Rod Hughes of Kimball Hughes Public Relations: 5 Things You Should Do To Become a Thought Leader In Your Industry
An Interview With Dina Aletras
Give people the room to disagree and present different but constructive feedback. Let them know it’s OK to fail if they have done their best while keeping necessary parties informed along the way. No one person in an organization has exclusivity on innovation. Leaders must lead by example, ask for opinions and ideas and be professional enough to accept that their idea may be bad and someone else might have a better approach. While I’m a bit biased, I think the secret is keeping lines of communication open, encouraging dialogue and respecting the professionals with whom you work to allow them the space and freedom to politely disagree or make suggestions that might run counter to decisions made exclusively by leadership.
As part of our series about how to become known as a thought leader in your industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rod Hughes, president of Kimball Hughes Public Relations.
Rod began his career in the 1990s as a local newspaper reporter and moved on to editorial roles with several insurance and legal trade publications before entering public relations in 2003. He joined Kimball Hughes PR in 2012 and became a partner in 2016. Rod has led thousands of communications campaigns in the insurance, law, technology, hospitality, real estate, healthcare, professional association management and other industries, while also becoming a leading voice in crisis communications and reputation management.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with us! Our readers are eager to learn more about you. Could you provide some background information about yourself?
When I was young, my goal was to become the youngest managing editor in the history of TIME magazine. I started out as a stringer for a local newspaper, but a funny thing happened on the way to the offices of TIME magazine. I discovered trade journalism, which is a type of journalism that specializes in covering specific industries. Since those early days, I have consistently found myself writing about, working with or representing people in the legal and insurance industries, among a few others. While I didn’t land at TIME, I would not change anything about my professional journey.
What establishes you as an authority on thought leadership? Could you briefly share your expertise with our readers?
For more than two decades I’ve applied my skills as a writer and my training as a journalist to help the leaders of for- and non-profit organizations tell better stories that are helpful to the audiences they want to reach. A lot of what I and my colleagues at Kimball Hughes Public Relations do is identify and draw out the insights and expertise of these organizational leaders and incorporate their knowledge and hard-won experience into compelling narratives. If we do our jobs well those audiences become more informed about, and engaged with, those organizations. Those audiences derive value from these stories we help our clients tell.
In addition to having been a journalist, I speak with journalists every day. My colleagues and I work hard to understand what these reporters and editors are looking for — and importantly what they really have no interest in hearing about. Then we work with them to source genuine subject matter experts to help tell better stories. In all, I’ve spent about 30 years — 10 as a journalist and 21 as a PR professional — evaluating sources and determining who has something important to say that offers broad and helpful information versus someone who has both a lightly formed opinion and a promotional agenda. The former is of terrific value in telling a good story while the latter typically cannot offer deep insights or analysis and is easily put aside in favor of a true expert by discerning journalists.
What I like about the work I do is it allows me to use my training as a journalist to help people present themselves better to the media and share their thinking with the world. I help them avoid being salesy, and instead assist them in informing and educating their target audiences.
Can you recall a funny mistake you made when you were first starting out? What lesson did you learn from it?
Early in my public relations career I allowed a client, a very senior executive, to dictate to me how we should handle a public relations matter. I was probably 29 or 30, and he had been doing what he did for more years than I had been alive at that point. I failed to keep in mind his expertise was not in public relations. But because he was so persuasive, I substituted his judgement — with no expertise in media relations — for my own even though I had a much better and more qualified understanding of the media than he did. So, I followed his direction. It was a disaster. The resulting coverage was less than flattering and he — and his bosses — were quite upset. Afterward, he came to me and apologized. He even told the CEO, “The kid knows his stuff. I should have listened to him.”
What are the most significant disruptions you foresee in your industry over the next five years, and how can businesses adapt to these changes?
There is no shortage of people who believe artificial intelligence (AI) is the cure for every ill. I’ve read a lot about how AI is going to change everything, and in my field, how it will replace writers and allow organizations of all types to instantly create amazing content without much effort. While I have no doubt AI will be a game changer for how business is done in countless industries, I don’t think we’re quite ready to turn over the keys to the kingdom to the computers just yet. For the near-term, AI has a lot of problems to overcome with content of all kinds, not the least of which is copyright concerns. However, those of us in the fields of journalism, public relations, graphics, marketing and others need to demonstrate our value. We need allies in leadership roles who will advocate for originality and quality of content — perhaps assisted by AI — rather than wholesale acquiescence to all-digital creativity. To do so, we need to look at ways AI will be a resource rather than a replacement. We need to point out where AI falls short in achieving stated goals, and we have to highlight the risks associated with taking humans fully out of the creative equation.
