Building Bridges between You and Your Boss or Client

PR “storyteller” Art Stevens, APR, Fellow, PRSA added a new perspective to the employee/boss and service provider/client relationship at yesterday’s FPRA Southwest Florida chapter meeting held at the Broadway Palm in Fort Myers. His reference to building bridges is more than figurative. In his own career, the act of building a bridge literally built a bridge between him and his boss, skyrocketing his career at a young age.

Stevens has had a very successful career spanning over four decades in public relations, which he says came about, “by accident.” After majoring in English at City College of New York envisioning a career as a top-notch editor, his actual meager beginnings as an assistant textbook editor grew through building some very important bridges. After helping his friend write a successful job application dubbed "Ode to Personnel" for Prentice Hall, he was returned the favor when his friend helped him get a position as assistant to the Director of Public Relations.

The CEO of Prentice Hall at the time was John Powers, who had developed a great interest in Japanese art and culture. Powers was creating a beautiful park near the Prentice Hall offices in New Jersey, which was to include an authentic Japanese Benkei-bashi bridge. The construction of the bridge was a major project. The young PR assistant Stevens suggested a dedication ceremony and was given the go-ahead. He took the lead role on the project, contacting dignitaries and making plans for the event. One day when the CEO, John Powers was asking for a special update on the event, Stevens was called in to provide details. Powers took note of the talent and work done, and asked to be updated personally by Stevens throughout the planning and execution of the event. Following the successful bridge dedication, he summoned Stevens to his office.

Powers asked Stevens how he would handle the public relations efforts on behalf of Prentice Hall, if he were given the opportunity. Although weak-kneed and very nervous, Stevens responded quickly and adeptly with much of his response crafted from the Cutlip and Center textbook he had been studying. Powers must have liked what he heard, since his next act was to promote the 25-year old Stevens to Director of Public Relations and to reassign his (former) boss to another position in the company.  It was the beginning of an exciting career in public relations, which still continues today.

Stevens boils down his experiences in building bridges with bosses or clients into six lifelong lessons:

1. Know thy boss or client. Be aware of their career path and interests.
2. Volunteer. Don’t be passive in your job.
3. Anticipate. Be aggressive, intuitive and ahead of the curve.
4. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind and tell it like it is. Be sure to know the whole picture and absorb all you can.
5. Always approach your boss or client with well-thought-out new ideas.
6. Always provide honest feedback on how things went – good or bad.

Thanks to Art Stevens for your enlightening discussion and also, thanks to Shell Point Retirement Community for sponsoring the luncheon meeting. 

Photo: Wendy Iverson, Jessica Clark, Rochelle Cherniawski, Kathleen Taylor, Art Stevens

Click here for another interesting article about Art Stevens being honored by PRSA with the Patrick Jackson Award for Distinguished Service.

FPRA SWFL February 2010 Program: Building the Bridge Between You and Your Boss or Client

Art Stevens, APR, Fellow PRSA


Learn how to influence your company’s leadership or your client to commit to tested and sound PR practices. A former top twenty public relations agency owner will share his insights and experience on how to transpose yourself into an "agency" whether you work inside the organization or for an actual a public relations agency at the February FPRA meeting on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre's Cafe Cabaret. Networking and buffet lunch begins at 11:15 a.m. Reserve your seat on our Web site now.

This art of influence will be presented by Art Stevens, APR, Fellow PRSA, managing partner of StevensGouldPincus, a merger and management consulting firm to the PR and communications industries. He was co-founder, chairman and CEO of LobsenszStevens, one of the top twenty independent public relations firms in the country up to the time of its acquisition by Publicis Groupe in 2000.

Ever since he was named public relations director of Prentice-Hall Inc. at the age of 25, Art Stevens has contributed substantially to the public relations field. His background in corporate, financial, product, educational, marketing and political public relations has earned him lifetime achievement awards by his peers.

He is a PR industry leader, Fellow of PRSA, author, award-winning writer and is listed in Who’s Who in America. He has been published in Harvard Business Review and a long-standing contributing editor to the Public Relations Quarterly.

Mr. Stevens has served as instructor of public relations and management case studies at Fairleigh Dickinson University and has lectured at the New School, New York University and many other colleges and associations.

Mr. Stevens is a self-proclaimed snowbird alternating between his homes in Sanibel, Florida, and Somerset, New Jersey.

Special Thanks to Shell Point Retirement Community for sponsoring our February meeting!

Have you registered for the meeting yet?