Your Attitude Is Showing — And It's Hurting Your Team

There's a rant happening on LinkedIn right now. Probably several. A PR pro is venting about a client who had the nerve to ask for a follow-up after a solid placement. Another one is posting about how journalists never respond. A third is typing out a thread about unrealistic deadlines — probably from their couch, probably with a glass of wine in hand.

And look, I get it. PR is hard. The pace is relentless. But there's a difference between blowing off steam with a trusted colleague and making your frustration everyone else's problem. One is healthy. The other is corrosive.

THE COMPLAINING HAS GOTTEN LOUD

According to Matthew Libassi, Director of Public Relations and Speakers Bureau for Northwell Health, writing for PR Daily, there's a growing chorus of PR practitioners publicly griping about clients, journalists, tight turnarounds — basically every core function of the job. His take? If that's you, it might be time to ask whether this career is actually the right fit.

That's not cruel. That's honest.

Burnout is real — Libassi cites reports that approximately 50% of PR professionals are considering leaving their jobs due to burnout, and a significant portion already have. There are genuinely toxic workplaces out there, and if you're in one, yes — get out. No argument there.

But if your grievance is that a client asked "what's next?" after you landed them a top-tier placement? That's not disrespect. That's enthusiasm. They liked what you did and they want more of it. The moment clients stop asking what's next is when you should actually start worrying.

ONE BAD ATTITUDE IS A TEAM PROBLEM

Here's the part that doesn't get talked about enough: your mood isn't just your mood. According to Libassi, morale can drop 30–40% in teams that have to cope with the negative behaviors of just one individual.

One person. Thirty to forty percent.

That's not a rounding error. That's a real, measurable drag on every brainstorm, every deadline, every client call your team has to show up for. The snide comment about a journalist. The eye roll at an urgent request. The visible frustration that signals to everyone else that this work is beneath you — it spreads. Fast.

PR teams run on trust, speed, and collaborative energy. When one person poisons the well, the whole team drinks from it.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR PR STRATEGY

This isn't just a culture conversation. It's a strategic one. Here's what leaders and practitioners should actually be thinking about:

• Audit your team's energy, not just their output. Great placements can coexist with terrible morale. One will eventually kill the other.
• Reframe client urgency as trust. A client who keeps asking for more is a client who believes in you. Treat that accordingly.
• Know the difference between demanding and toxic. Fast turnarounds and high expectations are the job. Being set up to fail, ignored, or disrespected is not. One requires resilience. The other requires an exit.
• If you're a freelancer or agency owner, recalibrate your expectations. As Libassi puts it bluntly — if you're billing multiple thousands a month, you pick up the phone on Friday night. That's the deal.

Over 5,000 PR graduates enter the U.S. job market every year, according to Libassi. They're hungry. They haven't been worn down yet. If you've reached the point where basic job functions feel like personal affronts, the problem isn't the industry — it's the fit.

PR rewards people who thrive on the pivot, the speed, the problem that lands at 4:58 on a Friday. If that description makes you tired instead of energized, it's worth sitting with that honestly.

The job hasn't changed. But maybe your relationship to it has — and that's worth paying attention to.

If you're building a PR strategy that actually holds up under pressure — or you need a team that shows up with the right mindset and the right skills — Winsome Marketing is worth a conversation. We do this work because we genuinely like it. That makes all the difference.

This post was originally inspired by Stop complaining and start doing: A wake-up call for PR professionals via prdaily. We encourage you to read the original piece for full context.