Inspiring words from an unlikely source

Have you ever attended an event that touched you in a way that was unexpected? That was what happened to me when I attended the SCPRSA regional luncheon in Columbia yesterday and got to hear Bobby Hitt speak for the first time.

Mr. Hitt is currently the S.C. Secretary of Commerce, but he has a long and impressive work history that includes managing corporate affairs at BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg and serving as managing editor at The State newspaper in Columbia. I expected Mr. Hitt’s talk to focus on his career and to be informational, but it was more than that – it was inspiring.

For those of you who were unable to attend, here are some key takeaways from his talk:

1. Be prepared for opportunities to present themselves and be willing to take a leap. Mr. Hitt never went looking for his jobs. Instead, they came to him. He spent a number of years in the newspaper business before he was presented with the opportunity to do crisis communications and business planning for a local law firm. That job led him to BMW, and BMW led to his current position as S.C. Secretary of Commerce. Each of these jobs was a leap of faith and all of them turned out to be positive. As Mr. Hitt said, imagine what you can do if you’re not afraid to fail.
   
2. Communication is all about relationships. Mr. Hitt encouraged attendees to take the time to build relationships in the community, with peers and even competitors. He said relationships are key because you never know who you may have to call on one day for help.
   
3. Our biggest asset as communicators is our ability to be a quick study. I took this to mean that you don’t have to have all the answers right now; you just have to be willing to go out and look for them. As someone who works in health care and has no clinical background or training, I found this to be immensely reassuring. I may know nothing about coronary bypass surgery, but give a computer and one hour, and I’ll at least be able to understand what a physician is talking about!
   
4. Relationships can’t be coerced. As Mr. Hitt said, you can’t make someone like you, but you can work together toward a common end.
   
5. Be humble. Your job is to lead the action, not necessarily take the bow. In fact, he said, if you’re doing your job well, you should be invisible.

      Karen Potter, APR, is a public relations coordinator with Greenville Health System in Greenville, S.C., and a member of the SCPRSA Board of Directors.