By Susan Caba
Cathy Dunkin, founder, president and CEO of Standing Partnership, plays ice hockey to relax. As a defender for the
St. Louis Surge women's hockey team, Dunkin finds the game so demanding she has no choice but to forget about everything else and focus on the sport. That approach is emblematic of one of her company's core values—dedication to a well-rounded life. Her firm, founded in 1991, takes that well-rounded approach to "reputation management," offering strategic communications, public relations and crisis management. Last year, Standing Partnership was recognized by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry as one of the fastest-growing businesses in Missouri.
Who or what is your inspiration
or motivation?
"The first thing that comes to mind is probably my Mom. We have a family with a lot of journalists and a lot of writers. She worked in advertising and had gone to journalism school. She has a library in the house. I discovered that I liked to write when I was in third grade and decided that would be my career. My Father is very mechanical. IÕve combined the writing and the journalism genes with my FatherÕs practical, problem-solving genes."
What's the most efficient or productive time of day for you?
"Early in the morning. If I really, really want to do hard work or difficult writing, I get up at five. I usually keep Monday mornings clear. And I usually spend a couple of hours on Saturday mornings in order to get things set up for the coming week."
What is the most creative aspect of
your work? What is the least creative
or least satisfying?
"There's not an easy answer to that. I started that company 16 years ago to be able to come to work everyday and have fun. The most satisfying part is having a client project that just works out perfectly. Several years ago, the 70th birthday of the Hostess Cupcake was really fun. We were able to bring in Doc Rice, the inventor of the squiggly stripe. It was the lead story on the Today Show. One of the most interesting was handling the neighborhood explosion for Praxair (In June, 2005, a series of fireballs exploded into the sky over the industrial plant in a residential neighborhood south of Downtown). We were able to reach out to the neighborhood, handle the crisis management and the issues.
"The least satisfying is when it's not working, the team is out of sync, or the clients aren't working."
How do you use devices and electronics —Blackberries, cell phones, iPods—to manage work flow? Are they, on balance, more often a tool or a hindrance?
"We use all of the technologies that are available. We have become a leader in the whole social media arena. We've developed a real specialty in that, in how to use social media strategically as well as doing it because it's fun. I took my Blackberry with me on the ski slope. I'm not a person who checks it constantly, but I looked at it once a day during lunch. It's more from the crisis management aspect. I know I have people in the office who can handle everything, but I do need to know if something is happening that a client needs me. One of the things about skiing, though, is that the technology doesn't always work.
"We have a blog on which everyone in the company can blog. It's a good way to share thoughtful leadership—we talk about anything."
What is the most distracting element
of your workday/workweek?
How do you manage it?
"I have a lot of meetings. I have to be good at scheduling open time, without meetings. I have to have some time when IÕm actually in the office and I can get back to people. I have a lot of different things that take up pieces of the day. I like to keep Mondays open and, during the week, an open afternoon."
If there is one thing you would like to
do differently in the average workday, what is it? Why donÕt you do it?
"I would like to do even better with the schedule management. I have a wonderful assistant who does that for me. My most important thing is I would get my schedule pattern a little more under control. What I have to take into consideration, though, is that we are serving clients. We have to be flexible, to be available when they need us. ItÕs hard work, but worthwhile work."
Do you work differently while traveling than in your office?
"I love plane time. Plane time is quiet time. When I travel, I pack things for the plane, very consciously."
What are some of your rules for success?
"Have very strong core values and communicate them clearly. Hire a wonderful team and trust them. Treat people with respect and hold them accountable to maintain our integrity. That includes clients. Sometimes, we resign clients who aren't treating us with respect—and that's not always easy to do, if they account for a large piece of revenue.
"I used to think I could just create a great place to work—and I can. But every single person has to care, every day, and take personal responsibility. We have printed core values, and we take quarterly retreats to talk about them. That makes them live."
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