Lincoln didn’t care that these men had campaigned against him. Rather, he chose them because they were skilled and principled. They also represented important parts of the Republican coalition. Being a rival wasn’t the real criteria for cabinet; it was being smart, hard-working, effective and committed to the goal of emancipation. They were achievers. Salmon Chase, William Seward, Edward Bates and others were highly competent men. As Lincoln said himself: “I looked over the party and concluded these were the strongest men.” Through the experience, they came to admire and love the lawyer from Illinois who would preserve the Union, win the war, and die for his efforts.

In assembling such a group, a key lesson for CEOs and other senior leaders is to consider their working relationships with senior peers. For CEOs in particular, it means adapting to a range of personalities and working effectively with each. It is a balancing act of setting expectations and standards but also accepting that there is more then one way to achieve success.

These men were also great networkers. Seward in particular hosted gatherings at his home almost nightly and Lincoln spent many evenings at the residence. The two men became incredibly close and almost died together, save for those who intervened to fight off the second assassin.

In addition to his cabinet, some of the strongest personalities Lincoln faced were among his generals. These men were often arrogant and bristled at civilian interference. As Commander in Chief, Lincoln showed patience and deference with his generals, making suggestions but giving them every chance to succeed. Only when they became paralyzed or failed in successive battles did he intervene. Again, we see his approach to offer support, set expectations, seek their opinions and watch for success. After the failure of some, and relieving them of their roles, Lincoln settled on Ulysses S. Grant as his choice to head the army. Grant was opinionated and challenged Lincoln, for sure, but most important, he was successful in battle.

Here are a few management lessons I have taken from reading about this great President:

Don’t be threatened by talent: recruit people who will work independently and on teams as necessary for organizational success.

Set the fundamental values and principles for the organization and then let the team work to achieve the goals.

Communicate clearly and repetitively as needed. The Gettysburg address was only two minutes long.

Maintain the confidence of your troops by showing you care and support them. (The rank and file military vote went over 70 per cent for Lincoln in the 1864 election.)

Hold the leadership team accountable for success and challenge them on important larger issues when required.

Recognize the value of people who network and interact well with other senior professionals. They usually are good at finding new opportunities, have realistic opinions and can extend market influence.

Be patient with differences of opinion or acts of ego if it is necessary to preserve the team for the greater goals.

Master the timing and inevitability of change –­ “not waiting to be dragged by the force of events or wasting strength in premature struggles with them.”

Conduct yourself with graciousness and patience.

President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, and died on April 15, 1865. Such a tragedy. His good friend, Seward, survived his wounds and went on to purchase Alaska from Great Britain. Always an achiever.

In 2012, his typical morning has changed a bit. He reads the newspaper on his tablet, writes a tweet for his client, makes an update on his client’s Facebook page, and maybe even updates his personal blog. Sound familiar? If not, surely your role is about to change in the year ahead.

Some have dubbed our new title to be content managers. I think it’s true. The foundation of our business is story telling – developing and delivering compelling information for our clients’ audiences. With the evolution of social media and digital tools and channels, we are in an even greater position to leverage our talents for our clients’ needs.

As we move into the year, here are a few thought starters about your role as a communicator in 2012.

Read more. It’s a fact that reading makes you smarter, but more importantly it makes you a better writer and increases your ability to think creatively. Pick up magazines you normally wouldn’t, read a comic book, add a memoir or non-fiction pick to your e-reader, and set up a Google reader with an interesting mix of websites. By diversifying your reading habits, you’ll colour your content creation toolbox.

Expand your knowledge of social media tools. In 2005 Facebook was all the rage, Twitter came in hot in 2008, and Tumblr took storm in 2010. These tools are all still popular, but what’s next? We’re aware of video sharing sites like Vimeo and Tout.com, but, what else could you be using? Being aware of social media tools is a good first step, and Overdrive Interactive, an online services firm, has the perfect social media map to get started.

