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Highlights of Innovate to Motivate 2007
Each year, with the help of our talented Advisory Committee, we are able to put together a well-rounded, comprehensive learning curriculum that revolves around not only PAC and grassroots skill building, but we were the first organization to include professional development curriculum opportunities. We conduct over 25 workshops at I2M, so I could not sit in on every session, but here are my "keepers" from the sessions I did attend; as you can tell, I’m still leaning forward in my seat taking notes.
Scott Eblin, author, The Next Level
- Forty percent of executives promoted to V and C levels are re-assigned 18 months later; what may work for you at one level of your career does not work at the “next level.”
- The executives Scott interviewed told him there were three things that contribute to leadership presence:
- How you show up
- How you lead your functional team; (such as PAC boards and grassroots teams)
- Your organizational presence
- If you are invited to the table, you are expected to contribute.
Scott mentioned that there are several things that you need "to pick up," and things you need to “let go." They include:
- Let go of self-reliance, pick up your team reliance
- Let go of showing people how to do things and start defining what they need to do
- Let go of responsibility for a few results and pick up accountability for many results
The Corporate Council did a study which revealed that 82% of executives said that their executive colleagues derail "because of “lack of good internal networks and relationships'."
- You have to think interdependence, not independence. Show up as an equal and make offers to help, but also make requests as to what you need of others.
Amy’s Reality Check:
Are you delegating to your team or hanging on to rote tasks?
Do you bring new concepts and vision to the table, or do you talk about what your PAC and grassroots tools can do for you?
Do you make time to meet with internal colleagues when you don’t need anything from them?
Grassroots Recruitment and Retention
Jill Fraggos, Director of Government Relations of the Chicago Memorial Children's Hospital, shared how her hospital recruited grassroots volunteers despite a limited geographical audience. Jill and her staff made recruitment drives an event. Surgeons, anesthesiologists, and other medical professionals dressed up in their finest vintage rock and roll outfits to sing for an employee grassroots recruitment drive, which induced guilt among those in the audience who were not as brave, so they naturally signed up for the network!
I then facilitated a discussion among the group about their recruiting "home runs." They had one thing in common – personal contact. Carter Headrick, of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, put out "a call for stories" among his members to find compelling stories to share with legislators. A woman who never emailed or called legislators had a story and became the face of their new media campaign. Carter and his staff met with her in person to ascertain her abilities and willingness to become more visible during the campaign.
Many workshop participants talked about the challenges of grassroots recruiting when you are successful. Yes, there is a downside to grassroots victories! It’s important to celebrate grassroots success and recognize those who have helped you recruit, there is the "success trap."
Chris Kemm, of the Colorado and Wyoming Credit Union Association said, "We have a saying around our shop: “success breeds apathy.” People think that the job's done and that we can sit back for a year or two. That's never the case. We have to be even more vigilant when we're successful."
Amy’s Reality Check:
Provide options for grassroots involvement – it’s true that past behavior is a reliable predictor of future behavior, but many volunteers are looking for “episodic involvement.”
Be candid about the dangers of grassroots success. Develop a battle cry for post-success initiatives.
Secrets of Grassroots Start-Up Success
Amy Showalter, Co-Founder, Innovate to Motivate, The Showalter Group, Inc.
There are five “day-one deviations” in any internal grassroots (or PAC, for that matter) program. It is important to start with a strong foundation because if we do not start with solid basics, we can lose our ability to innovate because we are always fighting fires that were created from the improper standards.
Day-one deviations to avoid:
- Technology as panacea
- No definition of “senior management support”
- No agreement on success metrics
- Unexamined imitation of tactics and strategies
- No emotional allegiance/influence strategy
Amy’s Reality Check:
Do you have crisp success metrics?
Do you have an emotional allegiance strategy, or will you use the same messages from previous campaigns?
