FIR Podcast Network

Ae talk about the PR Writer’s Code of Conduct and ethical communications. An evergreen topic.

During the Olympics this year, Simone Biles stepped away from her competition at the height of her career, citing The Twisties and her mental health. Depending on where you looked on the internet, people either supported her fully or were completely and irrationally critical of her decision. 

A couple of days later, she posted on Twitter, “The outpouring love and support I’ve received has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics, which I never truly believed before.”

She, Naomi Osaka, and Michael Phelps have all led the way for Olympic athletes to be upfront about their mental health and to change the conversation that, until now, has been perpetuated that it’s weak to admit they’re facing a mental hardship.

And it’s not just Olympians who face this: it’s all of us mere mortals, too. Mental health isn’t just a media headline. According to research from PRovoke Media, it’s a groundswell that is leading to a paradigm shift, with employees not hesitating to hold their employers accountable for the mental health of them and their colleagues.

As we consider remote working the new normal, particularly in the work that we do, mental health can be addressed in ways it couldn’t when going to a location was paramount to the work that we do, which is what we are going to discuss on this week’s episode of the Spin Sucks podcast.

Resources Included:

* The Twisties

* PRovoke Media

* The Great Resignation

* Challenger, Gray & Christmas

* Spin Sucks Blog Post: How to Create Work-Life Balance By Saying “Heck, Yes!”

#738: Sam Liebowitz and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Innovative solutions and a platform for today’s business challenges. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Sam Liebowitz (https://www.linkedin.com/in/consciousconsultant/) who is the Director/Executive Producer of Talking Alternative Broadcasting and the Founder/Center Director of Double Diamond Wellness Inc. He’s been bringing his years of business experience to growing enterprises who are looking for innovative solutions to today’s business challenges for many years through his mentoring and coaching.

Sam has been an entrepreneur since 1993, working in over half a dozen different industries in that time. In his latest role as Director and Executive Producer of Talking Alternative Broadcasting, a broadcast-quality Internet Radio Station, Mr. Liebowitz provides the vision, strategy and guidance to fulfill the organization’s vision to be a true alternative to the world of Broadcast Talk Radio.

If you’re a conscious professional and you don’t have a live radio show, consider reaching out to Sam Liebowitz by visiting his website at https://www.doublediamondwellness.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/consciousconsultant/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* #ConsciousProfessionals without their own radio show should reach out to Sam Liebowitz. https://www.linkedin.com/in/consciousconsultant/

* What I’ve been looking to create all these years is a community-minded group of people who are really working together and supporting each other. #ConsciousProfessionals https://www.linkedin.com/in/consciousconsultant/

* I finally got people working with me who really get who I am and what I’ve been trying to create all these years. #ConsciousProfessionals https://www.linkedin.com/in/consciousconsultant/

* Are you a #ConsciousProfessional? I can help you be on a radio show which is one of those almost must-haves these days that will certainly add so much value in your trade. https://www.linkedin.com/in/consciousconsultant/

* With my network Talkradio.NYC, I can provide you with a platform and support you in doing live radio shows with videos online. #ConsciousProfessionals https://www.linkedin.com/in/consciousconsultant/

To view the video interview click here.

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, visit https://thoughtleaderlife.com/.

There are dramatic changes afoot among employee populations. The biggest of these are pandemic-related, including hybrid workforces and employees required to adjust to new at-work realities, including continued social distancing and other measures designed to blunt the spread of viruses. In addition, employees are leaving their jobs in record numbers, part of the “great resignation,” partly brought about the pandemic but also symbolic of changing goals among workers.

Other changes include the growing need for employees who specialize (rather than hiring generalists), increased business reliance on freelancers, less interest in climbing the corporate ladder, fewer people entering the workforce, and the influx of Generation Z into the workplace.

On September 16, 2021, IABC Fellow Brad Whitworth moderated a discussion among four of his fellow Fellows about communicating in this altered reality.

About the panel

Priya Bates is a senior communication executive who provides strategic internal communication counsel in order to ensure leaders, managers, and employees understand the strategy, believe in the vision, act in accordance with the values, and contribute to business results. She is president of Inner Strength Communications in Toronto and previously served as senior director of Internal Communications at Loblaw Companies Limited.