Increase your use of social media tools. We’re all on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, but what other tools could you be using to communicate with your personal or professional networks? If you’re thinking of starting a blog, then explore Tumblr.com and Wordpress.com, or if you’re a news junky, sign up on Reddit.com, a user-generated news links site, to find out what others are reading. It’s easy to become complacent in our social media use, but with new tools popping up frequently, it’s important we know what’s available.

Get cultured, or more cultured. With the availability of Netflix, Walrus’s new digital TV service eqhd, e-books and tablets, there’s no excuse for not having access to everything pop culture at our fingers tips from books to documentaries and new music. Pick up a newspaper, read the arts reviews, and make a list of music shows, exhibits or documentaries to attend or download. Toronto Standard, a daily digital briefing, is my new favourite site for art and style, and Monocle, is a glossy, thick magazine covering international affairs, business culture and design. I suggest checking them out.

I know everyone is already doing this stuff, so this post only acts as a reminder of the importance of staying cultured. The more we do, the more we know. The more we know, the more we can do for our clients.

Happy story telling . . . I mean, content creating.

Womenomics
By Claire Shipman and Katty Kay
HarperBusiness, 2009
256 pages

According to Womenomics, by career women Claire Shipman (Good Morning America) and Katty Kay (BBC News), there’s a “workplace revolution” going on. Women are pushing aside the “daycare dash” and 60-hour work week, but without having to compromise their seat at the table.

This is great news, but why is this finally happening now, versus 10 or 15 years ago? Because emerging research is showing that women make companies money and now top organizations’ “most wanted list.”  Which means, now more than ever, employers are listening to and delivering on what talented women want – be it flexible work schedules, four-day work weeks and more.

In Womenomics, Shipman and Kay provide study after study demonstrating the power women are gaining in the American workplace (which, in and of itself, was a refreshing message to hear after years of glass-ceiling stories), while also providing a roadmap on how to build satisfying careers without having to give it the “all-or-nothing” lifestyle. And they make a point of demonstrating to companies that women are not looking for “a better company cafeteria, a free dinner after working late, or a fancy gym,” but ways to adapt to their life’s demands.

“Be it an inclusive and constructive management style; women’s right-brain multitasking and problem-solving skills; their valued opinions about products (because they do the bulk of buying for their families); or the fact that on average, they have lots of degrees and nations are facing a shortage of college-educated workers,” Shipman and Kay say that companies are realizing they need to be flexible if they want to attract and retain talented women in their workforce.

As a working parent and practice team leader I find this historic shift exciting and indeed necessary – be it for women or men. But as a communications expert, I have to admit, I find it a bit daunting because a big part of this phenomenon includes people significantly cutting their time in the office and working when and where they want, as long as they get the job done.

Think about it – significantly cutting their time in the office and working when and where they want. Great initiatives, but how does this affect internal communications and employee engagement? Do companies now just turn a blind-eye to the value that ongoing in-person discussions bring, staff meetings generate, town halls meetings fuel, and team-building exercises power? Or do companies now have to work even harder to ensure that as more people (women or men) work from home or work flex hours there needs to be even more elbow grease applied to an internal communications effort that not only keeps people informed, but keeps them engaged and connected to the company, its values and their colleagues.

Obviously e-mail, social media and teleconferences can play a huge role here, but as we witness this historic shift in the workplace we as communicators need to shine a spotlight on the challenges of engaging a workforce in this new paradigm. We need to encourage companies to do even more on the internal communications front to keep their workers engaged and working as a team in this new flexible arrangement.

Womenonics provides a refreshing view of what’s unfolding in the workplace and it’s something to be applauded and embraced. But as communications professionals we need to not only be aware of this paradigm shift, we also need to advocate even harder for internal communications efforts that help workers and their companies adjust and remain engaged.

I quickly found that promoting your brand, your product (or anything else for that matter) to the media is not an easy task at a show as crowded as CES. Due to the robust program of the show, not to mention the hundreds of exhibits to see, reporters have super busy schedules and don’t have much time for anything that is not breaking news.

