Public relations serves two essential functions that no other discipline can claim.
The first is to help an organization nurture social capital. That is, the sum of all the benefits the company receives from its ongoing relationships with its stakeholders, allies, collaborators and other publics.
The second is to help an organization avoid the conficts that drain away social capital.
Most conflicts are self-inflicted. It's the duty of PR to serve as:
- An early warning system that detects potential and emerging conflicts before they become serious.
- A diplomatic corps that soothes growing tensions between an organization and its stakeholders.
- An emergency unit that manages stakeholder outrage and minimizes the damage it can do to the organization.
Here's what these two jobs have in common: They work better if PR puts the stakeholders ahead of the organization.
This is counterintuitive. And the lawyers may scream. But doing so is usually the best way to serve the client's interests.