An accredited business communicator, and past global chair of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), Adrian Cropley is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts and consultants in strategic communication. With a career spanning over 30 years, Adrian has worked with clients all over the world, including Fortune 500 companies, on major change communication initiatives, internal communication reviews and strategies, professional development programs and executive leadership and coaching. He has been a keynote speaker and workshop leader on strategic and change communication at international conferences in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore, China, India, Hong Kong, Thailand, New Zealand and Australia. He has received a number of awards including international Gold Quill awards for communication excellence. Adrian is a member of the Program Advisory Committee for the RMIT School of Media and Communication, is currently chairing the IABC’s Big Ideas Taskforce and in 2020 was named a Fellow of the IABC.

Ritzi Ronquillo is a multi-awarded communication leader in corporate, community, and associations in the Philippines and abroad. Ritzi is an Accredited Public Relations (APR) Professional and a Fellow of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), the highest honor bestowed upon an IABC member with significant impact on their organization, on IABC, and on the communication profession at large. She brings four decades of experience in communication and PR to her assignments.  She is a broadcast communication graduate of UP.A university entrance scholar and scholar of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas/Broadcast Media Council (KBP/BMC).

Jennifer Wah, MC, ABC, has worked with clients to deliver ideas, plans, words and results since she founded her storytelling and communications firm, Forwords Communication Inc., in 1997. The company operates as a strategic alliance of hand-picked professionals; all renowned for work in their areas of specialization. This approach means the right team is assembled for each project; no more, no less.   With more than two dozen awards for strategic communications, writing, and consulting, Jennifer is recognized as a storyteller and strategist. She has worked in industries from healthcare to financial services to academia, and is passionate about the opportunity for stories to inspire actions and reactions within organizatio...

Fifteen years. It has been 15 years since Spin Sucks launched. It’s kind of crazy to think that I started a blog about communications when I was just 15 years old! Just kidding! I was 20. OK, that’s also a lie.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years. Heck, I’ve been married to the same man for nearly two decades. Where does the time go?

Fifteen years ago, Pluto was downgraded from a planet to a dwarf planet, Saddam Hussein was executed, Google bought YouTube, and the Nintendo Wii was released. 

There were no iPhones (that was the following year) and we were all using a flip phone or a Blackberry to text one another. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, and more weren’t household names yet. And, of course, we were all 15 years younger. 

On this week’s episode of the Spin Sucks podcast, we’re going to talk about what’s changed in the last 15 years—and how far the blog turned book turned podcast turned professional development site turned PESO Model Certification has come since then.

Resources Included:

* PESO Model Certification

* The Very First Spin Sucks Blog Post

* Spin Sucks Community

#737: Joe Frankie III and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Merchandise yourself better and achieve your desired objective with the use of LinkedIn. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Joe Frankie III (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joefrankieiii/), Chief Executive Officer, Founder, Coach, Author, Mentor, Speaker, and LinkedIn Strategies. He has mentored 664 executives, veterans, and students using LinkedIn and their resumes to merchandise themselves better and achieves their desired objective. Joe finds and assesses top-tier talents which could lead and flourish in organizational culture. He believes that one size does not fit all, and this led him to coach civil and military leaders on an individual basis so that they could learn how to build a LinkedIn bridge from where they are and where they want to go. Joe supports multifunctional requirements of potential candidates, clients, and projects. He supports the energy, technology, engineering, defense, aerospace, and environmental spaces. If you’re 40 plus, or you know somebody who is in that age range and just wondering what’s next, reach out to Joe Frankie III by visiting his website https://www.linkedin.com/in/joefrankieiii/. Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Forty-plus-year-olds who do not know what’s next should reach out to Joe Frankie III. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joefrankieiii/

* I talk to various leaders and help them decide where they want to go then I try to engineer a LinkedIn bridge for them. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joefrankieiii/

* Some leaders want to change sectors. Some want a promotion. Others are unemployed who want to land a job. All those require slightly different strategies. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joefrankieiii/

* I don’t think I’ve coached any person the same way twice because it’s their mission, and I’m a facilitator in that mission. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joefrankieiii/

* I’ve coached around 1000 military, and I helped them transition into the civil sector by translating what they did in the military into the vernacular a hiring manager would understand. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joefrankieiii/

To view the video interview click here.

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, visit https://thoughtleaderlife.com/.

Every time we find someone has inadvertently used the PESO Model without credit to Spin Sucks, we have a process we follow. If I know the person or someone at the company, I reach out personally and politely ask for credit and a link to the website. If it’s not someone I know personally, one of my colleagues will do that. 