However, with some persistence, I was able to have EDTA President Brian Wynne sit down with AutoWeek and CarSmartNews.com, two important outlets for the association. Check out a shot of the AutoWeek interview in the photo on the right! (And that’s the GoElectricDrive.com / EDTA booth in the background.)

While these interviews were successful, and I am expecting media coverage results soon, there are some other things I learned about how to maximize you or your client’s CES experience during my time at this year’s show. Check out these key “dos and don’ts”:

DO:

Know logistical details before you arrive. In the case of CES, be aware of how crowded this show will be and allow for way more time than you think is needed to get to and from places. The hotel staff told me it was only a five minute shuttle ride to the Las Vegas Convention Center, but because of the large crowds and horrible traffic congestion, it took 45 minutes, causing me to almost miss my client’s interview. (I made it just in time, phew!)

Maximize your time on the show floor. With so many exhibitors from a variety of industries, you can’t afford to waste the opportunities to learn and network. By simply walking around and meeting people, especially a number of EDTA members, I was able to make new contacts, which can be great for potential new business opportunities!

DON’T:

Wear uncomfortable shoes! Ladies, this mostly applies to you, but men, listen up as well: In order to run around chasing down reporters for client interviews, you can’t be worried about blisters. Luckily, I was fortunate to have a pair of flats on hand.

Forget to attend sessions and/or keynote speeches. These events can be good places to discover more about your client’s industry, a new industry where you might establish contacts and/or business, or meet reporters. I wish I would have had time to go to some this year – lesson learned for next time!

Amongst the latter — and more strategically useful — types of articles we see in the communications industry involve insights and data offering a view of consumer trends in the year past, and where these might lead going forward. While the PR, advertising and marketing industries start to plan for the coming year and launch campaigns that compete for consumers’ attention, consumer trends data can be extremely helpful in charting a brand’s course and evaluating how last year’s strategies lined up with consumer interests. To stand out from all the “cultural noise” that consumers encounter on a daily basis, maintaining an informed view of consumer trends can mean the difference between getting ignored and getting noticed.

Looking back

Looking at the year past is a great way to see measure how closely the previous year’s strategies and tactics lined-up with what consumers were really interested in. Last year’s trends also offer an excellent window into the kinds of developments we’re likely to see down the road. While technology can create an unexpected game-changer (remember a world before the iPad?), the evolution in consumer trends is generally more gradual. While shifts are inevitable from year to year, the nature — and sociological impetus — for widespread changes in consumer behavior take time to develop, so last year’s data can be extremely useful.

An excellent example is Marketing Magazine’s 2011 Canadian Digital Consumer Insights infographic. The infographic is full of useful data that has implications well beyond the digital space. Whether you want to know how many Canadians are online, where they’re spending their time, or the specific devices they’re using, it’s all there. Canadians are becoming world leaders in internet usage and general social connectivity online, so understanding that behavior and entering Canada’s top social communities with an intelligent plan (intelligent as in a S.M.A.R.T. plan) can help you get your clients where they need to be.

At Environics Communications, we’re obsessed with results and the kinds of opportunities innovative technologies represent for our clients, so you can bet we’ll be paying close attention to these trends. Mobile and online integration is just one area that you can be sure will continue to grow into 2012, representing not just new opportunities for engaged communication, but also a chance to measure and deliver results your clients may never have known existed.

Looking forward

A more difficult task is predicting—with accuracy—what the biggest trends will be moving into 2012. Trendwatching.com recently released their 12 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2012. The report sees, among other things, novel forms of online and mobile shopping, new B2C2B cycles for the ever-growing number of gadgets at our disposal (just check out what eBay has been doing with their Instant Sale app), and entire new demographic segments evolving from the world’s mega-cities in places like India, Mexico and Japan.

While some of these insights will be of general interest for communications professionals the world over, others will be important considerations for creating relevant, nuanced and integrated communications and marketing campaigns this year.

