We approve our responses to query.
We approve our public affairs guidance.
We approve statements.
We approve Tweets, and we would approve Facebook posts but we don’t post on Facebook cause it’s a cesspool.
We approve RTQ.
Get the picture? We approve our own stuff, we don’t wait for the J3 or the Chief of Staff or even the commander … unless we determine it necessary for the commander to look at something before it goes out. Sometimes we make the call to have a J2 review our stuff, often we get a look from the JAG, sometimes a subject matter expert helps. But for the most part, we have the ability to approve and release information ourselves because we are the experts and, most importantly, we are aligned. We are fast, accurate and aligned.
Being aligned means you know what’s going on in your organization, you know what your commander wants and you understand the overall intent.
Here is how you get (and stay) aligned:
- Listen: Good commanders talk. Listen and take notes. Send these notes around, to your staff and others. Become the commander’s megaphone.
- Be Present: Just by attending events (meetings, training events, operations briefs, stupid holiday things) you’ll learn and gain alignment.
- Talk to your boss: Instead of putting a press release in front of him for approval. Before the press release ask, “Sir, what direction do you want to take here, this is what I’m thinking…” Have a conversation rather than discussing the grammar in a factory release.
To be aligned your team, the staff and the commander need to trust you and they will trust you if you do good work. So do good work.
We write a lot about being a responsible, useful, independent public affairs officer because it’s possibly the most important tenet in the teachings of MaxDis. Strive for the above and accept nothing less.
Now go and do likewise.
Photo by Pfc. Denice Lopez – On the photo, the guy’s name is Cannon and he’s shooting a cannon; funny.
