A couple of years ago, at one of our company EOS planning meetings as we reflected on the importance of the work we do, we began an intentional, yet subtle, shift in our company values.
For years, our company Core Values included Excellence, Teamwork, Growth, and Balance. But as we discussed those values and their relevance to our work, we reflected on just how truly difficult it is to achieve balance in the public relations space. We function in a 24/7 world. Between the news cycle, social media and the increasingly heavy weight of the public affairs world our company operates in, we found that our Balance core value was throwing us off-balance.
Today, instead of balance, we now define that value as Harmony. To a Bellwether, harmony means that we embrace an inherent equilibrium throughout our work and our lives. We empower each other to step away to get a broader view, or step up when pressing situations arise. By accepting this ebb and flow, we remain prepared to adapt to the ever-shifting tides of the public relations landscape and the world around us.
In the PR industry, burnout is real–91% of PR professionals reported poor mental health in the past year. Over the years as we honored our core value of Balance, we’ve shared strategies for protecting your mental health amid the weight of what we bear. And now as we’ve shifted our core value to one of Harmony, the call to protect each other and the vital work we do rings truer than ever before.
This Mental Health Month, we invite you to join us in honoring the role Harmony can play in your own life. Whether you’re a colleague in the communications or public affairs space, or a bellwether in your own industry, 2025 has created a level of disruption across our society that almost everyone has felt. At times, balance may feel impossible to achieve. This is where accepting the ebb and flow of the world around us, and recognizing when to step away or step up, can be helpful strategies for protecting and preserving your mental health.
Still, Harmony in itself can be difficult to achieve on your own. This is where the totality of our Core Values shines. Harmony requires Teamwork – people you can trust and rely upon to be there for you when you need support. Harmony is born through Growth – accepting that there are things you cannot control, and knowing when to further your understanding of an issue or topic by asking for help or guidance when things become too much to bear alone. And finally, Harmony is the ultimate measure of Excellence. This is the embodiment of the idea that you cannot pour from an empty cup. You simply cannot achieve Excellence when you are out of harmony.
One of our clients, the Steelcase Foundation, recently turned us onto a beautiful example of Harmony at work. They shared the knowledge that:
“A choir holds a sustained note by taking turns breathing. No one voice carries the weight alone. That is our call right now—to sing when we can, to breathe when we must, to reflect and to make sure the music continues.”
The work you do is important and necessary. It is also heavy, and emotionally and mentally taxing. Lean on your team, embrace growth, do excellent things, and most importantly, find your harmony.