Cool Head, Easily Said
When I first explored the public relations field, an early mentor told me that the foundation of the practice was really common sense and, primarily, always encouraging clients to keep a cool head, no matter. Some may say, easily said, but hard in practice, considering that all human activity is, after all, human.
Public relations practitioners are often called into difficult situations where emotions can run high, and putting aside all the qualities that a good practitioner should have, perhaps “keeping a cool head” is the most difficult to accommodate. Sometimes the very characteristics that make a good public relations practitioner such as creativity and sensitivity are sometimes accompanied by emotional reaction to confrontational situations.
Today The New York Times endorsed Barack Obama for President. No surprise of course, but the leading quality it proffered was his “cool head and sound judgment.” The Times calls on these essential qualities for a President: strength of will, character and intellect, sober judgment and a cool, steady hand. On the other hand, John McCain is credited by the paper with retreating to the “fringe of American politics” reduced to “robo-calls” and negative ads. In short, not being cool.
Biden is sometimes definitely not cool, while Sarah Palin, gaffe-prone as she may be, stays cool even when she has to “get back” to Katie to complete an answer.
No matter one’s political leaning, it’s easy to see who’s cool and who’s not. It’s all about body language, vocal tone and, of course, what is said and implied.
It seems that the cool head and cool hand always prevail. Even in Shakespearean wisdom and crime family philosophy, we are told that revenge is a feast best served cold.
But what exactly IS a cool head? Simply the ability to stay calm and think clearly in a difficult situation. In public relations, it’s essential and only those who can achieve it succeed. But, let’s say, under attack from an advisary, the emotions flair and one is prompted to say and do things that are not cool
Here are two practical suggestions for keeping cool in the line of fire.
Face to face, whether with a co-worker, client or member of the media, a cool head can become hot when responding trigger-fast to a confrontational person. In my youth, I had a problem with holding my tongue when I felt unfairly treated or threatened. With maturity came the understanding that I was operating from a position of weakness if I let the other person control my reaction. Somewhere I read that I can diffuse the negativity coming at me by visualizing a dense fog between the aggressor and me in which the heat of anger or assault dissipates by the time it reaches me, and I can better understand and deal with the content of the message, no matter how negative it might be.
When the negativity comes via email or text, the very best advice I could offer is to not respond immediately. Close the email or text message and do something else, maybe even something relaxing or pleasurable. This is the “fog” version of electronic communications. The time lapse offers an automatic cooling effect, and you can gain control of your response.
Cool headedness is associated with keeping things intact, organizational skill, intelligence and confidence. Hot headedness is perceived as being out of control, unintelligent, defensive and lacking confidence.
As public relations practitioners, we have only once choice.
i agree with you!