Lessons to keep in mind

Regardless of past or future consumer trends, paying attention to your client’s specific sector and customer base is always going to be important. Work with clients to match anticipated consumer trends to their specific consumer insights data. While this kind of information is not always available to agency partners, consumer insights can play an important part in the planning process. A recent Forbes article outlines some of the best ways consumer insights data can be used — and shared — as part of a wider planning process.

There’s a lot of competition for attention these days and a good communicator knows that listening is just as important as speaking when trying to reach consumers. Understanding where we’ve been, and where we’re headed, should be the first step when planning a new campaign. So be sure to look both ways: into the past and into the future.

Mid-sized technology businesses seem too often to miss the boat when it comes to harnessing the power of social media. Start-ups and enterprises more often than not do a much better job of strategically integrating social into their business as an essential tenet of the overall marketing effort.

We wanted to draw out ideas and frank thinking on the topic, hence the event. An audience of about 35 tech professionals enjoyed an hour-long discussion between four professionals with real experience in deploying social tactics in the tech space. Amrita Chandra,  Sequentia Environics; Rob Maurin, Wave Accounting; Samantha Morris, Asigra and BackupHeroes.com; and Ryan Poissant, MaRS Discovery District joined me in a lively analysis of experiences with social platforms, content and planning.

We recorded the session, and following is the first excerpt, which focuses on channels. At least two more will appear in the future, so watch this and other spaces.

I personally took away many insights, and one that rang true was Amrita Chandra’s prediction that “social media” and “social networking” will one day disappear as marketing descriptors, replaced instead by “social business.” And another day in the future social will be simply an essential aspect of “business.”

Recently, I was meeting with a client and they raised the question if it was good or bad to be the legacy agency. This person saw it as a mixed blessing and I accept why they could have this point of view. There is no business or employment relationship that should be justified by longevity alone. That kind of inertia won’t work in the modern, fast-paced and rapidly changing business environment.

I believe in the concept of meritocracy where advancement is based on achievement and ability. As I say to clients, we’re obsessed by results at Environics. We should have to earn their loyalty every year, not just expect it.

There are ways to keep a business relationship fresh and strong and in my years in the agency world, here are a few practices that we try to follow:

New blood: The natural turnover of staff creates the opportunity to bring in new people, new ideas and renewed energy. The key is to ensure that they have the right skills, seniority and knowledge to meet current client challenges. The ideal recipe is a mix of old and new, to ensure continuity and deep knowledge is matched with new approaches and ideas.

New blood (2): Pay attention to how the client’s priorities or business model are changing and match team members accordingly. If the focus is moving from B2B to B2C, for example, that can entail a different type of team composition.

Metrics: After one year of working with a client, the agency is now competing against itself to do better and better. Establishing and agreeing on quantitative metrics and qualitative goals is the best way to measure results from year to year and have clear understanding of the task. Budgets and target audiences may change over time, affecting the results that are desired or attainable. The use of metrics will help keep relations strong.

Invest time in each other: The more the agency knows about the client and their business, the better the service and results. This takes time to invest through training, briefings, access and openness. The agency can do some of this on its own, but clients need to be open and share as well.

Support new clients: There are times when Environics team members have been involved in the business longer than the current client contact. These occasions require measured mentoring, to offer assistance wherever possible, but also leaving enough room to be respectful. Investing time in new clients is the mark of a professional and good for the relationship.

Introduce new services: As the years pass, new services are essential to a strong client relationship. They can add freshness and value to the relationship or meet important new needs. Whether it is government relations, digital strategy, executive training or other areas, the agency should actively communicate how it can help in ways beyond the traditional.

Seek feedback: Every good relationship manager listens for feedback whenever possible, and actively seeks it out. Some people are forthcoming with feedback and others have to be asked. Continuous improvement is healthy in a business relationship and can’t happen without good communication. This feedback should include the positive accolades we all like, as well as the areas for improvement.