In most cases—I’d say 95% of the time—it truly is inadvertent. People believe that if it’s on the internet, it’s free to use. Of course, that’s not the case at all. You can’t use someone’s likeness or photos or logos without permission or often without paying for it. And yet, it happens all the time. But when you point it out, almost everyone is gracious and will fix it immediately.

Then there are the 5% who are, well, complete jerks about it. These are the people who blame the interns. Every time. In fact, when someone tells me it was the intern’s fault, I know I have a fight ahead of me and will likely have to bring the attorney in to help. Because those people are always full of it and they’re not going to admit wrongdoing, no matter how much documentation you show that proves you own the copyright and trademarks. 

The poor intern always takes the brunt. When companies post tweets that should have stayed in drafts, there’s always someone who says, “Fire the intern who posted this.” And when an email is accidentally sent with “Dear First Name” embedded, the same cry rallies across the web.

I don’t know about you, but I was definitely an intern at one time in my life. And I made some mistakes. But I’ve also made mistakes as a professional with many years of experience and expertise unique to me and my agency. None of those mistakes are the fault of the intern, which is what we are going to discuss on this week’s episode of the Spin Sucks podcast.

Resources Included:

* PESO Model

* HBO Tweet

* Spin Sucks Community

* #dearintern

It’s fall and there’s always a hint of excitement in the air. At least it should be.

But so many people still have questions about what their work situation will be like. And companies are grappling with policies around going back to the office, staying remote or some sort of hybrid compromise.

How will you communicate your decision to your team?

Of course, there are no easy answers, but if you’re interested in our take, check out this episode of Inside PR.

Gini Dietrich, Joe Thornley and Martin Waxman talk about:

* The importance of having a communicator in the room when workplace decisions are being made.

* Why organizations need to listen closely and pay attention to people’s reactions.

* Giving employees an opportunity to voice their opinions and know they’re being heard, rather than simply feeling they’re being talked at.

* Creating a culture of empathy by understanding people’s situations, anxieties and fears.

* Being flexible and letting people know nothing’s set in stone and that you’re prepared to adapt if need be.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

#736: Caryn Ross and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Break free from blind spots to lead a more productive life, career, and business.

This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Caryn Ross (https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryn-ross/), career mindset coach, certified life coach, trainer, speaker and author of the Amazon book “The Key to Being a Highly Successful Woman.” She has taught at several universities as an adjunct professor on leadership, business development, and career planning.

Caryn works with high performing executives to build that champion mindset that will enable them to be confident, impactful leaders, contributors and visionaries.

If you have #BlindSpots stopping you from being the person you really need to be, consider reaching out to Caryn Ross by visiting her LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryn-ross/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Executives with blind spots should reach out to Caryn Ross https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryn-ross/

* I can identify #BlindSpots in your organization and provide a safe, nurturing, and confidential space for you, your leaders and managers, to be able to share what those blind spots are. https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryn-ross/

* My role is to help you identify the solutions and strategies to move past the #BlindSpots so you can lead your organization more productively. https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryn-ross/

* I can guide you in overcoming obstacles that may be limiting your success and how to turn these challenges into opportunities for growth and achievement. #BlindSpots https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryn-ross/

* With my counsel, I can help you create better profits and better efficiencies based on the #BlindSpots deterring you from becoming an authentic leader who people want to say “I want to work for you.” https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryn-ross/

To view the video interview click here.

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, visit https://thoughtleaderlife.com/.

On episode 551 of Inside PR, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman, and Joe Thornley do a special recording for the Earned Media Mastery Summit with Agility PR Solutions. They discuss the future of the PR industry—exciting things to come, as well as the challenges young professionals will face as they grow in their careers.

Listen to this episode to learn:

* Why you should stop using spreadsheets in favor of software to help you do your job;

* Media outlets continue to shrink and journalists no longer have beats—and what that means for your future, especially if you have any earned media responsibility;

* How to use paid, owned, and shared media to supplement the work that we do from an earned media perspective;

* That artificial intelligence is already here and already ready to do the more mundane parts of your job so why you should stop waiting for a memo and do something about it; and

* How machine learning can beat all of the best practices and teach you what works best for your organization, your audiences, and your prospective customers.

Enjoy!