Skills for a Community Relations Senior Manager at San Francisco 49ers
Saya, a Community Relations Senior Manager, highlights communication ("both written and being able to speak with someone...with a completely different background") and hyper-organization as crucial skills, emphasizing the behind-the-scenes event planning nature of the role. The ability to collaborate effectively ("working with people from all different socioeconomic backgrounds"), demonstrate creativity ("proactive and a go-getter"), and leverage interpersonal skills to build strong relationships within and outside the organization are also essential for success.
Communication, Project Management, Interpersonal Skills, Creativity, Organizational Skills
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Saya Lindsay
Community Relations Senior Manager
San Francisco 49ers
Trinity College, 2012
N/A
International Relations & Affairs
Sports & Fitness
Communication and Marketing
Student Athlete
Video Highlights
1. Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) are crucial for interacting with diverse groups, from children to high-level executives.
2. Strong organizational abilities and attention to detail are essential for successful event planning and execution.
3. Creativity and proactive problem-solving skills are highly valued for developing innovative solutions and approaching challenges from new perspectives.
Transcript
What skills are needed to be successful in a community relations role at a sports team?
Communication is a massive one. Any given day, we communicate internally with nearly every department on our team, working together to execute events and programming. Externally, we work with nonprofits, community organizations, and corporate partners. Our inboxes are full of different people and folks we really have to work with collaboratively to execute our programming and mission.
Communication is huge, both written and being able to speak with someone who might have a completely different background than you. This is an incredibly valuable skillset. We work with people from all different socioeconomic backgrounds, career paths, and roles. You really have to be able to communicate with a wide variety of people.
Sometimes we're talking to babies and kids, and then sometimes we're talking to a VP or C-Level executive at a big organization. So being able to communicate and being hyper-organized are essential.
At the end of the day, we are event planners. You have to be hyper-organized and pay attention to small details to execute a bigger vision and project. We are the invisible people behind the scenes.
We put on events and programs to make sure the people participating—whether they are players, staff members, or owners—are set up for success. We are the people behind the scenes making sure all the little things go perfectly so they can succeed in whatever they are doing.
Interpersonal skills are also important, which kind of mixes in with communication. My favorite part of my job is working with other people. I'm not sitting behind a computer typing away. I get to be out in the community, walk the hallways, talk to different people, and see what they're working on. I also work with our players and their families.
Creativity is another important skill. We look for someone who is proactive and a go-getter. They should be able to look at an issue that might come up, whether it's a current event, social justice issue, or just trying to reimagine what we do.
We encourage seeing things in a new light, being willing to take a risk, or putting a new idea out there. Approaching an issue in a different way is valuable. The best thing about our team is that we all see things differently, and we uplift and encourage those viewpoints. We value how we each look at different things.