Trailblazers and leaders: Christina Fee
Christina Fee | Currently in between roles, so mistress of my own destiny and designing the next stage of my life
How did you get into marketing/comms?
I fell into it over 30 years ago, before it was properly recognised as a necessary function in most companies. Back in those days, there was usually either no one focused on communications, or you might find one person in the marketing team who was given the additional responsibility of creating and publishing an internal newsletter.
What is something that you do every day without fail?
Apart from brushing my teeth morning and night, I always update my To Do List for the next day. During the COVID lockdowns, when we all worked 100% remotely and the lines between work and home blurred, I started to combine my work and personal to do lists in the same notebook and on the same page. This was a magic formula which enabled me to keep on top of everything during that time, as work was busier than ever, so being able to see at a glance everything I needed to do to keep my life in order was a revelation and important in helping me juggle things as a working mum. I have always brought my whole self to work, but this additional habit has made such a difference to my sanity!
What is the best piece of advice that you’ve received? And who gave it to you?
A previous boss told me more than 20 years ago that it was ok to follow the 80% rule, in other words, even if in my heart I knew that the work I was putting on the table was 20% less than perfect, it was ok and perfectly good enough. She gave the example of creating a communications plan and said she knew that my high standards meant that I would place demands on myself to always do it thoroughly and in fine detail. She pointed out that the majority of my stakeholders did not know what a comms plan was, or what good looked like. Therefore, having a rough plan would do the job. This was so freeing to hear. I started judiciously practicing "just good enough", in circumstances when it was appropriate to do so, and found I was much more efficient and productive as a result. It's now part and parcel of how I operate and led to me creating some practical one-page templates for use in specific circumstances, which I have coached teams and clients to use and still use myself to this day.
What is a tool/hack that you would recommend to anyone starting out in PR/Comms/Marketing?
It relates to the anecdote above. Create a simple template for a plan on a page / or even a strategy on page - you just need a layout which makes sense to you, and the right headings; description, objectives, outcomes, audiences, KPIs etc. It's a great way to sketch out your initial thoughts and ideas (and questions) and a useful explainer tool to engage your stakeholders too. And another bonus hack - when you are about to send an important email (where there is a lot riding on it) and you are frantically checking and triple-checking the content before sending...do one of two things:
a)while creating the content, either don't enter any recipient names at all, in the To and Cc fields, OR
b) if you do enter names, add XXXX in the Cc field
What’s your greatest achievement to date?
It genuinely is hard to think of just one, because my brain automatically goes to a mix of work and non-work...and I prefer to think of it as opportunities, and I have been fortunate enough to have quite a few. From a work perspective, it would probably have to be being awarded a promotion to what was probably the biggest job in internal comms at the time, (for a workforce of more than 500,000 employees), while I was pregnant and about to go on maternity leave. The organisation decided I was the right person for the job and held the vacancy open, waiting for me to return to work to step into the role. And the promotions prior to that, (all with the same organisation), led to me being able to enjoy a stretching, inspiring, sometimes scary (imposter syndrome often set in!) but overall interculturally stimulating, six-year stint working and living abroad. That period was a massive growth zone for me, personally and professionally.
Is there a particular comms campaign that you’ve seen in your career that you didn’t work on but wish you had?
For me it would have to be the 2012 Olympics. It had such a strong call to action and tone of voice, and our emotional response to it was palpable. The buzz in London and the UK as a whole was incredible and so memorable. I didn't made a deliberate decision to attend the Paralympics in person with my family and found it awe-inspiring.
In three words, describe your approach to your role/work?
Focused, Holistic, Human
What’s a question every PR/marketing pro should ask themselves?
What are the three things I MUST get done this week? (everything else can wait!)
