Published 12th Nov 2023
GWPR and AMEC held a breakfast debate on 7th November at Hudson Sandler in London to mark Ragan Communications’ Communications Week.
An engaged audience of PR professionals enjoyed 45 minutes of lively discussion on ‘The changing shape of the PR industry and the talent required to meet these changes’. The session was led by Johna Burke of AMEC with panellists Ishtar Schneider (Mars Petcare), Sonya Madeira (Rice Communications) and Amy Hayer (Hanson Search). It was introduced by GWPR co-founder, Sue Hardwick.
Speaking afterwards, AMEC board member and co-founder and COO of Ruepoint, Raina Lazarova, summarised her key takeaways from attending the session:
- “We tend to overindex on Gen Z while our focus as leaders should be to understand the strengths and differences of each generation in our organisation.
- “Leading with empathy and compassion is required more than ever when managing a hybrid team. We need to have an equitable and human approach to flexibility and create a culture in which people feel comfortable to ask questions.
- “The fast rise of generative AI has put pressure on leaders concerning AI and tech capabilities. It isn’t sufficient to understand tech in its current state, it’s about the mindset, being open to innovation and change, and showing curiosity and interest.
- “Being a leader is a complex task. The holy grail of future leaders is being an anchored imagineer, a cat herder, a wellness hunter, a risk-averse gambler, a tech-savvy humanist — all those things at the same time.
- “Working on a talent pipeline and succession planning should be at the forefront of every leader’s mind.”
View the full session below.
