Taking the Fear Factor Out of Lobbying.

Born to Lobby - Laurel was asked, NOT to touch the flowers in the picture.
Born to Lobby – Laurel was asked, NOT to touch the flowers in the picture.

Guest Blogger Laurel Craib is an exceptional lobbyist bringing more than twenty years of experience from both sides of the political desk. Well known and well regarded in political circles regardless of the party in power she has represented a range of clients from health professionals to auto manufacturers.  She gets inside of her clients issues and delivers their messages with a style and capacity all her own. Laurel recently launched her own company, Agora Consulting, named after the birthplace of democracy in ancient Greece.

I understand that lobbying does not come naturally to everyone.  It does for me though.

It’s a story that I have heard my mother tell many times.  In fact, it took years for me to understand its significance but not from a parent’s perspective, more from the orator’s point of view and what exactly I had begun so many years ago.

In 1968, my mother bravely took me downtown Montreal to watch the Santa Claus parade.  Better known as the Défilé du Père Noël, Montrealers would line both sides of Ste. Catherines Street, as marching bands and decorated floats thrilled the crowd of spectators who overflowed onto the streets from the sidewalks and storefronts.  I was about 4 years old, and my mother had dressed me in a white fur coat, a white fur hat, and white fur muff for my little hands. A little angel, she thought, as we headed out for our special day together.

The way she retells the next series of unexpected events is always scattered with incredible laughter albeit stemming from her ultimate embarrassment.

“I am a good girl, right Mommy?” I stated.  “Yes you are”, she answered, beaming with pride.

“I never say %#@!!!.  And I don’t use the words &%$@@ or *&%%, do I Mommy?”, to which she replied a little red faced in case someone in the crowd overheard , “No you don’t”,  and she hoped it would end there.  I admit that even today that response would never silence me.

I continued. “I hear some people saying #@!$$ and other people saying &&*%%, but I don’t say those things, do I Mommy? I am a good girl, right?”. Silence in response from my Mom this time.  Huge mistake.

My voice raised, just in case my mother did not hear me, I persisted.  “I don’t ever say &%%#@.” Getting louder still, “and I NEVER EVER SAY **&&* @@##$, BECAUSE I AM A GOOD GIRL, RIGHT MOMMY?”.  And then whoosh! My Mother had whisked me into a storefront alcove where she promptly instructed me to say every bad word I knew then and there.  Apparently compliance to my mother’s request took several minutes. I must have stock piled an arsenal full of expletives for this special occasion (I will call this my research).  With onlookers giggling and shaking their heads, my red faced mother asked me one final time if I had any words left inside that I wanted to share as examples of me being an upstanding young person. Apparently I did not.  I had made my point.  I was a good girl, now let’s go watch the parade!

Indeed I had made my point, despite my unrefined delivery.  At 4 years of age, I was advocating for myself, the good girl and on that cold December day, I was determined to influence my mother of the same.  What I had effectively just done was lobby my mother.   She was my first audience, and I knew her well.  Why, she had even agreed with my premise early on in this advocacy exercise.  Mission accomplished!  What I had begun, maybe on that very day, was the beginnings of my career and passion for lobbying.

I have taught many courses on how to effectively advocate and what lobbying is for a little over 8 years.  My audience is mostly made up of board members, CEOs, Presidents and representatives from many varied professional organizations.  I consistently hear from the participants in my course the uncertainty and fear that they feel about lobbying on behalf of their issue, organization or policy.  Most are concerned that about their messaging, their delivery, their relevance, their impact.  I often hear, “Why would they want to hear from me anyhow?”.  The truth here is that if you have decided that you are ready to bring your issue front and centre with government, you probably feel that change can be made and who better to articulate your premise than yourself.

So allow me to suggest ways that will make your advocacy exercise less frightening;

Don’t be afraid of your audience.  First of all, do your research.  Most politicians and senior bureaucrats have their biographies available online, or through professional social networking sites.  Make sure that the senior officials that you are meeting with are in fact interested in your issues.  You would not seek to meet with an official at Fisheries and Oceans if you want to discuss tariffs.  Also remember that these people are quite likely someone’s mother or father, sister or brother, aunt or uncle.  That is, they are just people.

Don’t be afraid to be passionate about your issue.   Speak about your experience, education and knowledge within your field of expertise and how it relates to your reasons for lobbying on your particular issue.   Your passion will come through loud and clear.  People listen to interesting and invigorated speakers.

– Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.  Much like my mother who forgave me fairly quickly for the embarrassing exchange on a crowded downtown sidewalk, senior officials are just people who also make mistakes. The more that you engage in advocacy exercises, the easier it gets.  Don’t forget to start with the appropriate pleasantries, but quickly get to your point. This gets the conversation going, allowing for questions and open dialogue about what you are trying to accomplish. 

I like to remind the participants in my course that the elected and non-elected officials have a responsibility to listen to stakeholders and that as an experienced and educated professional, they want and need to hear your input to be better informed in their decision making.   Stage fright can also creep in your early phases of a lobbying exercise.  While I have never suffered from one single bout of standing in front of an audience, I have witnessed many inexperienced advocates go from shy wallflowers in the first several minutes of their discussions to become full fledge scene stealers once they get in the groove. The positive feedback from your audience, whether verbal or simple body language, will prompt you to continue.  They might even try to shut you up at some point, much like my mother did.

While I do know some lobbyists who swear like sailors, I no longer personally use such flowery language when I am face to face with an elected or non elected official. But that goes without saying.

For me, this just comes naturally.  It flows like water down a slope.

Of course, most lobbying is not directed towards our mothers….if it were, it would be relatively easy.  We would already know our audience, we know that they already like and wont judge us, and we know that they will most likely listen attentively and hear our case.

Do you have an interesting story to share where you had to overcome some element of your advocacy campaign?  Have you faced fear, or been uncomfortable with your audience or subject matter?  I would love to hear about your lobbying successes and challenges.

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Rather Have a Conversation or a Meeting?

Ever had a project introduced in a meeting and thought, “What are these guys smoking? That will never work.” Did you stay silent and subsequently watch the same project move forward with disastrous results? Did you ever have a great idea but thought no one would listen so stayed quiet?  Did you later learn that your idea was tried somewhere else to great success? What about attending a meeting where nothing useful happens or following a process where nothing of value is accomplished? These kinds of scenarios are played out all the time in organizations and sadly, we’ve come to take them for granted. We often accept them as part of the cost of doing business, but what if we changed the dynamic, what if we stopped having meetings and started having real conversations?  It’s not as difficult as it sounds and it doesn’t require special training. Getting into that right groove is a question of trial and error and will reflect the will and makeup of the group but there are some basic interpersonal communication skills that can help.

  • Know Your Audience: As a speaker take the time to consider the audience, their state of mind and experience. Have you prepared them for the presentation? Ask yourself if what you are presenting is truly engaging. Would it capture your attention? Look at their body language, are you reaching them? If it’s two in the afternoon, do they need to stand and stretch for a minute?
  •  Actively Listen: As an audience member you have a role to play and sitting passively isn’t it. Think about the last really fantastic conversation you had. An exchange of ideas where you felt heard and where you could really connect with what was being said. What did it feel like? What was happening was that you were actively listening.  You were hearing what the person meant without contemplating blame, accusation or what you were going to say next. You listened without prejudice and the same was being done for you.  Try it the next time you’re in a meeting. Do not distract yourself with e-mail or other things that will take away from your ability to listen. Do not multitask.
  •  Say It If You Mean It: Speak with honesty and from your personal perspective. Speak because you have something of value to contribute. Do not speak defensively or to blame, speak about how something makes you feel. In business settings, we are often told to suspend emotion and speak “professionally”. While screaming fits and temper tantrums are not helpful, you can only have an emotionless workplace if it’s devoid of humans.
  •  Don’t let dogma distract you: We all have ideas or beliefs we hold to be true, things we are “certain” of. Those ideas shape and inform how we see, hear and understand people and ideas. These paradigms help us to navigate the world around us so they are very important, but they can also act like blinders, blocking our ability to see facts.  It’s important to step back periodically and try to see the world through different eyes.  This doesn’t mean live in perpetual self-doubt, but stay open to new concepts. The same principle holds true when talking to colleagues. Suspend your beliefs, listen with an open mind to what they are saying, you might be surprised by what you learn. Notably, you may gain a better understanding of yourself and why you have the beliefs you do.
  •  Accept Conflict: If you work with people who care about what they do then inevitably there will be moments of conflict. This does not have to be a bad thing. In fact, the absence of dissenting voices can be disastrous for an organization. It could mean that you’re all stuck in the same paradigm.  This means you all see the same way and are also all blind to the same things. Anticipate that you will not always have the same perceptions as those around you and embrace the differences.  Take the time to listen to alternative ideas. Give yourself a chance to learn something new or see something old in a new way.
  •  Slow Down and Smell the Coffee: Sometimes after someone delivers a presentation or proposes an idea we ask, any questions? Generally, we give listeners an entire ten seconds to form their thoughts. Imagine, talking to a group for anywhere from ten to thirty minutes about an idea or project and then giving them ten seconds to digest, integrate and develop questions. Is it any wonder so many meetings and teleconference calls are packed with awkward silence? The real question is, is that silence really awkward? Consider slowing the conversation and giving people the opportunity to ask and engage during presentations.  Consider having a conversation rather than a presentation. Pause and ask people what they think. Ask specific people to feedback what they heard. Let people get back to you later. Allow ideas to percolate.

