When discussing reputation and building trust, one example that came to mind was the importance of keeping one’s word. I would have liked to attend the 12th edition of PRAXIS to keep my record intact (of attending all). I would have liked to be with Dad in Chennai. I would have liked to be with Deepa and Cookie in Delhi. But I had committed to teaching the Reputation Management course at IIM Udaipur. Honouring that commitment was important to me.
It also gave me space – a change of scenery and an immersion into the world of learning, which always energises me. At the end of four 1.5-hour lectures, I asked the class to answer three questions. “What?” “So what?” and “Now what?” I wish I had a chance to peek into all their notes to understand which part of my class had touched them and how it had been received.
As I was walking to the cafeteria for a quick lunch, accompanied by a student who kindly offered to guide me through the maze of corridors in IIM Udaipur, she volunteered her take-away. In that moment, I got my answer – any doubts I had about whether my decision to show up and continue with the course were the right decision. It would not be appropriate for me to share what she said, but it was a takeaway that, in all probability, would change the way she showed up in the world.
This is the beauty of learning, connecting, and sharing with each other. In the class, I told them “Words matter” – how we communicate, and the intention and energy behind that communication, carry weight. I am a big believer in the idea that “every drop counts,” and it all adds up to make the ocean. In that classroom, I did my bit for the ocean of opportunity that the Public Relations industry represents. I also brought my best “coach self” into play to help each student find their own unique insight and commit to putting learning into action.
Teaching is about sharing one’s expertise and knowledge, but learning is about getting people to engage and discover things for themselves. Creating moments and exercises in class for self-work and discovery seems to be the way to go in an AI empowered world that has all information available at one’s fingertips. Sense-making for the self happens when I stop and engage with that information and distil my own takeaways. Putting learning into action comes alive when a student commits to doing something with the knowledge they gather in a class.
I learn every time I step into a classroom. Last year teaching this same course on Reputation Management, I asked the students to define Public Relations in their own words, as if they were explaining it to a 5-year-old. Here is what one of them came up with “I would tell the 5-year-old that – PR is what you do and say to help you make friends that you like…” (in the classroom, playground, and the family). Here is the link to that article titled “How to teach PR to a 5 year old?”.
Every choice we make matters. I will never know exactly all the ways those sessions on reputation management will change the world, but I do know they changed mine.
They gave me a reminder that the opportunities my professional life offers are a powerful way to shape narratives and impact behaviour. This, in turn, shapes and changes the world. Used well, it can be a force of good.
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