Commanders,
I wrote you before but I wanted to introduce you to your new PAO. She’s smart and versatile.
Believe it or not, she’s been specially selected for this job. Yep, PAOs have to compete and be selected for this specialty.
Like your lawyer, doc and chaplain they likely have advanced degrees. The military doesn’t send all of our PAOs to grad school yet; but many do go and study things like communications, marketing, and agenda-setting. Has your chief of staff been educated and experienced in these areas? The funny thing is, most PAOs don’t know anything about taking photos.
Your success as a commander depends on your ability to communicate. Lucky for you, you have someone on your staff who lives and breathes communication. All they think about is communicating. They care deeply about how your organization communicates externally to the public and your families and internally to the members of your organization and your bosses.
You really should give your PAOs a chance to help you and your team. Your PAO should earn their place on your personal staff, but it’ll be hard if you bury them. If there is someone better to be your communications advisor, by all means – replace the PAO. If your PAO sucks, fire them.
Take a look outside your headquarters. Your senior leadership values their PAOs. Corporations always have a communications person around. The military gave you a chief communicator for a reason, let’s get to work.
Thanks,
Maximillion F. Disclosure
Photo by Cpl. Jesula Jeanlouis
