Procter & Gamble PR legend Charlotte Otto talked about the importance of retaining and advancing diverse talent during her acceptance speech at last night's Paladin Awards dinner of the PRSA Foundation.

"We won't make the progress we need without that dual focus," she told O'Dwyer's.

Under the leadership of Lou Capozzi, foundation president & former Manning Selvage & CEO, the organization has stressed the need for greater diversity in the PR business.

During the awards ceremony, Otto praised mentoring and developing programs within both agencies and companies, but feels the effort is not enough.

“Palladins”L-R: Andy Polansky, CEO, Weber Shandwick; honoree Charlotte Otto; Jack O’Dwyer; Torod Neptune, head of corporate comms., Verizon Wireless , and Bud Grebey, VP of corporate affairs & comms., Tronox. (Photos: Sharlene Spingler)

The former global external relations officer at P&G said though the marketer has a long track record of diversity and inclusion, talent would leave just about when they were about to "crack the ceiling."

She told the audience of more than 200 people at the Bryant Park Grill in Manhattan about the time a "super-star African-American marketing director" was quitting P&G.

As a member of the "save squad," Otto experienced a "light bulb moment" after she asked for the "real reason" he was leaving."

Though the director praised P&G's excellent diversity programs, "he never felt truly comfortable" at the job. He simply "didn't feel at home."

“Palladins”L-R: John Doorley, director, Mindful Reputation; Thomas Martin, executive-in-residence, College of Charleston; Otto; Kim Hunter, CEO, Lagrant Comms., and Kelly Ramirez, Press Play Communications.

The 33-year P&G veteran said, "It was small things like not being included in an impromptu lunch or party at a colleague's home. But it was bigger things too, like not feeling like he could speak out or feeling like he was always in the spotlight."

Otto spoke about the importance "of feeling totally comfortable being you."

Recently, she tested the scenario when friends stayed over and Otto felt comfortable going into the kitchen "in a raggedly purple robe, no make-up and a bed-head."

To Otto, "Feeling at home in the workplace means feeling accepted for who you are—good, bad and weird."

“Capozzi,L-R: PRSA Foundation president Lou Capozzi, Burson-Marsteller co-founder Harold Burson.

It means feeling 1) "comfortable saying what you think and feel without fear of repercussions;" 2) free to experiment, ask dumb questions, and try new things and if they don't work out you still have a place," and 3) "welcome at the family table."

Otto recalled when she "moved into the wood-paneled office on P&G's hallowed 11th floor with the rest of the company officers."

Some men expressed hostility because they believed they were more deserving of the senior VP title, while most of the female secretaries didn't like a female executive on the floor.

Since Otto wasn't too good at big-boy politics," she made mistakes.

Things came to a head after she told a vice chair to "shush" because she wanted to hear what an underling was saying.

After that episode, her former boss, Bob Wehling, set her straight. "He told me I was terminally naïve," said Otto. "As quickly as I took a breath to argue with him, I stopped. I knew that he had just given me a gift. He was really saying I had to become more sophisticated and confident in that rarified air."

Now a senior corporate strategist at Weber Shandwick, Otto had a tough transition to the agency side of the business.

After Otto "dressed down a client because she wasn't being strategic enough," corporate practice chair Micho Spring told her about the need to "pull in sharp elbows" to maintain good client relations.

WS staffer Carol Ballock impressed upon Otto that an "account leader doesn't like it when you call a client directly to give counsel."

Otto told the audience to think about what they can do make people around them feel at home.

She concluded, "Reach out to someone who just feels different. Reach to someone who may be watching from the sidelines but has so much more to contribute.

"Help them feel at home. It will be worth it for your company, our industry and especially to you."