Through osmosis I picked up on the concept that to become an eagle required a certain type of unwavering commitment, leadership and decent organizational skills.  I was a girl-scout and later a brownie leader so had my own familiarity with love of the outdoors, the badge system and sisterhood.  We girls scouts did not have a high rank of ascension like the eagles do.  No superior titles were put into place for the top ranks and we spent most of the time on “togetherness” type endeavors (imagine that) rather than climbing ladders over the backs of other girls..

These eagles truly are a special breed (just ask any of them).  None-the-less, I am glad to understand their mystique.  While Juliet Low may not have created a higher echelon in girl- scouting,  we were trained (as were our scouting brothers) to always BE PREPARED.  

Our pledge, our oath our training and our planning taught us these basic, but invaluable skills. Fast forward, preparation in youth leads to preparation in life which leads to a decent platform from which to ascend through the ranks of public relations and most forms of strategic communications.

Many young folks want to enter the field of PR.  They see a world of good looking outfits, nice hair and brushes with fame and fortune.  Understand that the best PR folks have worked tirelessly to make it seem effortless. The back room preparation can be thanked for any plan, event, news story, favorable legislation or  success in the regulatory environment.  It is the part that folks don’t see that counts.  It is the endless hours in research, development, planning, relationship-building and execution that makes one either a PR Eagle Scout or just a Cub.  

The Eastern Seaboard is currently slammed by a relentless blizzard.  I am parked in the Midwest, serving clients and in contact with other consultants stuck without Internet service, office files and contact with the outside world.  Like me, they serve folks in other parts of the nation (places in which the sun is out, shorts are donned and weather is forgiving.) But weather is a VERY regional. No one anywhere (other than where you are now) has sympathy or understanding for how the weather may impact your ability to produce. The Washington-area enters their third and one half day of a federal government shut down due to weather.

I have noted the consultants who left everything that matters to their clients’  service at the office, those who’s Internet service has collapsed, etc.  I have also noted those who have used this “lock-in” time to produce more than usual,  seamlessly.  She (and I am speaking of a specific woman)  has leveraged this time to provide her clients with uncompromising service.  Like me, she is abundantly aware that clients expect service — plain and simple, whether or not the snow is falling.

As a girl, I was raised to understand that “excuses” equaled poor form.  My gender, educational performance, station in life or poor-planning were not to excuse me from anything that was less than a job well-done. I knew that I would never be an eagle, but I also knew that I could fly.  I knew that if the cash drawer balanced at the end of the day, it was because of work well-done and promises kept.  

The basic slogan of scouting still holds true — BE PREPARED.  The best PR people I know produce in hurricanes, ice storms, sickness and health and don’t miss a beat.  It’s all about commitment.  Juliet Low, you may not have given us status — but we have always had our own plans.  We can execute with the best of them.

Out of the house, on the road,  in a great pair of boots, plugged in and making it.

Jennifer