The greatest mentors prefer to talk more about their mentors and mentees rather than themselves. That’s exactly what happened at this week’s Page Society annual meeting in Atlanta where Distinguished Service Awardee Bruce K. Berger shared his 15 minutes of stage time making sure everyone understood the greatness of his mentor and friend, Betsy Ann Plank.
So, before sharing key highlights from Bruce’s acceptance remarks, let me talk a bit about Bruce from my vantage point of nearly 50 years of friendship.
I first met Bruce when we both worked in the pharmaecutical industry — Bruce at the Upjohn Company and me at Eli Lilly. He had a couple years more experience in the industry, so he generously offered advice on the nuancesof doing PR for a drug company. That was especially important since it was my first corporate PR job after several years in government. A few years later, we both moved onto other corporate jobs. He landed a CCO position before me when he was named as Whirlpool’s vice president of corporate affairs and president of the Whirlpool Foundation, where he led 90 professionals across media relations, employee communications, government affairs, financial communications and community relations. Through encounters with fellow colleagues and friends such as Bill Heyman, we managed to stay in touch from time to time.
Despite significant demands of his “big” job, Bruce always found time to mentor and encourage his team and those of us lucky enough to be in his network.
After earning his Ph.D. in communication from the University of Kentucky in 1999, Bruce joined the University of Alabama, where he is Reese Phifer Professor Emeritus of Advertising and Public Relations. He also served as department chair and director of the MA program. It was in this role when Bruce, Betsy Plank and Ameritech PR executive Jack Koten approached me to join the founding board of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations.
With a small, dedicated group of board members and the support of Betsy and her alma mater, University of Alabama, something very important was created for the benefit of the public relations profession. Bruce’s keen interest in leadership research fit perfectly with the goals of the Plank Center and led to numerous papers and projects, including the biennial Leadership Report Card that surveyed hundreds of practitioners on where communications leaders succeeded at engaging their organizations and where work remained to be done. He also was the “father” of the Challenge for Emerging Leaders, established in 2017, that brought together students from a wide range of colleges for intensive two-day workshops on real world communications problems.
Citing Bruce’s experience as both a practitioner and a scholar, Bill Heyman, founder of Heyman Associates, said: “The depth and breadth of the Plank Center’s programs and accomplishments is truly extraordinary, and none of that would have been possible without the vision and efforts of Bruce Berger.”
At this point, Bruce is probably saying, “Enough about me, let’s now hear about the true legend of our profession–our friend and mentor, Betsy Plank.” Here are excerpts from Bruce’s remarks at this week’s Page meeting:
After 20 years in corporate PR, which I loved, I decided at the very young age of 50, to shift from practicing PR to teaching PR. Some friends thought I was nuts. But I earned a doctorate, built my research skills, and taught PR and Comm students: our future leaders. I wanted them to start earlier on leadership skills in PR. And it was in my second year of teaching that I first met one of the most inspiring PR leaders I’ve ever known.
So, my brief talk tonight is in the form of a tribute—a very special tribute to this great lady in PR who strongly and positively influenced me… and some of you…and thousands of others in our field.
She was often referred to as the First Lady in Public Relations, and the PR Icon. Of course, I’m speaking about Betsy Anne Plank, whom many of you knew and worked with and loved and respected like I did.
She was the first woman named President of the Publicity Club of Chicago in 1963. In 1965 as a social activist, Betsy participated in the final stage of that widely televised and long Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
In 1967 she helped create the PR Student Society of America. She was the first woman named President of PRSA in 1973. PR News named her one of the top 40 PR leaders in the world in 1978. She achieved so many firsts in her 63-year career.
- She also richly embodied the Page Principles.
- She was passionate about her work and highly ethical.
- She lived life with love and laughter.
- She listened closely to others.
- She treated everyone with respect.
- She expressed empathy and gave hope to all.
