The future: intimacy with long-term strategy
We spoke with Björn Edlund, Executive Vice President, Communication of Royal Dutch Shell plc and asked him three questions around the theme of World PR Forum 2010 in Stockholm.
Being the no 1 on Fortune 500 and heading a global organization’s communications with more than 100 000 employees who are active in more than 100 countries – what is a communicative organization to you?
- The communicative organization acts on the insights that relationships have real value, that reputation is shaped through relationships, and that the organisation’s own values must be lived in constant dialogue within as well as with its customers, partners and other stakeholders.
Looking at your colleagues, what constitutes a communicative person according to you?
- He or she is open to others and their views and beliefs, clear about her or his own views and beliefs, and always seeking to help others think through their challenges and find win-win outcomes.
Shell has, of course, lots of learnings looking back on the communications done, but what will the future demand of communication professionals and managers?
- I believe deeper psychological insights and better strategic skills are crucial. On the one hand, in the networked world, we will see a deepening into psychology from today’s sociology-based communications. On the other, adding more value through communications will require better intimacy with long-term strategy of the business.
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toni muzi falconi
If there ever was a short, clear and cutting edge description of our profession, Biorn has done this, by spelling out three simple (but complex…in no way complicated..)sentences.
Clearly he is right in stating that relationships have real value and that reputation is shaped though relationships.
Similarly, I wholeheartedly agree that we need to return (without of course blanketing our knowledge of sociology) to psychology, a much neglected science in the world of mass media but an essential one in one with one, one with few, one with many stakeholder relationships governance, which is now the new(?) frontier of our profession.
If I must find a weak point, I would say that his answer to the second question is somewhat yet understandably naive.
Besides what he says, which however was as true ten, twenty or fifty years ago, there are many, many new competencies and skills which professionals need to aknowledge, become involved in, and then actively engaged in order to master them, before we can really make a positive impact on the networked organization.