100 State Street, Pawnee, IN, 47998

Memorandum
To: Anna Dwyer, Director of Public Relations
From: Mackenna Beckman, Vice President of Communications
Date: November 18, 2015
Subject: Notable Practices for Effective Leadership in Public Relations
Congratulations on your new position as director of public relations of
Pawnees Parks and Recreation. This department not only cares about
the city of Pawnee and its community, but about one another. In doing
so, this memorandum has been created as a resource to help guide
you in the right direction to become the best leader that you can be,
not just for our department, but also for your own personal growth. I
hope that this memo can give you insight into effective leadership
practices for Pawnees Parks and Recreation, because as Andrew
Carnegie said, no man will make a great leader who wants to do it all
himself or get all the credit for doing it. With that being said, let me
share the wealth.
Executive Summary
Being a great leader is more than just the description of words after
your name. There is so much good that can come out of being a great
leader, and while it has so much to do with your own success, what is
even more important is the idea that you are responsible for the future
success of a business and its employees. Many leaders simply do not
lead. Holding a formal leadership position or position of power does not
necessarily mean that a person displays leadership. Furthermore, Ciulla
(1995), states that you do not have to hold a formal position in order
to exercise leadership. As we know, you are already on the path to
becoming an even better leader than you are as of now. With this
memo, you will be able to exercise all the knowledge that you have
consumed and help yourself be the best that you can be. Even the best
leaders have room for improvement and there is nothing wrong with
exploring that further. It is also important to acknowledge this idea so
that you can grow as a leader, an employee, and as a person. This

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memo gives you all of the tools that you need to get started, but do
not limit yourself to just these:

Be a good communicator
Be a mentor

Be considerate of your
followers
Be inspiring

If you are aware, you are capable of anything. Use these tools that
were once helpful for me and run with them, from one leader to
another.
Introduction
Many people have their own ideas about what it means to be a leader,
what it takes
to be a leader, and how one should lead. Cory Brooker says that,
leadership is not a position or a title, it is action and example. If you
get one thing out of this memo, it is that being a leader is more than a
position or title. Furthermore, leadership is human (symbolic)
communication which modifies the attitudes and behaviors of others in
order to meet group goals and needs (Hackman and Johnson 1991). It
is important to selflessly lead; lead your followers and lead your
company together to create something special between all parties.
Being a leader means more than simply directing people around, it is
about knowing how to communicate, being a mentor, inspiring others,
and always being considerate of your followers. By keeping these ideas
in mind, you will gain the following of the people around you with ease.
Effective Communication
If you do not know how to communicate properly, getting people to
follow your leadership will be difficult. Communication is the base
value of compliance, which is important in leadership. Communicating
effectively means that the people around you are going to listen, which
sounds obvious but vital. By communicating improperly, not only will
your messages be unheard, but ineffective communication can also
lead to miscommunication, which is just as inefficient. In an important
position such as director of public relations, messages need to be
communicated in a way that makes them understood. Delegating tasks
to fellow employees is crucial in the success of the company, so make
certain that they are clear, concise, and correct. Another important
thing to note is that your communication will go beyond verbal
communication. Often, nonverbal communication can speak louder
than the words that are said. In addition, this nonverbal and verbal
communication is going to influence your followers either negatively or
positively. Transformational leaders play the role of a model for others

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by their own words and behavior. Their employee respects them and
value their words and actions(Gelard, Boroumand, & Mohammadi,
2014). We know that this statement can only be true if you possess
transformational leadership characteristics. Gelard, Boroumand, &
Mohammadi (2014), also go on to say that this transformational style
of leadership will impress their followers, ultimately creating a ripple
effect amongst them. If you can influence one person, imagine how
many will follow suit. I thought it was interesting when Reave (2005),
said truly listening to others and responding to their needs is another
way to express caring and concern that is universally endorsed by
spiritual paths. The relationship between listening and leadership
effectiveness has been demonstrated by both subjective and objective
measures. I found this to be extremely interesting because it pointed
out the other side of communicating, which is listening. As mentioned
previously, you need to communicate properly so that your followers
can listen to the correct message. Further, both you and your leaders
need to reciprocate by listening as well as the other person is
communicating. There are two sides to communication and if someone
is either not listening or giving the correct message, the issue arises. It
is apparent that there is a chain reaction caused by the idea that
everything is connected with one another. One misstep can set off
multiple other missteps; avoid any of this by communicating as
effectively as you can and you will be on the right path.
Be a Mentor
It is important to never forget the fact that as a leader you are
supposed to create future leaders, leaders who will eventually surpass
you being that that is the end goal. As I am writing this memo to you, I
hope that one day you are able to take over my position and do the
same for your subordinates. It is important to pay close attention to
the things that your employees succeed in as well as their individual
needs because this helps them obtain their goal with help from you
being their mentor (Gelard, Boroumand, & Mohammadi, 2014). When
leaders show the characteristics of a good leader, followers will feel as
though they can trust them and will think of them as role models, and
we think of this as idealized influence (Deinert, Homan, Boer, &
Voelpel). In addition Gelard, Boroumand, & Mohammadi (2014), say
that one can define the term 'transformational leadership' as one form
of leadership helping all the members of the organization become
aware of their final objective and hence reach their collective goals.
As I spoke about earlier, transformational leadership contains many
qualities that will benefit your leadership. By teaching your followers
the right way to lead, as I am doing, you are helping everyone reach
their own personal goals which in return helps the companys goals. In
doing this, everyone is taking part in success. It is also important to

