Gloria Larson, president of Bentley University who also
recently spoke on SM&'s
"Leadership in Transition" panel, spoke at New England Women in
Real Estate's (NEWIRE)
30th anniversary luncheon on Jan. 18. Larson is
Bentley's first female president, tying into the luncheon's theme
of celebrating women in leadership. Larson shared some of her
career lessons learned with the audience including a key example
from her experience with the media. Despite a few less-than-stellar
memories of waking up to unflattering photos of herself on the
cover of The Boston Globe, one of Larson's biggest career
takeaways spurs from her time chairing the Massachusetts Convention
Center Authority where she oversaw the construction of
the $800 million Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
Throughout the construction phase, Larson boldly took on a
proactive media strategy of being open and direct with the public.
She even frequently called press conferences to disclose negative
news. This helped to positively frame the project by eliminating
the need for reporters to do their own digging and potentially
generate a more negative story. According to Larson, female
leaders need to learn to address their mistakes head on in order to
move forward. And as we all know in the public relations world,
reporters and the public appreciate honesty and transparency and
are more willing to forgive mistakes when they are clearly laid out
on the table.
By Christine
Comey, account supervisor at Solomon McCown & Company