What was the last great conversation you had at home or at work?  What made it great for you?

Suggested Readings

Updated in July 2017

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Silence is Deadly

Challenger Explosion: Image from NASA,/Wikipedia Commons
Challenger Explosion: Image from NASA/Wikipedia Commons

In 1986 the Challenger Space Shuttle lifted off the ground with millions of onlookers from the world over watching in awe. When it exploded 73 seconds later, those same viewers stared in shocked disbelief. Those who witnessed this horrifying incident can still recall where they were as they watched  it unfold.

What followed were 32 months of investigation and millions of questions. Why, how, when did things start to go wrong and what had caused the explosion were prevalent among them. Perhaps even more amazing were the answers that followed. Every engineer on the project had felt the flight should not happen.  They all had misgivings, hesitations, reasons why they thought it should be rescheduled, yet it was scheduled anyway. When asked why they had remained silent, they said, they felt pressured not to speak up. So they coached their concern in the language of hints and abstractions.  They wrote messages that were lengthy, used convoluted language that so distilled the essence of what needed to be said plainly that the style of writing effectively obscured the message.

Their management, under tremendous pressure to produce results or lose funding was reluctant to acknowledge failure, so reluctant that they eventually evolved and encouraged an atmosphere of false optimism. This structure discouraged anyone who expressed hesitation or doubt about the mission’s success from speaking up. They built a structure of silence and it ended up costing lives.

Over the years numerous people have cited the explosion of the Challenger as a sign post to warn us against the danger of silencing employees.  Plain language specialists use it to demonstrate how organizations can not only lose money but lives by not speaking in simple terms and short sentences. Organizational facilitators use it to illustrate the costs of not having a culture that supports open dialogue.  Any organization, collective or group that is focused on outcomes needs to consider the lesson. Ineffective communications is not just inconvenient, slow or frustrating; it can be disastrous.

The stories associated with the cost of miscommunication are almost countless.  The thing is, we don’t need to add to their ranks. Miscommunications isn’t inevitable, unavoidable or inescapable, it’s a choice. We can choose to communicate effectively by making an effort to understand and pursue clarity in our exchanges. We can take the time to ensure that messages are delivered accurately or we can pretend that we don’t have time to communicate and then spend much more time later correcting our miscommunication.  That is, we can spend more time later if we are lucky.

In our personal relationships, we can address miscommunications by taking the time to know what inspires the people around us and then listening with care.  By understanding what motivates a person we create a window into understanding why they say and do the things they do. By eliminating distractions and focusing on what they are saying, we are more likely to have meaningful exchanges. Coincidentally, the same is true of our work relationships.

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The Fastest Way to a Politician’s Heart is Through a Camera Lens

press and politiciansIf politics were for wallflowers, government buildings would look like bungalows and politicians wouldn’t need to give speeches.  So for the sake of simplicity let’s start from an understanding that politicians expect to be seen and heard.  They would like it to happen at their convenience and on their issues, but they will adopt an issue if you capture their attention, if they can make it serve their needs and if they think it will have resonance with the public.  This description may make them sound opportunistic, but keep in mind that as public figures, they need to be, well public.  If you never hear from or see your legislator again after you elect them, then you might begin to wonder what if anything they were doing for you.  Also keep mind that a representative in parliament who can’t seize an opportunity when one is presented isn’t going to do you a lot of good in the long run.

What this preference for press means for you and your issue is that you have to think of ways of making it sexy or at least ensuring that elements of it have broad appeal.  While working in the public interest is a great starting point, it doesn’t necessarily capture headlines much less passing media interest.  The media likes conflict, sex appeal, violence and sensation, or more to the point, the assumption is that consumers of media like those things.  If you’re lucky on a slow Friday in the summer, you might get them to pay attention to human interest stories. Again, this isn’t a commentary on the personal peccadilloes of reporters, but a reflection of the corporate demands that now plague journalism and what you and I as a members of the public have indicated we are willing to pay for. This is what bumps online ratings, sells papers and raises television audience numbers.

So how do you make your news and issuesissue interesting?

