Provocateurs, Prophets, Politicians, Persuaders

One of the most intelligent young people I know takes pride in his ability to troll people on the internet and in person.

It makes me sad.

With so many important and contentious issues surrounding us everyday, leaders need to get clear on how we seek to handle them. We have to decide what kind of influence we want to have.

Do you want to be a Provocateur? A Prophet? A Politician? Or a Persuader?

Provocateurs, like the young man I mentioned, are less interested in the real stakes of the issue than in the opportunity to flex their ability to incite. Motivated by visceral reactions, they have little hope, or interest, in convincing anyone to think more deeply about anything or reconsider their views. Instead, they take radical positions and make personal attacks just for the fun of seeing people’s responses.

The influence of the Provocateur is limited to getting clout from those who either already agreeing with them or who are only interested in seeing drama unfold. They chase after flashes of emotion while remaining stoically removed from any real impacts of the issues they exploit for attention. Nothing meaningful changes, they try to relish the rush of reactions, and they feed a decline in engagement and discourse.

Prophets are different. They may be as radical as the Provocateurs, but they are sincere in their convictions. Believing the truth is firmly on their side they speak it boldly, and feel little responsibility for whether others embrace it.

If speaking truth to power is the measure of success, Prophets are A students. They content themselves in their own faithfulness and the confidence that the message itself, (conveyed with or without tact and compassion at times), is sufficient to change the minds and hearts of those who are open. The results are out of their hands.

Results do matter to Politicians. They understand the power of the people and seek to use it to bring about the kind of organization, community, or world they desire. Shrewd students of human tendencies, Politicians seek the shortest path to results.

Getting things done is the measure of success for the sincere Politician. This requires compromising, motivating, or even manipulating when necessary. The means justifies the ends and alliances are only as strong as the next issue or opportunity. It’s a constant hustle, and it’s the dominant approach in our society and many of our organizations today.

But there are some among us who are Persuaders. These people place a higher value on people and relationships than just what they can get accomplished. They see agreement on issues as more than practical. They genuinely desire deeper interpersonal harmony and accept that it takes significantly more time to get there. The change they are seeking is lasting, loyal, and (dare we say) loving.

Persuaders aren’t satisfied with winning if it requires that others have to lose. Synergy is far better than compliance and truth requires connection. Perhaps idealistic, Persuaders avoid short cuts or power plays on the road to what they believe is noble and truly good.

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Now, you’re likely expecting me to finish this by advocating for leaders to be Persuaders. You’re partly right.

In practice, Persuasion is often too slow and too costly a process. Some people simply can’t be won over, and others are going to take too long. As appealing as it may be, leading as a Persuader is often a path to irrelevance.

Healthy Leaders are the ones who can discern which approach is fitting for a given issue or situation:

-When (very rarely if ever) can we be dismissive of people as Provocateurs?

-When do we simply advocate for what is right and leave the results to sort themselves out like a Prophet?

-When (and this may be the most frequent) do we expend just as much effort as required for a Politician to get done what needs doing?

-And when do we go deeper into relationship in order to Persuade people to make a lasting commitment together?

Our circumstances, experience, and personalities may push us more often to one of these approaches than the others. It’s good practice to ask ourselves if those tendencies are actually getting the results we want or it’s time to be a little uncomfortable and try another style.

Contact me if I can be helpful to you and/or your organization.

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