Lesly, Philip

Philip Lesly (1918–1997), a published, awardwinning public relations practitioner, led from his headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, what was at one time the largest counseling firm in the world. He founded the Philip Lesly Company in 1949 and served as its president for 20 years. His firm was a full-service agency in the United States with offices throughout the world and represented more than 50 of the major organizations in Canada and the United States. Primarily a counseling and creative company, Lesly's firm focused on employee relations and communications, environmental concerns, and issues/crisis management. In his work with major corporations, trade associations, and nonprofit organizations, he viewed the public relations role as central to the management of an everchanging human condition within society.

In 1978, he was voted the “leading active practitioner” in an international poll of professionals in the field conducted by PR Reporter (1991, p. 3). Lesly's leadership in public relations was further established by his well-articulated views in books, journal articles, and his bimonthly industry newsletter known as Managing the Human Climate, for which half of the subscriptions originated outside the United States, mainly in the Far East.

Lesly's publications began with the basic Public Relations: Principles and Procedures. His next book focused on case studies and was titled Principles in Action. His sought-after Public Relations Handbook, first published in 1950, was reissued with the fifth edition in 1998, shortly after he passed away. Writers still quote Lesly's concise definition of public relations from the 1983 handbook: “helping an organization (or group) and its publics adapt mutually to each other” (1983, p. 5). Lesly's handbook serves as a highly valued reference for professionals in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, India, and the United Kingdom.

During his career, Lesly was awarded three annual awards from the Public Relations Society of America, including a Golden Anvil. His early accomplishments provided the basis for this leadership role. By the age of 18 he had earned a scholarship to Northwestern University, graduating magna cum laude and earning the status of a Phi Beta Kappa. He entered public relations work immediately after college and within two years became vice president of a major U.S. counseling firm. He organized and served as editor of the first daily newspaper for high schools in the United States. He later worked as an editor for the Chicago Herald and Examiner. His frequent lecturing and speeches were often reported and reprinted in leading newspapers and magazines such as the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and Vital Speeches of the Day.

Throughout his writings, Lesly focused on communication as the nexus for public relations and stated that “all of human society today pivots on communication.” His career focused on the importance of (1) examining attitudes, (2) understanding the role of public relations in practice, (3) studying effective communication, and (4) viewing public relations as a gestalt.