Search

Several years ago in Miami we presented a conference paper regarding the importance of leadership and role modeling. The authors bring the topic to life by grounding it in rich quantitative and qualitative data that were gathered in 2012 in their global study of communication leadership, the largest study of its kind in their field. The authors are interested in leaders at all levels in the function, and the term dispersed leadership captures these idea-leaders can be found at all levels in diverse nations, organizations, professional associations, and groups, and functions. One useful approach to studying the complex topic of leadership is by using metaphor. In the scholarly literature, Parry argued that leadership is fundamentally about sensemaking and that leaders are sensemakers. The global study of leadership in public relations was carried out under the auspices of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations at the University of Alabama (UA).

This chapter discusses the themes and their implications, and takes a look at future leaders in public relations. It presents implications of the study for practice, education, and future research. The national and cultural comparisons are fraught with problems. If the profession is serious about trying to improve overall leadership in public relations and communication management, then we believe there are some important considerations and steps to take in each of these arenas. University public relations education programs are a growth industry, though program contents and requirements range widely from technical-practical concentrations to theory-heavy orientations. The global study provides a baseline of data regarding leadership dimensions, development needs, key issues and strategies in the field, self-perceptions about a variety of topics, insights about future leaders, and the influences of culture and structure on leaders' roles and responsibilities. The success of global corporations increasingly relies on their ability to transfer competitive communication strategies to local subsidiaries.