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know that you may not always make the right decisions for everyone,
even though they seem it at the time. This raises an interesting
question regarding whether leaders who reason at a higher level by
focusing on the well-being of others would actually engage in more
helping behaviors in the workplace (Sosik, Juzbasich, & Chun, 2011).
As I will soon explain, I think that it is important that leaders keep their
followers in mind because that goes along with being a mentor. As a
leader and a mentor you ultimately want your followers to be the best
that they can be. Remember that the servant leader leads because
he or she wants to serve others. People follow servant leaders freely
because they trust them (Ciulla, 1995). Serve your followers and in
return they will serve you.
Consideration for Employees
Everyone in this world wants to feel heard, respected, and cared for,
which is no different in the workplace. Many of us spend a good portion
of our day at our workplace, so our basic needs do not leave us. In
addition, leaders need to keep their personal needs in mind as well
because they can affect the rest of the workplace. The degree of
pleasantness that leaders experience at work may influence their
thoughts and leadership behaviors in certain wayspleasantness
summarizes how well one is doing in terms of a hedonic valence of
pleasant-unpleasant, good-bad, positive-negative, or appetitiveaversive (Jin, Siro, & Shapiro). If leaders are feeling happy at work, in
return they will distribute this positivity to their followers, thus creating
an effective work environment. Agreeable leaders are friendly, kind,
and want the best for their followers. They are, therefore, likely to be
concerned with others' needs and interests, which is a characteristic of
individualized consideration (Deinert, Homan, Boer, & Voelpel). As I
said before, letting everyone feel as though they are heard is
important. Good communication entails listening to others and making
note of what you can do. Further, listening to others means not only
acknowledging their concerns, but also recognizing and respecting
good ideas (Reave, 2005). I also spoke about respect. Respect can go
a long way, and is necessary for everyone to keep in mind. It is obvious
that you as a leader need to be shown respect, but the easiest way to
obtain it is to give it. Leaders are not above being respectful.
Leadership that respects the values of followers creates
empowerment rather than dependency, sustainability rather than
short-term success (Reave, 2005). We always want to empower
everyone around us because it is going to create a more effective work
environment that everyone can benefit from. Finally, caring for others
is the best way to maximize the success of your company, because
agreeableness is likely to be positively related to individualized
consideration (Deinert, Homan, Boer, & Voelpel). The degree to which

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you show genuine care for your followers can be the defining factor of
leader success or failure (Reave, 2005). Keeping all of these ideas in
mind will help you understand how to best keep your followers in mind,
creating a positive and successful experience for everyone.
Inspire
Being inspirational is an extremely important value for leadership.
When it comes down to it, inspiring others will work in your favor in
many different ways. You might inspire others to be the best versions
of themselves, which will benefit you as well. If you are helping the
people around you better themselves, in return you essentially will be
surrounding yourself with the best people to work with. Another benefit
of inspiration might be that you help other people take charge,
whether that is with ideas, getting tasks done, or recognizing what
needs to happen in a situation. Multiple sources attribute inspirational
actions to effective leadership. Something I noticed that seemed
interesting was the idea of inspiring or influencing. In regards to
influencing, it carries an implication that there is some degree of
voluntary compliance on the part of followers (Ciulla, 1995). Think
about a time at work when somebody was barking order after order
and telling you to do something, even though you were completely
aware that this task needed to be done. Now think of a time at work
when you had a conversation with a peer or your manager and it
compelled you to carry out a task that needed to be done. Which do
you find more appealing? People seem to find the idea of coming up
with ideas and tasks on their own to be more satisfying. A common
theme is the transformational leader. Transformational leaders
encourage their followers to assume perspective in a way to give them
motivation to reach their goals (Gelard, Boroumand, & Mohammadi,
2014). Allowing your followers to find motivation and reach individual
success is empowering for both parties. So much research attributes
effective leadership with inspiration. Inspiring people can do so much
good in the workplace as well as in everyones own personal lives. As
mentioned, an employee who is happy and willing to work is going to
bring that energy into the workplace. Sometimes a push in the right
direction from a leader can kick-start this.
Conclusion
A great leader is not made in a day, but as long as you try to be one
you are halfway there. It is important to note that simply obtaining the
status of a leader does not mean that you are actually, effectively, or
being impactful in leading. If you keep all of what I mentioned in mind,
you will be an even better leader than you currently are. Also note that
all of the best practices in leadership are not contained in this memo,

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so do not feel the need to limit yourself to these. Knowing how to
communicate, being a mentor, inspiring others, and always being
considerate of your followers is incredibly important and a great start.
Now you can expand your horizons and become the best leader you
can become, starting with Pawnee Parks and Recreation.

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References
Ciulla, J. B. (1995). Leadership ethics: mapping the territory. Business Ethics
Quarterly, 5(1), 5-28.
Deinert, A., Homan, A. C., Boer, D., Voelpel, S. C., & Gutermann, D.
Transformational leadership sub-dimensions and their link to leaders'
personality and performance. The Leadership Quarterly.
Gelard, P., Boroumand, Z., & Mohammadi, A. (2014). Relationship between
transformational leadership and knowledge management. International
Journal of Information Science & Management, 12(2), 67-82.
Jin, S., Seo, M., & Shapiro, D. L. Do happy leaders lead better? affective and
attitudinal antecedents of transformational leadership. The Leadership
Quarterly.
Reave, L. (2005). Spiritual values and practices related to leadership
effectiveness. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(5), 655-687.
Sosik, J. J., Juzbasich, J., & Chun, J. U. (2011). Effects of moral reasoning and
management level on ratings of charismatic leadership, in-role and
extra-role performance of managers: A multi-source examination. The
Leadership Quarterly, 22(2), 434-450.