Accept feedback: Smart business people are open to continuous feedback and look at how they can change to improve a relationship. Everyone likes to hear praise, but when a client shares dissatisfaction, I always thank them. It gives us a chance to learn, change and do better. Denial is rarely helpful. When dissatisfaction isn’t expressed, things get worse and one day the relationship is suddenly over.

Exceed expectations: It rarely hurts to be smarter, more creative and responsive and generally over-deliver! As everyone knows, there are many cases in our everyday lives where service falls short of expectations. Consumer loyalty is widely acknowledged as a fading concept. The key is to ensure every point of the client experience meets and exceeds expectations, from the daily phone call to the strategic thinking of the plans to the clarity of the invoices.

Speaking of loyalty, we feel a genuine loyalty to our longstanding clients at Environics. As organizations and individuals, they are valued business partners and professional colleagues. The points above are just a few of the ways we work to build long-term relationships. We are very committed to growing together and exceeding expectations at every opportunity!

As a newcomer to a mid-sized PR agency, I have had to adjust my organizational and prioritization tactics. Before, I worked at a boutique agency and only worked on one client account. Therefore, it was relatively easy to manage deadlines and priorities.

Shifting to my current job at Environics, I work on many different client accounts. I have used my time here to hone in on my organizational skills in order to stay on top of my game and not get over stressed. Below are some of my tips for staying productive and on track in the workplace. Hopefully, these tips will help you stay organized!

Use your calendar

I cannot emphasize this enough. If someone emails me to meet briefly for 15 minutes to discuss client work, I will send them a calendar invitation. There is nothing worse than forgetting a meeting and having your entire day thrown off. Also, keep all client calls and meetings, after-work networking events, and upcoming due dates marked on your calendar. When you come in Monday morning and open your calendar you will know what your workload looks like for the week and it will help you manage your time more efficiently.

Keep an ever-changing to-do list

Some do this in their task manager. I, however, have a mini white board that I keep next to my right hand on my desk so I can add items as they come in throughout the day. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than taking my dry erase marker, flipping it over to the eraser, and removing an item off my to-do list. The simple act of clearing the white board of just one task gives me a twinge of accomplishment.

Set internal goals or deadlines

Even though we all have client and management related deadlines, I like to set personal deadlines so that I am able to better prioritize. I may have multiple items for three different clients due at noon on Monday; so setting noon on Monday as my personal deadline is not feasible. I plan out each day by writing down what I need to accomplish by COB. If I am not finished with my list for the day, I work late.  Otherwise, things pile up and you can get overwhelmed. Another tip is to set your goals or deadlines for the upcoming few days, so you can plan your time accordingly.

Take breaks

Another trick I have related to setting goals and deadlines is I commit to myself that I am going work for an hour straight and then take a five minute break to walk around the office or get a snack, for example. This sets time deadlines for working and keeps you focused. It also works if a colleague stops by your cube to chat you can let them know you are in the middle of something and that you will stop by in 20 minutes (or whenever your internal time deadline is up).

Keep it clean

Every day before I leave the office I file or recycle any loose papers on my desk.  If I plan to use the documents in the morning, I stack them neatly and write a “To-do” post-it note on them with the due date or time for the next day. This helps me stay focused and clear about what I need to be working on the next morning. It also saves time in the end; rather than searching through the stack of papers on your desk; you will have it all neatly sorted and know where everything is.

Finally- be flexible

No matter how productive or organized we all want to be in an ideal world; life inevitably gets in the way. You will get pulled into conversations with colleagues, even if you are trying to truly focus on a project. Pop-up meetings happen, and so will tight deadlines. We all must remember — just breathe and everything will work itself out, one white board marker erase at a time!

The Cluetrain Manifesto

“A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter – and getting smarter faster than most companies.”

Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls and David Weinberger, authors of The Cluetrain Manifesto, have one message for us: It’s the end of business as usual.

