As industry leaders weighed in for this year’s PR Power 50, a kind of consensus emerged about 2017. “Wild,” said James Brodsky, founder and CEO of Sharp Communications.“Freaky,” said APCO Worldwide leader Nelson Fernandez.“Tough,” said Havas PR honcho Marian Salzman.“Very interesting,” Kekst head Jeremy Fielding said. At almost every firm Observer surveyed, unfettered optimism of previous years has given way to a kind of nervous energy. On the one hand, clients have never needed agencies more. Brands are navigating whiplash uncertainty, hall-of-mirrors politics and whack-a-mole news cycles. They want help. “The key question now is what and when to communicate,” Fernandez said. “Will speaking out on issues affect your employees? How do you engage all of your stakeholders once you take a position on a big issue? These are very challenging times.”Fielding agreed. “Because of the political and economic environment, it’s not just traditional issues management,” he said. “The questions are harder and narrower. It’s, ‘I don’t know where antitrust is going,’ or ‘I don’t know where trade policy is going.’”While jitters have benefited the bottom line at some firms, anxious clients also make for very anxious agencies. “Client stability has never been as fragile as I’m seeing it now,”…