Jim Olson, professor of practice of public relations in the Newhouse School, wrote an op-ed for Fast Company titled “Why every company needs to share its mission in 2021.” Olson had an extensive 25-year career in corporate communications, working for some of the world’s most recognizable brands.
Olson starts the piece by explaining the concept of a “ghost light.” A ritual in the theater world, ghost lights are turned on each night when a theater closes to light the stage. While stages across the world have been empty during the ongoing pandemic, ghost lights serve as a “beacon of hope that the show will go on.”
Such messages of hope are needed by society, Olson argues. It is important for all companies and organizations to have a purpose or mission, yet Olson writes that sharing that mission is the most rewarding aspect, especially in such times of difficulty. Olson outlines many companies that have shared such missions of change and hope during 2020.
Olson ends the piece with a call to action, encouraging companies and individuals to set their own missions for a hopeful new year. “Put simply, 2021 needs our individual and organizational ghost lights to radiate brighter than ever, and in doing so, we will blaze a path out of this dark valley of despair toward that flicker of hope dancing on the horizon,” writes Olson.
