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Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending an evening with Dr Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand's Director General of Health who has led the response to COVID-19. He is an exceptional public servant, full of compassion and humility and, to be frank, we are very lucky to have him. 

The evening was organised by the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand and the topic in hand was, of course, the communications response to COVID-19 which has also been exceptional. 

Many aspects of the response were covered during the course of the evening, including his embarrassment at becoming something of a celebrity here, but the remarks he made around leadership were the ones that have stayed with me.  He was asked if he had experienced any moments of self-doubt, particularly when it came to making the call to send New Zealand to Alert Level Four, our 'lockdown' level, earlier in the year. 

After a moment's pause he said that yes, of course there were moments when he questioned the actions and potential actions that were to be recommended but that was a necessary part of leadership because it makes you a leader who listens, who collaborates and who works on consensus.  He went on to say that leaders who don't listen and don't question the circumstances in which they find themselves are potentially dangerous as they will continue a course of action regardless of its consequences. 

Dr Bloomfield unfailingly describes himself as a 'public servant', an echo of more traditional times perhaps, pre-dating the notion of the leader as celebrity. I've always held the view that leadership is entirely about service, inclusion and equity. New Zealand has been one of several places in the world this year to have been fortunate to have leaders - both elected and appointed - who listen. My hope for 2021 is that all countries are able to call on the many people in their midst who are true leaders, who embody the notion of service rather than personal power, and who are genuinely concerned with the health and welfare of their people.

In the meantime, thank you Dr Bloomfield - and every single person in your team of health professionals, communicators, leaders and guides.

This week I'll be talking about artificial intelligence and public relations at the International Public Relations Summit. A virtual event hosted out of Jakarta there's some great speakers lined up for the three day event. Definitely worth your time.

We have a new government here in New Zealand. It's the same one as before, led by Jacinda Ardern, just back bigger. Under our voting system, we generally have a government formed by the collaboration of two or more parties but this time - for the first time since the system was introduced - a party was elected in sufficient numbers to govern alone. They're not going to. They are going to involve another party - the Greens - in some form. Not because they have to but because they can. 

All this is good news, certainly for the Labour Party which won hands down, for the Greens who got more seats than predicted, and for the country, opting for stability in a time of crisis and being kind. There is no doubt that in the last term Prime Minister Ardern and her colleagues managed the pandemic response exceptionally well and I've no doubt they'll continue to do so. What I am beginning to doubt is their ability to unravel the complex issues they will face during their next term and whether they are brave enough - bold enough - to really do things differently in order to improve outcomes for everyone.

Like all economies around the world we face recession. Those already in poverty will be joined by others. Environmental challenges persist and the dangers of pandemic are ever present. Jacinda Ardern is acknowledged as an excellent communicator - much is made in the profession of her public relations degree from the University of Waikato - and, for the most part, her ministers are also blessed with the ability to engage with New Zealanders and trust them to do the right thing. They have been been brave, bold and resolute in their approach to the three major crises that punctuated their first term in office - the Christchurch terror attack, the White Island volcanic eruption and the onslaught of COVID-19.

My concern is while their reaction to crisis has been excellent, they are not - nor are their advisers - looking hard enough at the network of issues that lie ahead. Their focus seems to be on 'just getting through'. The Green Party produced and communicated ambitious social policies during the election campaign that did address the issues ahead but those policies seem outside Labour's gaze. I sincerely hope for all our sakes, that in next three years those 'in charge' act courageously. That they are radical. That they act differently. I hope beyond hope that they don't keep themselves shackled to the constraints of a pre-COVID world and that they look instead for imaginative and different ways of governing and, in doing so, create a new type of society that takes us forward rather than chains us to the past.

There has been much talk of 'build back better'. I rather think it should be 'build back bold', 'build back brave' or 'build back different' if we are to really solve the issues and leave nobody behind.

There's a great deal of discussion about the way forward for society. The notion of our licence to operate and subsequent social capital has finally begun to feature in good conversations around the world so, with spring in the air here, I've dusted off and updated my video explanation of the licence to operate - what it is, what it does, why we need one and how public relations and communication helps us get - and keep - one of our own. Public relations builds and sustains the relationships we need to maintain our licence to operate - it is the very heart of what we do. 

August has been a bit of a blur of webinars, question and answer sessions and debates on the nature of what we do. As the month came to a close, having answered all the questions asked of me as best I could, I decided it was time to update our 'What is PR?' video which has all the answers to the question 'What is PR', including definitions of public relations, our purpose and a newly minted PR Atom model in motion that shows you how it all works. Enjoy.

As organisations fight to stay relevant and corporate 'purpose' falls under the microscope, I had the great pleasure and privilege to speak with Toni Muzi Falconi, one of the world's leading public relations professionals, as part of the International FERPI webinar series. We covered organisational purpose, internal communication and the different approaches that have been adopted during the pandemic - a thought provoking conversation which I share with you here.

Are you ready for the challenges ahead? For the impact artificial intelligence will have on public relations?  On society? The pandemic caused a paradigm shift for millions with a leap to digital they never thought they’d take - but the change was coming long before then. 

