ABSTRACT
This chapter is a call to action for public relations leaders to adopt a consultancy-based approach. It applies whether a practitioner is a self-employed freelancer, works in-house or for a public relations agency. The reason is simple. Good consultancy practice helps to bridge the gap between a public relations leader knowing what their strategic role should be and ensuring this is how they spend their time. It is about public relations people being listened to and others acting on their advice. Having excellent technical skills and understanding the theory around our discipline is important (see Chapter 12), but being able to apply this knowledge to a range of organisational challenges is what separates good intentions from action. Such a perspective forms one of the book’s central themes: that is, public relations professionals are judged as much by how they behave as what they know and do.
