Pat Gossage, Chairman of Media Profile
Posted by Joseph Thornley on March 24th, 2008, 1 Comment
Pat Gossage founded independent Canadian PR firm Media Profile in 1985. Recently, he initiated a succession process to pass the firm’s ownership into the hands of Media Profile’s employees.
Pat talked with me recently about why he founded the firm, the kind of place he tried to make it, the succession process and the advice he would offer to young people considering a career in public relations.
Some of the highlights:
What makes Media Profile a special place?
“I wanted a firm I enjoyed coming to work at every day. And I wanted a firm that had a pleasant, accepting and respectful atmosphere amongst its workers. A lot of teamwork. Bringing people up from within rather than parachuting from above. I was much more interested in creating a culture than creating a big, successful firm. The culture is here and the success followed.”
On client relations:
“The other thing we stress is being incredibly attentive to clients. We’re good listeners. Somebody once told me that when you are listening to the client your are winning. That’s been a theory we’ve put into practice and it’s been an important aspect of us winning and keeping clients.”
Advice to young people considering a career in public relations:
“The atmosphere in an office is very important. … It’s whether you want to come to work at a firm and whether the senior people are accessible, whether there’s a mentoring program, all the things that will allow you to build on your skills over time. And stay with one firm, which is very important to all of us in public relations, so that we have continuity with our people. That’s what the client respects. The client doesn’t want to be dealing with different people every couple of years.”
You can watch the complete interview here:
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February 19th, 2009 » 03:25Thanks for sharing your experiences regarding this trial.I really appreciate the efforts you have made for this article.Pat Gossage,the founder and now Chairman of Media Profile initiated a succession process to pass the firm’s ownership into the hands of Media Profile’s employees.Personally, I prefer to hire people who are prepared to make a long term commitment to building a career with one company. That’s how we try to develop our leaders – from within. Many team members are reluctant to invest their trust and loyalty in someone who has a track record of moving from company to company. And successful leaders will tell you that they got to where they are because great people chose to be part of their team.