Subtle steps have taken us towards everyday artificial intelligence and the deployment of digital entities that sooth our emotions, help our daily tasks and act as companions at home.  In case you missed it, that paradigm shift has even greater implications for public relations and communication practice, reshaping our work, redefining the relationships we build, the reputations we guard and the risks and issues we manage. 

I tackled the topic recently in a webinar which you can access here. It takes you through the developments, the opportunities and the concerns of artificial intelligence, digital and human relationships and the problems we might expect.

In a world turned upside down, how do you develop strategies to navigate uncertain times? How do you develop strategic relationships that will help you survive and thrive in times of global recession?  Available early July, our new course, Navigators, gives you the opportunity to find out how.

I've been looking ahead these last few months and, as we have slowly worked our way through lockdowns, dramatic societal change and new ways of operating, I've had the privilege and opportunity to guide fellow practitioners through the twists and turns of strategy development, examining some of the changes we face and how best to meet them. 

We must constantly challenge ourselves to explore new approaches and new thinking so we can help our organisations make sense of what's ahead and maintain the relationships they need to maintain their licence to operate. Understanding the process, looking beyond the tactical - the 'sending out stuff' - is critical if our discipline is to remain relevant. 

I hope you'll find this guided professional development session both useful and informative. Old rules don't apply - take some time to navigate the new ones.

Unprecedented is a word that's been whipped to death over the last twelve weeks, generally by governments flogging the dead horse of failure as their lame excuse for ineptitude before and during the current pandemic. Unprecedented however, does not excuse unprepared, as it is the duty of all governments to provide and plan for emergencies, protect public health and well-being. 

It's a known part of the job. It's the duty of government. It's what they sign up for when they're voted in. When emergencies occur governments must be ready and able to deal with whatever form it takes and it is inexcusable when they don't. There is no excuse good enough to cover the levels of incompetence we've witnessed, particularly when global pandemic has been on the risk index for years.

I found myself questioning whether certain governments around the world should be held accountable on the grounds of criminal negligence, given they've butchered COVID-19 crisis management so badly their people have paid with their lives and livelihoods. I also found myself asking whether charges of criminal negligence could conceivably be extended to include some mainstream media outlets like Fox News in the US or the tabloids in the UK as well as those responsible for communicating government intent. 

The definition of criminal negligence varies from country to country but in negligence alone, common factors include a breach of duty which causes the plaintiff to suffer harm. Criminal negligence refers to conduct when a person ignores a known or obvious risk or disregards the safety of others. It involves knowledge of a danger and is more than a mistake or accident. 

In the UK, Public Health England declares in its 2020 - 2025 strategic plan that 'our first duty is to keep people safe. Threats from environmental hazards and infectious disease remain great at home and from overseas. We work to prevent risks from materialising and reduce harm when they do. PHE has the capability to respond to emergencies and incidents round the clock, 365 days a year'.  Yet in the weeks that have led to 40,000 deaths in the UK (at the time of writing) the politicians were insouciant, dismissive and disdainful of COVID-19 as it began its lethal journey through the kingdom.  They were unprepared when they should have been prepared, ignored advice that would have prevented thousands of deaths and continue to offer few solutions or workable strategies to protect their citizens and fulfil their duty as a government.  A similar picture has been presented in the USA as the federal government there, led by an obfuscating president, fails in its duty to protect its citizens - the timeline of neglect has been well documented by national and global media outlets and, as with the UK, the daily death toll stands as an indictment of dangerous disregard.  Johnson and Trump are not alone - elsewhere in the world, Bolsonaro coughs on his citizens and Belarusian President  Lukashenko holds parades to upstage Putin, currently overseeing a Russia where again, citizens are dying in their thousands. Yet, despite the despots, those who actually care - the medical teams, the essential workers, the volunteers, the many brave and wonderful individuals - demonstrate the real meaning of duty as they bring courage and humanity to their work, saving the lives of all around them regardless of the hardship and difficulty they might personally face.

While dictators can lie in their beds and ignore the death and havoc around them, unaccountable to any, there is a chance that the autocrats and the bumblers might be called to account but, supported as they are by pliable mainstream media that push myths and mayhem into the mix, press spokespeople with little understanding of truth or fact, and government communicators who seem to work in apparent contradiction to their published code of conduct, their communications strategies and their duty of care, it is hard to see when anyone might be called to account for the tragedy wrought by their negligence.  

Here in New Zealand we've been fortunate to have a government that eschewed strategies that would lead to thousands of deaths and instead, opted to 'go hard and go early' to protect people, work with them to stop transmission of the virus, communicating every step of the way and sticking to the plans. The plans have not been well met by everyone but the success of compassion over chaos sees us moving tentatively towards an easing of restrictions - although acutely aware of entering the 'second wave' danger zone.  The government's duty of care and responsibility for the well-being of all New Zealanders was central to its strategy.  I, for one, am grateful for their diligence and I weep, helpless, for those who  continue to suffer and die because of the negligent.