As a start test its appeal with family and friends.  Do people start to glaze over when you tell your story?  Do they get angry, do they laugh, sympathize?  Do they appear shocked? If you can get a reaction from them that isn’t bored indifference you’re on the right track.  If your audience is glazing over halfway through your story, then you might want to take a slightly different approach to telling it.  For instance, you can take your issue and consider the worst-case scenario.  What could possibly happen if nothing is done? What are the implications of leaving things at the status quo?  Don’t stretch the bounds of believability, but try to follow through on what might happen if things did not change.  Stir in a few experts. Consider the plight of those impacted and suddenly you have a news story.  It also helps if you can think of a catchy way to express your concerns. The catchier, the more likely it is to end up as a sound bite on the news.  This may seem crass, but it works.

Then of course there is social media. There are volumes written on the many ways you can generate attention on your issue by blending traditional and social media campaigns or simply taking the social media route.  I would say though that unless you already have a strong online following or are about to start an active campaign to get that following, then you will want to look at blending. Although it can sometimes seem that anything can be made popular online from screaming goats to funny dances, it’s harder to do than it looks.  It’s also true that not all coverage is necessarily good coverage.

Timing is also critical to the successful launch of a story.

Any number of things can obliterate a good story, from bad weather conditions to a single but memorable violent act. A sporting event that has captured the attention of the public can make your story go from leading to pleading for coverage. You can manage some things, like avoid launching a story around an important holiday unless you can tie your story to it. Elections are tempting times to launch stories too, but do it with care.  If you cost a party a drop in the polls or even a temporary setback during an election campaign, they will remember you and it won’t be fondly. Take a look at the local events calendar, not just to avoid conflicting activities but to look for opportunities.

Whatever approach you adopt remember, media is a blunt tool.

There is little purpose in using the media strictly as a way of getting a legislator’s attention.  If you use it, it must be with the understanding that you are trying to get a message out to a broad audience, including those who may disagree with your perspective.

Do you have any media success or failure stories? Any news you saw that you knew wasn’t true or received a revelation by watching the news? I’d love to hear your stories.

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Remember Your Manners – A True Story

Remember your mannersBad manners in business are about as useful as feathers on a fish and as memorable. The following story is based on something that happened while I worked on Parliament Hill.

An executive working in the regional office of a manufacturing company was contacted by his superiors and told that it would be in the best interest of the organization if he were to meet with the local member of parliament (MP) to discuss some of the future goals of the organization.  The Member of Parliament really didn’t have the power to facilitate or interrupt those goals, but since he sat on the Industry Committee, and the changes would require some  regulatory adjustments it made good sense to make sure he was onside.  The executive dutifully contacted the office and set up a meeting with the MP.

On the day of the meeting, the executive arrived and proceeded to extol the virtues of the proposed objectives of his company to the MP.  To his surprise the MP had some concerns.  The concerns did not appear to be well founded or based on any evidence.  The executive explained that the concerns were unsubstantiated, but the MP persisted, expressing his reluctance to endorse the objectives of the company.  It was at this point that the executive became somewhat impatient with the MP, after all, what did the MP know about his business and who was he to raise objections? As the meeting continued it became clear that the two men were not going to see eye to eye, what’s more it was also obvious that the MP might actually represent a problem for the organization. The executive in frustration finally said to the MP that he would, “regret it” if he were to stand in the way of the organization’s goals.

Now for those of you familiar with testosterone, it is clear that the tone of the exchange had more to do with hormone levels than any rational disagreement. It is also possible that had the exchange been limited to these two men it would have ended then and there. Unfortunately, executives from across the country went out to meet with MPs.  It was equally clear that none of the executives had been given government relations training… or relations training of any kind.  All that was paramount to them was the importance of the proposed activity to their organization. The result was that by the time the Members of Parliament had returned to the House of Commons they were good and steamed.  When they got together with their caucus members, their anger escalated to the point that even those who were inclined to support the manufacturer were reluctant to do so in the face of the other MPs’ anger.  The net result was that the pressure on the Minister of Industry to oppose the manufacturer was unshakeable.

To the manufacturer’s horror and dismay, what started out as a no brainer business move became the centre of an outraged grassroots movement against the manufacturer’s interest. The movement was so stormy and politically loaded that the Minister was obliged to support it.

Lessons Learned

  • Assume nothing, determine the mindset of the official you are meeting with and respond appropriately.
  • Do not dismiss concerns always address them thoughtfully.
  • Do not get into arguments with officials. If you can’t agree, end the meeting and leave.
  • Do not threaten, even inadvertently.
  • Do not underestimate the power of a riled or impassioned legislator. Legislators did not get elected because they lacked determination or the ability to rally others to their cause.

Manners are not a nicety, they are a necessity in business.

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