Grassroots Campaigns
Mark Reilly of Get Active, Inc., and Paul Hartgen, CEO of the Nevada Restaurant Association, talked about the best and worst of their campaign experiences. Their keeper ideas:
- Know your audience – don't assume you know who cares about your issues because of their involvement 5 years ago.
- For high yield returns on major fundraising requests and time commitments, it’s most effective to meet with people one on one, especially the higher they are up the food chain.
- Liz Welch of Executive Communications reminded the group that "each legislative office responds to technology differently. Start asking your legislator targets how they want to be communicated with and listen to what they tell you."
Going Negative – Dr. Kelton Rhoades
Kelton enlightened us with the latest research on the efficacy of negative campaigns, and what to do when one is aimed at your organization.
- People say that they hate negative campaigning, but it works in many situations. It depends on what the moderators (the conditions) are in each influence attempt.
- The person who makes the first accusation is usually deemed innocent, regardless of their level of guilt or innocence.
- Positive information takes about 7 attempts to make an impression. Negative information penetrates in only one or two attempts.
- We cannot attack people's attributes – things they cannot control. There will be more of a backlash for attacking someone's personal attributes.
- It used to be that ignoring a negative attack would seem to position one’s organization “above the fray;” this is no longer recommended unless you are a clear market leader and the attack is small and weak.
Key Contacts
Darrcy Loveland, Counsel, Kaiser Permanente and 2007 Innovate to Motivate Co-Chair, and Ulrico Izaguirre, Political Director for Government Affairs, Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.
- Dorothy manages quality control by scheduling phone time with her Key Contact executives and physicians. She listens for what they don't say as to whether they will be an effective advocate.
- Ulrico advises go to your site locations and meet with your Key Contacts to help them conduct their events. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty and help.
- Harrah's Key Contacts get the same management status reports that are generated inside of government relations. These reports contain information on the number of voters registered, responses to action calls, number of legislator visits, etc. This has created an atmosphere of friendly competition among the locations and created more credibility for the volunteer Key Contacts.
- Utilize the talent of your employees / members to design posters, web pages, t shirt designs, etc. Harrah's has a contest among employees to design their voter registration posters. They also had an employee volunteer to create a “grassroots theme song” for several of their election year events.
Amy’s Reality Check:
Delegation is one way to recognize your volunteers besides “trinkets and trash” gifts. Having people create and design materials for your grassroots or PAC organization is a great way to provide high exposure and visibility, which saves money, time, and leads to internal recognition which is a powerful reward in and of itself.
Trends in Political Involvement 2007
Amy Showalter, Co-Founder, Innovate to Motivate, The Showalter Group, Inc.
I presented the results of my latest research with over 2,000 PAC and grassroots volunteers, and over 900 staff.
The biggest finding is that what influences someone to give to the PAC varies by industry and seniority levels. "That's common sense," you say, but how many organizations use the same message for every PAC recruitment drive? Like you, I’ve even seen them recycled from other organizations, and then people wonder why they have an anemic PAC. It’s the curse of unexamined imitation.
We found that the higher an individual’s rank, the more results-oriented your communications have to be. They want to see the impact of their involvement.
We also found that the #1 complaint of top-shelf grassroots advocates is that they are frustrated by “legislators behaving badly.”
Amy’s Advisory:
How many of us would spend an afternoon meeting with legislators who talk down to us or are rude? We all need to defend our grassroots and PAC members against legislators behaving badly! Otherwise, we are tacitly agreeing to that type of treatment, and most volunteers will be gone soon after the experience.
Can you laser in on what motivates your various PAC prospects to contribute to your PAC? When was the last time you tested your PAC (and grassroots) messages?
We have created a workshop that reveals over 25 findings plus ways to address each of the
challenges. Contact Amy for more information: amy@showaltergroup.com
Showalter Innovation Award
What I noticed the most about this year's innovation awards were that the judges showed favor on employee and member-driven efforts with clear accountabilities.
Read about the winners here:
Grassroots – Westfield Insurance
PAC – Solvay Pharmaceuticals
Technology – U.S. Chamber Vote for Business
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