Can you explain the benefits of becoming a thought leader? Why is it valuable to invest time and resources into this?
Businesses, non-profits and individuals have evolved their approach to the consumer journey. We look to reviews, recommendations, online research and — yes — non-promotional content in many cases. The modern consumer does not want to be sold to; they want to be persuaded and/or educated. This is where thought leadership comes in. If it’s done well, thought leadership doesn’t promote a particular product or service, but rather educates and informs. The intended outcome is the consumer sees this type of content as un- or less biased and in service of helping them evaluate the market or their options. This helps to engender greater trust. Additionally, good thought leaders have opportunities to have their content and ideas included or referenced by media and other outlets, creating third-party validation consumers instinctively seek when making product or service purchasing decisions. In short, consumers want the experts to give them unbiased advice without making a sales pitch.
Can you share an example of a significant challenge you faced in your career and how you leveraged innovative thinking to overcome it?
The most significant challenge I faced in my career was making the transition from journalism to public relations. I was not trained to be in the field of PR. Instead, I was taught to find and report stories that helped better inform the public. That lack of PR training, having never previously worked for an agency or an in-house communications team, was a weakness I needed to turn into a strength. As I pursued a career in public relations, my solution to addressing this perceived weakness was to rely on my core skill set: my ability to identify and tell a compelling story. I explained to potential employers that my experience working in newsrooms and as both an editor and publisher taught me how to assess the critical elements of a good story. I could use that experience to find and promote good stories for a future employer. Because I knew how to package a compelling story as a journalist, I could do the same for an employer or agency clients who wanted to position themselves as sources for news coverage. Further, I explained as a journalist, I didn’t write fluff, and if I used that same approach as a PR pro, there was a better-than-likely chance those I represented would and could become trusted media sources. Media sources would come to trust me as well because they knew I wouldn’t represent someone or some organization that didn’t have a newsworthy story to tell. The result was an employer took a chance on me, and while I had a lot to learn, my argument held up and led to a successful career of more than two decades in public relations.
Now that we have covered that, we’d love to hear your advice on becoming a thought leader. Can you share five strategies that someone should follow to gain recognition as a thought leader in their industry? Please include examples or stories from your own experience for each strategy.
1 . Know your topic or area of interest deeply. It’s one thing to have an opinion. It’s quite another to offer in-depth insights and analysis that can demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of a topic and the issues around it. As a thought leader, you should be able to talk about an issue from multiple angles and speak at length — and importantly be able to answer extensive questioning — on those issues. In my days as a reporter, I would interview people pitched to me by some public relations person. In many cases, like most journalists, I didn’t have a deep understanding of some of the subject matters — let’s use proposed tax code legislation as an example. So, I would ask probing questions to ensure my readers — also not experts in some of these issues — would better understand what these developments would accomplish and how they might impact those readers. Sometimes, those interview sources would stumble on deep questioning. In the legislation example, they might have known the text of a proposed bill, but sometimes stumbled when asked about the specific implications because they only had one, limited opinion or perspective. Media might be interested in opinions and forecasts from time to time, but fresh perspective, ideas and insights are what really gets them to listen. Read everything on your topic of interest. If you don’t know what others are saying or thinking on an issue or topic of import to you, it can be difficult to distinguish your perspective from others. Also, if you want to gain the interest of journalists, you sometimes need to explain why the other person might be wrong or failed to consider other sides of an issue or topic. Finally, you don’t want to offer your perspective to a journalist who has already covered both the topic as well as your take on it because you were unaware of what had been said or published about the issue previously.
2 . Know how to convey your thoughts with the right words. While a thought leader may have the expertise, they may not have the writing skills. Creative, thoughtful and clean writing with correct grammar is critical in getting an audience to take a reader seriously. Think about it. Simplistic or error-ridden copy can turn off readers and certainly fail to instill a reader’s trust in the thought leader behind the copy. If a thought leader is not a good writer or does not have the time to put their thoughts to “paper,” consider hiring a proven content writer or partnering with a public relations agency, particularly one with former journalists on staff.
3 . Don’t be afraid of a little controversy. U.S. General George Patton is noted, among other things, for having said “If everyone is thinking alike, then someone isn’t thinking.” Sometimes the consensus is wrong, and if you have a strong, opposing view and can support your thinking with data, don’t be afraid to speak out. In fact, journalists quite like this approach if you can point to facts or evidence that support your perspective. You’ll have the distinction of not following the crowd. And while you may be criticized, having the courage of your convictions — ideally with information to support those convictions — can make you a much-sought and respected thought leader to whom people are compelled to listen.
