The Head of Communication for the Jospong Group, Madam Sophia Lissah has advised Public Relations practitioners to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset in order to drive the development agenda of their various companies and the country at large.
She said a positive mindset will help PR practitioners to be innovative about their work and yield great results to impact society.
Madam Lissah gave this advice at the 3rd Women in Public Relations (WiPR) Ghana summit held in Accra under the theme ‘Collaborate, Inspire, Lead’.
WiPR is a professional platform created for women in the
communications and the media. The event brought together senior
professionals in the sector to share their experience and impart
knowledge to upcoming professionals and students within the industry.
She pointed out that the basic responsibility of the Public Relations practitioner is to serve as a bridge between their institution and its stakeholders, while at the same time creating a positive image about the organisation at all times.
She also added that PR persons must also work at building good
relationships and partnerships between their organisation and its
publics (stakeholders) using various tools.
Speaking on the topic ‘Putting Entrepreneurship and Development into PR’, Madam Lissah said entrepreneurs with the visionary leadership and qualities like passion, focus and innovation, among others, are able to push for results that eventually impact society, through job creation and contributing to national development.
Drawing lessons from her personal experiences in the industry and the
qualities of two most celebrated entrepreneurs in Ghana like Dr. Joseph
Siaw Agyepong, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of
Companies (who is a household name because of his exploits with
Zoomlion) and Prince Kofi Amoabeng, President of the UT Group, she said
they one of the great personalities who remained resolute and kept
their focus of impacting lives through innovation, despite being
vilified at one stage or the other.
“They showed great passion for their work, took risk, remained
focused, challenged the status quo, were solution driven and did not
take a no for an answer,” adding that in the case of Prince Amoabeng
even though he is largely associated with the collapsed UT Bank.
Madam Lissah added that what many people do not know is that he still
has many thriving businesses like UT Properties, UT Logistics and UT
Private Security which speaks volumes of his zeal and hard work.
“To achieve this, the practitioner must work with passion, be ready to acquire knowledge on a variety of issues and articulate same. Until we adopt such entrepreneurial mindset, our profession will remain as business as usual, but the onus lies on us to change the narratives,” she stressed.
On her part, Ms Faith Senam Ocloo, Founder of Women in PR (WiPR)
Ghana, said the summit was to create a platform for women in public
relations to network, learn, mentor and share their experiences with
each other to bring growth in their respective organisations.
“The PR woman in this digital age must be innovative and employ new
methods to enhance her productivity and growth in the industry”, she
added.
Madam Adiki O. Ayitey, Vice-President, Sustainability and External
Relations, Newmont Goldcorp Africa, in her contribution said to be
successful in this sector, there is the need for collaboration.
“You need to build a team to work together with the common purpose of
reaching your goals”, she said adding that in order for collaborations
to be effective and successful there is the need to consider the
following key concepts: support, teamwork, communication, trust,
motivation, inspiration”.
The Head of Society, Africa Region Diageo PLC, Mr Gabriel Opoku-Asare
added that PR woman as the eye of the organization, should be able to
analyse, predict and counsel management in its decision-making
processes.
Amongst the topics discussed included: ‘The Next Generation of PR
Woman’, ‘Fostering Strategic Collaboration in the Digital Era’, ‘Putting
Entrepreneurship into PR’, ‘The Relevance of Social Media and
Organisational Context in PR Management’ and ‘Applying Emotional
Intelligence to Leadership’.
At one stage, the summit moved into a panel discussion moderated by
ace broadcaster, Naa Ashorkor Mensah Doku. The resource persons, who
deliberated on the topic, ‘Emotional Intelligence and Leadership’
included Dr Eric Rhiney, Chair, Management Department, Webster
University; Cynthia Ofori-Dwumfou, PR Business Ogilvy Ghana; Emma
Wenani, Chief Director Global Media Alliance and Mrs Baaba Cofie, Snr PR
Consultant Mahogany Consul.
