Leadership Interview: SVP of Public Affairs and Communication

Note: Subject requested anonymity. Interview performed for Columbia University graduate coursework.

For over forty years, this executive has worked in the consumer electronics industry. Upon graduating from university with a master’s in journalism, he set out to work in newspapers but ended up working in internal communications (Viggiano 2020).

            Over a decade later, that company was bought out by a major electronics company, and he assumed his current role of Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications. With this transition, he was responsible for not only public relations, but also government relations and industry affairs. Industry trade associations he works with include the Consumer Technology Association and many more. In the interview, he expands on the importance of professional development (Viggiano 2020):

“Like a lot of careers, mine has evolved over the years, from the time when I was doing it all myself to managing a big team. The benefit of working with a big company is that we have a lot of opportunities for career growth and for professional development. That’s one of the keys—finding the right fit—when looking for a job. The kind of company that has that growth potential that values teamwork.”

As his organization is global, there is much room to grow within. He emphasized teamwork as his public affairs department works across every division of the company and in every product category. He described it as a “cross-functional organization” (2020). As a public relations professional, he has had to be a high self-monitor, always changing to fit what is needed in his role (Ibarra, 2015, p.5). Problem solving is paramount in public affairs and his responsibilities, especially regarding reputation management and all aspects of product messaging (Yukl, 2016, p. 70).

One of the most interesting points was that beyond internal growth opportunities, he also looks to one of his biggest competitors as a mentor (Viggiano 2020).

“Believe it or not, one of my mentors was the head of public relations at one of our biggest competitors. We worked together on many industry projects and put our competitive nature aside to work together in the best interest of the industry.”

He definitely doesn’t just speak about high-quality leadership skills and styles; he walks the walk with his collaborative approach. One of his first pieces of advice from a boss early in his career was to hire people smarter than you are—or hiring the right people with the right mix of technical and interpersonal skills (Polzer, 2003, p.8).

“It’s important to listen and learn and share my experience,” he said, “but, you know, leading is not dictating what people do. It’s empowering them to do their jobs. And a lot of what I do is to try to—I deal with a lot of corporate bureaucracy, so they can deal with the day-to-day work. I’m there—I always have their back. We all make mistakes, and I’m always there to support everybody along the way.”

He values teamwork and demonstrates affiliative, and democratic leadership styles (Goleman, 2000, p.11). He mentioned that he deals with the company bureaucracy, so that his team is able to tackle the tactical day-to-day work, an example of formal leadership (Polzer, 2003, p.9). As he has done for many years, he reports to the CEO (Viggiano 2020):

In my function, that’s really important, because we have to be totally aligned with the corporate direction. Managing your team is one thing and managing your boss is yet another thing! It’s so important that there’s alignment with the corporate objectives for everything that we do.

He views mistakes as teachable moments. He believes that trust and honesty is the backbone of a team. Having trust is especially important during the delivery of bad news. In this way, he demonstrates that he is not only an excellent manager, but an effective leader as well (Barling, 2014, p. 2).

It was a pleasure to talk with this executive about his growth in his career and as a leader. He then apologized as he had to take a call—an emergency popped up in his Canada office, and his colleague was looking for advice of how to deal with an issue. “It’s all part of managing a team, and I enjoy each moment—the problem solving and the successes,” he said. One of his final remarks from our conversation was, “I leap out of bed every day excited to start a new day—no two days are ever alike in this business.”

Sources:

Barling, J. (2014). The Science of Leadership: Lessons from Research for Organizational Leaders. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199757015.001.0001

Goleman, D. (2000). LEADERSHIP THAT GETS RESULTS. Harvard Business Review, 78(2), 78. Gale In Context: Biography.

Ibarra, H. (2015, February). The Authenticity Paradox. Harvard Business Review, 93(1,2), 52–59. ProQuest Central.

Polzer, J. T. (2003). Leading Teams. Harvard Business School Publishing.

Viggiano, S. (Interviewer) (2020, February 3). Leadership Interview, [Personal communication].

Yukl, G. (2012). Effective Leadership Behavior: What We Know and What Questions Need More Attention. Academy of Management Perspectives, 26(4), 66–85. JSTOR.