Activist or Advocate
I admire people with strong convictions.
More than that, I admire people who’s convictions are channeled in ways that produce meaningful results.
(Okay, there are some cases where the convictions or the results may not be admirable to me, but the idea holds).
I sometimes struggle with when and how to make my convictions known. When is is time to take a stand? And what kind of engagement will actually get the results I want?
Today’s Seth Godin blog explores the difference between Protests and Projects. Always insightful, Seth encourages us to take the more strategic approach and not just the quick energy burst.
Here in Ontario, Canada today we saw something that might represent the opposite take. A controversial decision by our provincial government to remove environmental protections on Greenbelt lands to make them available, and immensely profitable, to speculating developers was reversed after sustained and insistent public protest.
So is Seth wrong?
I don’t think so. Behind the many Greenbelt protests was a lot of consistent and coordinated work by politicians, environmental groups, and ordinary citizens who took the passion displayed in many local protests and added direction and sustained stimulus. They convinced the government that this wasn’t going to be a passing public gripe.
The activists made a lot of noise and got people fired up.
The advocates guided that energy into the most effective places.
Both were necessary. Both contributed to this victory.
Leaders are wise to consider carefully the role they, and their organization, are seeking to play in the process of change:
-Are you eager to generate as much energy and attention as possible briefly?
-Or are you going to do the longer work that gets less attention but often brings the final results?
The only wrong answer is one that leaves you without clarity or intention.
Contact me if I can be helpful to you and/or your organization.
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