Leadership Unfiltered: From PR to Leadership Coaching, Ken has done it all. Here are his top tips to be an effective leader.
Meet Ken. A premier leadership coach for PR professionals, here we learn about Ken’s career journey and some free leadership advice, we all need to hear.
What if Leonardo DiCaprio wasn’t a great actor? He would probably have a few decades of experience in PR and then become a Leadership Coach. At least that’s what happened to Ken Jacobs. He was an aspiring actor, and though actors like Adam Sandler and Meryl Streep were invited to join BFA acting programs, after rejections from five universities and colleges, Ken knew he wasn't at their level.
So, he followed his heart, which led him to Carvel Ice Cream. While he may have loved a sweet treat with some sprinkles—don’t we all?—that brand is part of Ken’s story because his best friend from elementary school’s dad did their PR, and Ken admired him as a human being and the fun work he did.
Ken gracefully declined the possibility of getting any future Academy nominations and decided he wanted to go into Communications. As a fellow Communications major, along with many others, I’m happy he made the career switch.
Ken had a steady and good career in PR until he was 50. He was especially grateful to his past employers and inspirations Jean Way Schoonover, Barbara Hunter, and Marina Maher who were, at the time, glass-ceiling breakers.
He had leadership coaches himself; it was actually his coach, George Rosenberg, who encouraged Ken to pursue a career in leadership coaching, consulting, and training for the PR industry. "But George, you are telling me—your client—to become your competitor. Are you out of your mind?" George said, "There are enough PR people and agencies that need our help; I’ll be fine." Ken is still grateful for how generous and truthful George was.
As a leadership blog writer, I rightfully probed him for the secrets of how to be a great leader. He says the best leaders have their own core approach to leadership, whatever that may be, but if they really want to lead effectively, they must be willing to modify their leadership style to match their followers’ needs and wants. Customization, he says, is the key to being a great leader.
Ken says it’s ironic that he helps leaders for a living now, because he admits that in his 30s and 40s, he wasn’t a consistently great leader. However, he says his success in his second chapter, empowering others to be more effective leaders, is only possible due to the lessons he learned from his leadership mistakes.
He admits he had lots of fear, something he warns young PR people to acknowledge and manage. For example, when facing an overwhelming obstacle, if you think, “What’s the worst that could happen?” you realize it isn’t so bad. He wishes he had taken more risks and navigated through his fear better and hopes others learn from his mistakes.
Another mistake he acknowledges was his lack of networking. As the Baby Boomer child of Depression era parents, he believed the key to success was to put his nose to the grindstone and not look up. When he was left jobless after leaving Ogilvy, he was worried. Thankfully, he met several associates who helped him build his network. Respected PR leader Patrice Tanaka, with whom he became fast friends, was invaluable.
Another was the iconic Betsy Plank, who some call "the first lady of PR". After a brief “getting to know you” meeting, Betsy insisted Ken accompany her to a top Chicago PR pros luncheon. Because of her iconic status, many people were coming up to meet her. Although they had just met that morning, she asked each person, "Have you met my dear friend Ken Jacobs? He’s a top consumer PR guy from New York; you just have to meet with him!" Just like that, Ken’s network was expanding. Cut to the sit-down lunch when he was at his table with Betsy—to his right was Al Golin, of Golin, known as one of the top agencies in the world. To put it in perspective, last year, they had a revenue of $353 million. So, to say the least, Ken was sitting between two legends.
When I asked Ken for a piece of advice as a coach, he said, "Well, coaches don’t give advice—at least not trained, certified coaches. Instead, we empower our clients to achieve their biggest goals. One technique we use to do that is to employ open-ended, empowering questions because they light up the part of our clients’ brains–the pre-frontal cortex–where action, creativity, passion, collaboration, and memory live.”
He said that one question that gets his clients going—and his go-to question when his clients report being “stuck”-- is, "What do you want to do about that now?" with an emphasis on you, because you are the leader of your life, do, because it’s about taking action and now, which can eliminate over-thinking. Ken also shared his go-to mantra, which he finds especially helpful for when his clients are anxious: "Action is the greatest antidote to worry."
In Ken’s free time, he loves to cook. Whether he loves it more than his wife is a question for her—I’m not getting in the middle of that! His favorite dishes he’s cooked recently are a full English dinner—though he’s not English—and ragù Bolognese. Wow, now I’m hungry. He also loves royal history; he could tell you how Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, were related and the whole nine yards. If anyone wants to talk royal drama, Ken is your guy. He also spoke to me about his love for theatre. As I mentioned before, he almost became the next Leonardo DiCaprio. Fiddler on the Roof is one of his favorite musicals. He says that the recent production, entirely in Yiddish, had him crying the entire 2 ½ hours. Now, he carries tissues to the theatre.
As 2025 begins, I wrapped up our conversation by asking him about any shifts he suspects, not only in PR, but in leadership and coaching. He says, "Obviously, in PR, you have to understand AI and how to use it ethically." For leadership, he says it’s all about change: navigating through and being comfortable with it, and helping your team do the same is essential. In 2025, he is excited about traveling more. His ultimate goal is to spend winters in Portugal or Southern Spain and summers in Maine, mixing coaching, consulting, training and traveling the world.
Fun Facts about Ken:
Favorite Book: The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier
Go-to drink and snack: An Aperol Spritz and a charcuterie board
PR skills all PR people should learn: Understand AI, write effectively, and understand business (numbers and all).
Morning bird or night owl? Equal parts both. He loves his quiet mornings drinking coffee but also reminisces about after-parties that led to eating at diners at 3 a.m.
If he could have a coaching superpower: To see what is going on in his clients’ minds and what is making them stuck during a coaching session.
If you want to reach Ken, the good news he’s eminently reachable!:
ken@jacobscomm.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobsconsultingcoaching/
https://www.instagram.com/ken.jacobs/
If you’ve made it this far, whether you skimmed, read with your heart, or landed here by accident, thank you. Let me know your thoughts and/or feedback. I’m currently partaking in rejection therapy, so this counts.
Until next time,
Leadership Unfiltered Author
Emilia Marie Feltner
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilia-feltner/
Love. This.
Super funny and informative!! Can’t wait for the next one.