4 . Prove your worth. Anyone can call themselves a thought leader. True thought leaders prove themselves continuously by creating well-written content that demonstrates their mastery and depth of knowledge. I think LinkedIn, for many, is an excellent low-barrier-to-entry medium for doing so. Whether through insightful and short daily posts, regular longer-form articles, 60-to-90-second videos posted to an individual or company LinkedIn profile or participating in/running LinkedIn Live events, this professional social media platform provides a ready medium for true thought leaders to put their thinking on display consistently and often. Doing so, using appropriate hashtags and promoting said content to the proper audiences, can help demonstrate one’s substance on key subjects. Further, finding third-party platforms to promote similar types of content — either in the form of being interviewed as a subject matter expert by journalists or contributing content where possible to outlets that reach target audiences — is another way to share your thought leadership beyond your immediate network and expand recognition of your grasp of certain issues and topics.
5 . Be available. One of the biggest challenges I find with those who want to use their smart thinking and helpful insights to build their reputations as thought leaders is follow through. Thought leadership isn’t something you do over the weekend or spend 15 minutes on during a lunch break or on the train home. It’s a commitment, like any other, that only succeeds if you put in the time and effort. And while there are some brilliant leaders out there with incredible insights and perspectives to share, a common failure in many instances is when these individuals don’t invest their time consistently or, worse, back out of commitments to demonstrate their thought leadership in favor or other priorities. For example, you can’t think deeply about something and be insightful if you can only spend say 30 or 60 minutes per month researching, writing and producing content around a topic or trend. Worse, if you commit to sharing that thinking with third parties and then back out, you become seen as unreliable and all the smart thinking in the world can’t fix things if you’re unavailable. And don’t forget, if you are responding to a journalist’s query, a timely response is key or they will quickly move along to the next thought leader.
How do you foster a culture of innovation within your organization, and what practices have you found most effective in encouraging creative thinking among your team?
Give people the room to disagree and present different but constructive feedback. Let them know it’s OK to fail if they have done their best while keeping necessary parties informed along the way. No one person in an organization has exclusivity on innovation. Leaders must lead by example, ask for opinions and ideas and be professional enough to accept that their idea may be bad and someone else might have a better approach. While I’m a bit biased, I think the secret is keeping lines of communication open, encouraging dialogue and respecting the professionals with whom you work to allow them the space and freedom to politely disagree or make suggestions that might run counter to decisions made exclusively by leadership.
Who do you think is an outstanding example of a thought leader? What specific qualities impress you about this person?
From the perspective of a recovering journalist, what I find most impressive about good thought leaders are those who talk about issues, trends and topics both bigger and apart from the products or services they or their organizations offer. I admire someone who can immerse themselves in a discussion of ideas without feeling the need to remind the interviewer or audience of his or her personal credentials or the organization he or she represents. Their reputation, the organization they represent, will ultimately benefit from these engagements without having to wedge names, titles or products awkwardly into the conversation. The reason these types of individuals impress me — when they don’t feel compelled to pause a thoughtful conversation to essentially go to a commercial to promote themselves or those they represent — is it becomes clear quickly to those paying attention it’s about the ideas and the conversation. No one is trying to make a sale. Those conversations not only elevate the reputation of the speaker, they also can often present new thinking or perspectives to the topic at hand. When this happens, what’s discussed sometimes has nothing of benefit to the speaker or the organization represented but proves to be of significant value to the audience. It makes the conversation pure and untainted by sales or marketing. It engenders trust.
How do you stay informed about the latest trends and developments in your field, and how do you incorporate this knowledge into your strategic planning?
We read and follow media that cover the industries that matter most to our clients. More importantly, we talk — often daily — to those who have a broad perspective on both the industries we represent as well as thought leaders in the public relations space. We talk to journalists frequently asking what they are hearing and what they deem important. I also network with other public relations professionals at different agencies all around North America — and one or two in Europe — to get their take on evolving best practices, challenges and issues facing the PR field. Our team members participate in much of this. We compare notes and share what we learn to help improve the work of the entire agency as well as the work performed for our clients. We also challenge one another to think through issues, to ask ourselves if the way we have always done something might need to change. Finally, we hold one another to account for trends in the spaces where we operate professionally while considering how and if those trends might impact our business and those of our clients. It’s not deeply scientific, but this approach has helped us to be successful while we have grown the agency every year for the past 26 years.
Some people feel that the term “thought leader” is overused and has lost its impact. What are your thoughts on this?
