t be a mistake, it will be learning experience.
Doreen Overstreet is Vice President of Public Relations at Linda Costa Communications Group, an integrated PR and marketing agency based in Winter Park, Fla. Follow her on Twitter at @DoreenO.