Be too busy, and too good at your job, to be your organization’s additional duty monkey.
To be clear: sometimes you need to take on additional duties in support of your organization and the mission. It’s part of your job. It’s often great for your professional development.
However, when you find that you are the serial action officer for non-Public Affairs tasks such as planning distinguished visitor engagements, risk assessments, or special events, you are likely missing the opportunity to lead the organization’s communication program.
First things first, take a look at yourself. Are you such a No PAO that your leaders have decided you have time to spare? Are you tagged for jumpmaster duties because you begged your way into jumpmaster school? Do you owe a solid favor to another team member? Are you maybe just the best person for the job?
If you haven’t set yourself up for this treatment, it’s time to do something about it. I’ve been in this position—I went into a Brigade PAO position where my predecessors underperformed. Senior leaders misunderstood my role, by no fault of their own. It would have been easy to accept this new reality and coast through a deployment working for the IO section.
Instead: I got busy. I started talking to the ops and intel sections. I introduced ambitious Public Affairs options that our pre-deployment exercise planners didn’t even know how to respond to. I got to understand the mission better than most headquarters members. I built and pushed a task tracker that drove a useful—and fun—communication program. I sought out reporters and told our story. I always had something to say, in my own words, at the commander’s meetings. I wasn’t always perfect, but things were always happening.
There were always other, easier targets for extra taskings. And I was always available to support their Public Affairs and communication needs.