If you want the full story of this incredible lady, I urge you to read a recent book about Betsy written by PR professor & historian, Dr. Karla Gower, at UA. The book is simply titled: Betsy Anne Plank.
I first met Betsy in 2000, when she received an award at the University of Alabama, where she’d earned a degree in 1944. I was just beginning some PR leadership research projects, of which there were few back then. Betsy was intrigued with the studies. We talked a lot about them, and PR education, and that was the beginning of a wonderful 10-year relationship.
In 2005 we launched the Plank Center for Leadership in PR, which gave us more opportunities to work together to enrich leadership in students and young professionals. That was our overriding goal then at the Center: drive leadership capabilities in young people.
Though I was a seasoned pro when I met Betsy, I learned from her—not just through her words, but more through her actions and behaviors. I have many learning stories, but tonight I’ll share just two brief stories which capture some of Betsy’s rich heart and insights.
A “bite of hope” story: I attended a PRSSA conference with Betsy in 2004. We were walking down a hall between sessions when a young lady literally sprinted down the hall toward Betsy and slid to a stop in front of her. Her eyes were filled with tears. “Miss Plank, you don’t know me,” she said, “but may I please speak with you sometime today? I need help with a huge problem.”
Betsy smiled, reached out, touched the young lady’s arm, and said: “Of course, my dear. I’m always here for you. Let’s go right over there and sit down and talk now.” She pointed at two chairs along the hallway wall, nodded at me, then walked over and sat down with the young lady.
I went on to the next session. And when I walked back down that hallway an hour later, Betsy and the student were still together. No tears now. The young lady was smiling and laughing. When I later asked Betsy about that student, she said: “Oh, that young lady she just needed a bite…of hope.” That was Betsy, folks: giving bites of hope to others. She listened to and valued everyone. Whether she knew them or not was irrelevant. If they asked for help, she’d help to the extent she could.
Story of “passing the rock”: During one of Betsy’s visits to Alabama, I invited her to speak to doctoral students in my seminar on leadership. Eight students sat around a circular table. After I introduced Betsy, she opened her big bright red purse and lifted out a baseball-sized rock and sat it in the center of the table. It was a shiny, polished black rock. She then went around the table and asked each student exactly what they saw. Each said they saw a rock, a shiny rock, or a polished rock.
Betsy smiled and said, “Sorry to tell you, but you’re all wrong. Look again and look very closely this time. From where you’re seated, each of you sees part of a rock, not the whole rock. To get the full picture, you must pass the rock and let each share his or her view of it.
When everyone participates, you get a much fuller, richer picture of the opportunity or problem you’re dealing with, and you’ll make a far better decision. So, in teams always pass the rock for richer and wiser decisions.”
The last time I talked with Betsy was just a few weeks before she passed at age 86 in 2010. At the end our brief conversation, I asked her what life lessons she’d like me to pass on and try to carry forward. She named four:
- Most important: Help others feel valued. Share some hope, which is vital blood for our minds and hearts. Don’t forget that.
- Listen, listen, listen. You can’t communicate meaningfully if you don’t listen closely to the other. So, open those ears and your mind!
- Practice meaningful self-reflection daily. I do it 10 minutes each morning with coffee. Don’t let your ego bloat and take over. Too many big egos on a team are like a pack of dynamite waiting to ignite.
- Don’t forget: tomorrow is always far more important than yesterday.
Ladies and gentlemen, Betsy Anne Plank was a truly wonderful lady, a great leader and role model in our field, and a person who shared her heart with virtually all. This little lady made many of us bigger and better leaders. Her mentorship, kindness, and forever paying it forward were at the center of her lasting legacy.
I ask you all to please help make this a collective tribute to Betsy tonight by joining me in a round of applause for this little, great big Lady!
Thank you to the Page Society for this meaningful and moving award tonight. And please, let’s keep on keeping on:
- Building our ever more vital profession in this angry, divided and fast-changing world;
- Growing ever greater leaders and role models, and
- Sharing bites of hope with others who may need them.