Over the recent past I
started going to bed with a notebook and pen adjacent to my pillow, of course
for deliberate yet perceptual reasons. And specifically for this dream that
wakes me up every morning; the dream to represent the people of my ward in the
county assembly of Bomet comes 2017-thanks to the fervent conviction an
induction of servant leadership at Daystar University.
The necessity of my
notebook has been informed by an avalanche of ideas that often surge at 3:00am
with an urge the heart can no more contain. Harmoniously, the head informs it
that they would be safe if collaborated with ink and paper-for imminent future
actualization.
Recently, it was a
different wake up call. 3:38 Am. This time about educational orientation. As a
final student and Public Relations major at Daystar, I am often keen at how PR
comes into play in my day to day engagements. This can be attributed to the
frequent fondly thought that I am soon leaving campus to the intriguing future
of career with new horizons to pursue.
This thought is often
conceived with mixed feelings; fear of the unknown and equally on the other
hand is the excitement completing bachelors’ studies into a career of my own.
So how would the
experience of my first job and its typical day be? Would what I find be an
exact replica of what I learnt in class? Just as it woke me up this morning,
these and much more akin questions many a times linger in my head.
While at Daystar, I
serve in Daystar Compassion & Care Centre (DCCC), one of the student bodies
in the university. This means every typical day is to handle people of
different mettle and orientations. This day to day encounter occasionally
pricks the learnt-in-class skills into play.
I often experience an
ardent reminder of client relations and obviously reputation management; that
of the organization as well as mine. As relatively important, DCCC has a
clients’ reputation and so do i-and a slow-wittedness of any nature may subject
it to compromise. An incorporation of PR for service delivery is at stake here.
So recently we
organized the department’s end of semester event-a wrap up culminated by
celebrating the semester’s achievements and certificate awarding to trainees of
conducted trainings during the semester. To my standards as the boss, the
ambiance of the event was relatively impressive. Sound, check. Décor, check. The MC, perfect. Member and
invites attendance, impressive. Invited quests, check. Most importantly time, check.
Then came the last yet so crucial part-the hospitality department, food.
Slightly past half the attendance got food.
Question, are public
relations agents perfectionists? Or, are they supposed to be? Because let’s
face it, a slight inconvenience may easily translate to a bad day especially
after an event that some things went amiss-food for example. If anything goes
wrong during or before an event, kindly check your moods at the door, your audiences
do not need it. In fact some may have tagged along a baggage lot, so do not
unleash yours to them. This is PR.
Back to the event. After
being served, a few but relatively good number missed food. It was the mistake
of the caterers not to have exhausted all our orders from their station. On the
other hand, it was a shortcoming from our team not to have verified it before
the event commenced. A PRO should learn from shortcomings positively. These are
experiences that will accord your future event a sterling class.
As a leader, leadership
is not always a bed of roses. It involves sacrifices, pressure, and like the
aforementioned event, carrying all burden of embarrassment. We must expect
these challenges. The greatest tragedy is only when you don’t learn from them.
During such times and like as said by one Les Brown that When life knocks you
down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up. Let
your reason get you back up. Positivity is power.
I followed up the
matter up the catering manager’s office. Here is where boardroom truths are
told. No gloss overs here. In PR, mostly truth can mend an injured reputation. No
spinning. Our conversation was inclined towards a win-win situation so as to
uphold a spirit of working together again in future. In such a situation, no blame
games, every part should admit their fault so as to give room for change. The first
step in solving a problem is first admitting there is one.
Reputation management
is not egocentric. You don’t taint the other stakeholder to your favor because
there is a chance you may need them in future. With leadership and PR I have
learnt not to use my time burning bridges for I never know when I’ll need their
hand. Time and circumstances do change, you know.
* * *
From surging flow to a
drip, so is the nature of my wake up calls. It is 5:38 am and thinking has been
distracted by crowing cocks outside. I put on my stereo to listen to my
favorite classic jam, ‘Have I told you lately that I love you’ by Rod Stewart...
a song I love for no good reason-neither bad. I listen three times then adjust
my alarm clock an hour and thirty from my former set. Then my partner and dream
tank notebook to its place….waiting for the next wake up call.
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