I believe there is a trend in society to rebrand, relabel or redefine because some feel what has come before appears dated or overused. The problem with this approach, as I see it, is sometimes we twist ourselves into knots to find new ways of talking about products, services, trends or terminology that create confusion and further marginalize the thing we are trying to make better. If thought leadership is seen by some to have lost its impact, it’s because the term is being applied where true thought leadership is absent. We see this all the time with warmed-over opinions or sales or marketing concepts masquerading as thought leadership. A great example of this rebranding trend, from my vantage point, is paint colors at a hardware store. Consider the seemingly infinite number of colors available. With names like Stardew, Cyberspace (seriously, look it up), Passive and Upward, does anyone intuitively know what actual color is represented by these names? I don’t think the answer is to find new terminology. Instead, I think we need to be clearer about what is and is not thought leadership so we don’t render the term — and many like it — useless or overused to the point where it becomes meaningless.
How do you balance short-term business goals with long-term strategic vision, especially in a rapidly changing market?
The key is to be strategic, as the question implies. I didn’t go to business school, but I understand the power and value of planning. Your long-term strategy should include a series of short-term, measurable goals. Having that series of shorter-term, achievable goals can help you better fulfill your long-term ambitions/vision. If your long-term strategy is to become the most influential organization in your industry, you absolutely must have a cadence of achievable, measurable goals to get there. If you don’t, what you have is hope, not a strategy. The beauty of those short-term business goals is they should be malleable to meet changing circumstances. You can throw out the approach or tactics without abandoning the broader goal. So, for example, if you want to increase revenue by 10% in the third quarter of the year and suddenly one of your lines of business dries up, that doesn’t mean you change the goal. It means you must think differently about the problem and consider other, reasonable ways to achieve the goal. It’s admittedly easier said than done. But just like in crisis communications, cooler heads often prevail. To borrow from the novelist Rudyard Kipling, “If you can keep your wits about you while all others are losing theirs . . . . The world will be yours and everything in it …” This applies in life as well as leading an organization facing rapid, unexpected market changes.
Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? How has it been relevant in your life?
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” -Winston Churchill
When I was in college, my Journalism 101 professor told students on the first day of class that if we were thinking about earning a living, or possibly becoming financially well off as journalists, we should leave the room immediately and change majors. The next day our class was smaller by half. While that sounds harsh, what he did was provide a clear-eyed view of what his students would face. Those of us who came back had to recognize our future careers in the Fourth Estate would be more about what we could do to contribute to the local or national dialogue — the insights and information we might provide — than how we would benefit as individuals. For me, and many in my class, that spoke to our best ideals. It also appealed to me personally. I’m something of a people pleaser, for better or worse. If I can help someone, I feel better about myself. And as a student of history, the world has demonstrated time and again that those who give back — in ways large and small — make meaningful impacts on the lives of others. I first came across the above quote from Winston Churchill in grade school. Then, as now, it speaks to me. When I’ve reflected on the things I’ve done and the choices I’ve made, in more than a few of the big instances, Sir Winston’s quote has applied and offered me great personal satisfaction.
Many influential figures in business and entertainment follow this column. Is there someone you’d love to have lunch or breakfast with? They might notice if we tag them.
Warren Buffett. His practical, real-world approach to business and the way he talks about business, and the economy more generally, is a master class in the power of speaking like a human. If he wasn’t busy being one of the world’s most successful corporate titans, I think he could be a real force-to-be-reckoned-with in the world of public relations,ingprovide invaluable lessons to those in the for- and non-profit spaces about good, substantive communications that shape opinions.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Kimball Hughes Public Relations publishes a brief, weekly newsletter on LinkedIn with lots of communications insights and free business advice. You can find us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/kimballpr. I am active on LinkedIn personally, posting insights, analysis and short informational videos at www.linkedin.com/in/hughesrod or you can learn more at www.kimballpr.com.
Thank you so much for your insights. This was very insightful and meaningful.
About the Interviewer: Dina Aletras boasts over 20 years of expertise in the corporate media industry. She possesses an in-depth understanding of growth, strategy, and leadership, having held significant roles at some of the UK’s largest media organizations. At Reach PLC, the UK’s largest tabloid publisher, she served in various director capacities. Additionally, she held leadership roles at The Independent Magazine Group and DMGT. Her extensive knowledge spans editorial, digital, revenue, sales, and advertising.
Upon relocating to Switzerland, Dina took on the responsibility of managing and promoting the international section of Corriere del Ticino — CdT.ch pioneering the English page “onthespot.” She also was the Co-Editor of Southern Switzerland’s first official Italian and English bilingual magazine.
Rod Hughes of Kimball Hughes Public Relations: 5 Things You Should Do To Become a Thought Leader In… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.