Today I’m thrilled to welcome a close friend who’s sharing his first post on Part of the Possible. Tyler Fehrman is a proud girl dad, passionate advocate, and believer in people. He considers helping individuals – learning their stories, building relationships, and finding common ground – his sole purpose in life. His background is in public service and clean energy.
Tyler has a simple reminder for would-be advocates today: don’t forget the people behind your issues. I hope you’ll consider commenting on today’s post and letting Tyler know what you think by leaving a comment! – LC
For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be involved in public service somehow – though, I may not have recognized the driver at first. Most kids my age told folks they wanted to be a cowboy, an astronaut, a super hero, or a rock star. Not me, though – I was the odd one. When asked, I told people “I want to be a politician.”
Most of us shudder at that word these days, as “politicians” are considered an above-ground appendage of the seedy underbelly of the darker parts of the world – fraught with scandal and corruption, seen as snake oil salesmen in ivory halls. As I grew, that changed – I went from wanting to be a “politician” to wanting to be, when I learned the more appropriate term, a public servant. This has made all the difference.
Since I began my career, I have had the privilege to work in various government agencies and private organizations that have all had a singular mission: to serve people. Seeing the inner-working of public policy and administration, learning the niche audiences served by various organizations, and witnessing firsthand the struggles of people I likely never would have encountered otherwise opened my eyes to a much bigger, more complex world – one far larger than the world heralded by media outlets and “politicians” that fits into shiny, ideological boxes.
A dear friend of mine used to constantly repeat the line from the Dylan Thomas poem that reads: “rage, rage against the dying of the light” – it was his anthem, used to guide and direct his work. He explained how he understood it to me once, and it – in a way – became mine before being later distilled into a much-simplified version that still guides me today.
To “rage, rage against the dying of the light” was a charge to keep – a call to wage war against all of the things seeking to distract us from our true mission, a command to fight for what is right and beautiful and good in the world no matter the odds. This phrase has been, as I mentioned, distilled for me – to a simple, two-word adage: People First.
In today’s world we are constantly faced with division – whether it be via politics, religion, simple opinion, or any number of other much smaller things. Our culture seems to thrive on outrage and gravitate towards moving further apart, instead of coming together. It seems as though not many are as committed to “rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Now, I don’t want to be the typical post – crying for “togetherness”…that’s something you can read anywhere, any time. However, I do want to encourage all of us to move towards a passion for putting people first. Regardless of your line of work – whether it be advocacy, public administration, car sales, labor, political campaigns, or something entirely different – our chief purpose in the world, I truly believe, is to serve others.
For those of us inside the public policy world, how could there be another purpose? All of politics and policy is centered on people – how it affects their daily lives, how it impacts their business, how it matches their view of the world, and how it creates progress for the future. Without people, there would be no need for public policy – or public servants to implement it.
If we really want to be successful inside the advocacy space, we must focus on putting people first. If you’re advocating for a diversified power grid (like me), advocate for a diversified power grid to meet the needs of communities and impact the lives of those who live in them – people first. If you’re advocating on behalf of sentencing and criminal justice reform, do so by focusing on the countless stories of individuals wrongly incarcerated – people first. If it’s lower taxes, immigration, trade unions, education, vehicle electrification, or conservation you advocate for, do it in a way that places the impetus on positively affecting the lives of individuals and telling their stories – once again, people first.
Instead of serving political parties and ideologies – like so many of our counterparts do – and chasing the almighty dollar, let’s focus on how what we do each and every day impacts the daily lives of those within our spheres, whether they’re on our side or not. We all want to achieve great things – and, I’m here to tell you that those “great things” are best achieved when we focus on serving others, impacting and changing lives, and committing ourselves to “rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Want to feel genuinely good about what you do, and remain passionate about the cause you champion? Start by putting People First.
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