In the original edition, first published in 2000, the authors deliver ahead of their time, often satirical and “in-your-face” messages about the impact that the the Internet will have on markets and business. They explain how markets are changing at a remarkable rate and, if companies want to make it in this new world, they had better be smarter and faster than their competition, and they had better listen. In the 10th anniversary edition the message is the same.

The book is laid out in 95 theses organized as a call-to-action manifesto. Several of the theses overlap and most offer the same advice: learn to speak with a human voice, avoid corporate jargon, and listen to customers. These are imperative to success in business. The authors note that most corporations think of communicating with their audiences in “the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement or corporate brochure.” Doesn’t this sound familiar? There are many notions in Cluetrain on which we as PR professionals often counsel our clients.

The authors point out that through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to converse with one another. These people are talking about your business, and they’re telling each other the truth in human voices. They then note that you have two choices: you can continue to hide behind corporate jargon and “happytalk brochures” or you can join the conversation.

The book provides an interesting take on PR. In chapter four the author explains how there is something “deeply phony” about the profession, and discusses the ever-infamous PR Types, i.e., the used car salesmen of the corporate world, however, points out that the best of the people in PR are not PR Types at all. He notes that it’s not our job as PR professionals to sensor the real story, rather determine the stories that the market actually wants to hear. Lastly, he defends PR by stating that, given the age of the web, where things can blow up in a matter of seconds, the real work of PR will be more important than ever.

Key takeaways from Cluetrain: first and likely most important, with the exception of a few new chapters, most of the book was written 10 years ago. Years before the Internet would prove to be as vital as it is today; the authors predicted that the Internet would take off simply because it allows for “human to human” conversations. As we near 2012, however, you may be thinking, “Tell us something we don’t know.” I have to agree. Is it just me, or is this something we continually stress to our clients and pride ourselves on in communications as an industry?

I recommend reading the entire list of theses, but a few to think about: #74: We are immune to advertising. Just forget it; #75: If you want us to talk to you, tell us something. Make it something interesting for a change. Lastly, #95: We are waking up and linking to each other. We are watching. But we are not waiting.

Cited as a source in more than 5,000 other books, it’s clear that The Cluetrain Manifesto is a book that should be read by every business professional, even if we can nod our heads along in agreement as we read.

It’s a transition I have been enjoying because I am learning new things and realizing that nonprofits and companies have more in common than many people may think.

Perhaps not surprisingly, a lot of features of the nonprofit/association world overlap with those of an agency:

Dedication to serving customers—At an association it’s all about the members. A nonprofit has clients or funders to please. Similarly, agencies want to create happy returning customers. The best organizations, of all these types, prioritize discovering and meeting the needs of their constituents.

Hard work—Yep, it’s everywhere! The best organizations understand their goals, set out steps to meet them, and work hard to achieve (or exceed) expectations. (Check out these inspirational quotes about the merits of hard work.)

Adherence to standards—Knowing what kind of work the organization wants to produce and sharing these standards with the staff helps to raise the bar for everyone. In communications this may mean proofreading materials, researching audiences thoroughly, and planning strategically.

One of the reasons I was interested in joining an agency was variety. And boy did I find it! One minute I’m working on building a media list, the next I’m writing a news release or talking with a client about their needs. I like having the opportunity to work with many people on different topics and organizations with varying needs. Juggling priorities and engaging on multiple projects with a variety of tasks keeps me energized and pleasantly challenged.

Conversely, in my nonprofit experience I often spent weeks of my time on just one project. While at a communications agency long-term projects may arise, they usually entail a variety of tactics and work needed to accomplish the goal.

The variety of an agency cultivates creativity, which is another aspect I enjoy. I think the best work places try to create a culture of open exchange and creativity so that they can work to solve problems and serve their customers better.

Since I am only at the start of my communications agency experience, I plan to approach the work from the commonalities with my previous background and embrace the vital differences that make an agency thrive.

I’m eager to learn more about working at an agency and to contribute my communications skills to a growing business.

What are some of the best practices you’ve learned from working in communications? Do you have tips to share on how to succeed at a communications agency for a newbie like me?