This will go on your Permanent Record…

Sarah picked up on the interesting meme being discussed on PR and marketing blogs that examine youth-and-vigor vs. wisdom-and-experience. She suggested given our spread of experience, we each write a post with our views for the CustomScoop blog, and I heartily agreed.

Wait a minute…am I the old guard in
this scenario? I guess so…

It does remind me of a saying I encountered: “your future lies before you, like freshly fallen snow—so be careful where you walk, for every step will show.” 

Advice I took to heart and some may feel that I am sometimes too cautious. I did find that such a mindset was conducive to work in PR, where thinking several steps ahead of “what-ifs” allowed me to examine many potential outcomes and have if not a plan, at least an idea of how to respond if a client program went awry.

The Internet takes that saying one step further. With Google cache, not only will every step show, the snow never melts. It is something young PR practitioners who have decided that every thought they have is worth posting should bear in mind.

I won’t go as far as to say writers shouldn’t self-censor—quite frankly, sometimes we all should pay attention to the Jiminy Cricket on our shoulder that tells us, “hm, maybe I shouldn’t say that out loud.” However, if you do choose to say something that you know will be inflammatory, it is your responsibility as a communicator and as a member of society (in general and the blogosphere) to think about HOW you will say it.

Here’s the rub: there is almost always a way to get your point across without being a jerk. It will take more time to craft the statement, but it can be done. Additionally, you can prove your worth as an effective communicator if you are able to make a provocative point with grace. It’s more than a skill—it’s necessary if you are going to be able to say no and defend your points when you are the lone dissenter in a room full of people ready to charge forward with a lousy idea. If you act like a jerk, you are easy to write off. If you make your point well, clearly, and with reason, you will be much harder to dismiss outright.

This also holds true for Phil Gomes’ discussion about “managing up.” A good communicator, no matter how young and inexperienced, should be able to make a point without coming across as the know-it-all who is instructing the boss how to do her job. (Sidebar: Kait’s post is excellent, please read it!)

Another point to make for young communicators: whatever job you are at now, you most likely won’t be at for the remainder of your career. Your posts will be reviewed by future employers, so keep in mind what they will take away from your writing. If I were staffing a division and read a bunch of posts by a prospective employee that were flame-bait, I’d take away that this person likes to be provocative and—rightly or wrongly—I would assume that brashness carries over into how he or she handles relationships with coworkers, subordinates, and management. I’d be left thinking that this could be a potentially difficult fit for a team setting.

This goes to prove the old adage: there is nothing new under the sun. There has, and likely always will be, a struggle between the experienced “old guard” and the young up-and-comers, and this is healthy. Challenging convention is to be expected, but as with anything, there are likely many paths to choose when going about it. Choose wisely.

Image from Fotoblogg.