I’ll never forget the times activists worked hard to disrupt my work in a congressional office. But I forget just about every one of their names.
They’d stage sit-ins, launch into long winded diatribes, and they’d bring props to drive home their points. But I can’t tell you a thing about their positions. And more importantly, I can’t recall a single one of their stories.
For folks trying to advance an agenda, they failed at every point that truly matters.
As much as we all want to garner attention to our issues, there are productive ways, and destructive ways to do so. The productive put us on a trajectory toward relationships. The destructive prevent our messages from getting to the target. If you want to be credible, learn from the mistakes of others and ditch the theatrics.
Actions DO Speak Louder than Words
In a perfect world, we’d never feel like we have to scream to be heard. But when your agenda is on the line, and your volunteers are running hot, you can feel that desperation set in. It seeps into our behavior. Our voices rise, our body temperatures tick higher and higher, and our rationality declines. In those moments, heckling and disruption feel good. But the end result is rarely – if ever – an actual good for our cause.
When we give into those outbursts, our actions will undoubtedly speak louder than our words. They’ll also drown out our name, our reputation, and the character we aim to show to the world.
But in a more tangible way, when activists turn to chants and demonstrations, they crowd out the opportunity for calmer dialogue. This manifests itself in pretty profound ways. I’ve seen groups spend 60 minutes trying to disrupt a daily workflow without ever sharing their names. There wasn’t room. The organizer had prepared a demonstration and disregarded an offer for dialogue. They willfully let their actions speak for the cause – and they ultimately got nowhere.
Fevers Break
But I also understand the pressure on those organizers. They feel crushed under the prospect of a blow to their agenda. They’ve taken ownership in trying to achieve success, and they’ll own a failure all the more personally. So, they ramp up the pressure – trying to exert maximum force at a moment when a decision on the issue has probably already been made.
In the short term, they’re destined for disappointment. But the long term consequence for their team is also real: their volunteer advocates lose steam. Their fevers break.
It’s impossible to keep people engaged, motivated and participating if you’re mobilizing them solely from a place of fear. We are hardwired as a species to avoid those things that cause us pain and distress. If you’re trying to motivate advocates from a place of fear, you’ll lose them faster.
Squandering Your Most Precious Resource
Losing that volunteer muscle is much more damaging than you may know. It’s not just about the mere numbers. Rather, the damaging loss is that your message becomes disconnected from the people living with the issue.
As I’ve written on this blog many times before, those personalized experiences are the mother’s milk of politics in a representative republic. For elected officials who are serving ever growing constituencies, it’s impossible to keep up with the lived experience of those they represent. When your theatrics diminish your ranks, you miss key opportunities to convey the stories that will change minds.
Set Smaller Goals, and Engage Intentionally
Successful advocacy begins with a goal of establishing meaningful relationships – not winning debates. Your team should set aside any tactic that detracts from that effort. That includes the theatrics.
Instead, start with smaller goals that move you toward opportunities for future engagement. Invite your target to come see your group in action where policy is meeting people in real life. Meet with their staffs at regular intervals so you’re top of mind when a new proposal comes into the public debate. In short – be intentional about building a partnership with your target.
You’ll find, as you accomplish these smaller goals, that everyone is served better. Your volunteers will have staying power. You’ll have greater access. And in the long run, you may just convert an adversary to a champion.
Part of the Possible 