Category Archives: Underdog Influence
Campaign 2012: Who Will Win the Post-Cain Republican Race?
With the Iowa caucuses less than a month away, the race for the Republican presidential nomination has entered a new and potentially decisive phase. Read more here.
Underdog Edge Book Review
“The Underdog Edge shows you the psychology behind why certain
underdogs are successful in championing their cause, whether it be a
business person, sports figure or politician. Showalter, who has very
impressive credentials in coaching organizations on the principles of
persuasion, breaks down the traits and approaches that are necessary
in order to get through to the “top dogs” as she calls them – in other
words, the people who hold the keys to making the decisions. Many
success stories, citing specific examples, are used in each chapter to
illustrate how the various techniques worked.
I thought this book was well thought-out, well executed and chock-full
of helpful information, with a flourish of humor and very candid
quotes from her interview subjects. Though the people Showalter
features in her book are typically fighting for…
Occupy Wall Street: Do They Have the Underdog Edge?
The Occupy Wall Street protesters are the latest high-profile example of how underdogs don’t use their positions as effectively as they could.
I give the protesters credit for getting off their computers and on the streets. Research we conducted with hundreds of grassroots professionals found that getting their volunteers into the trenches was their No. 1 challenge.
Read the entire article at my K Street Cafe Blog.
Single Voice (On Steroids) Sinks Coast Guard Rule
I read a recent article in Roll Call entitled “Single Voice Sinks Coast Guard Rule.” It told the story of Susan Balistrei who “single- handily” caused the Coast Guard to rescind a regulation relative to life jacket design. The article was also featured in the September 27 edition of the K Street Cafe blog: http://www.kstreetcafe.com/
The Coast Guard issued a new rule regarding life jacket design without providing for public comment because it “considered this rule to be noncontroversial and did not expect any adverse comment.” Balistreri wrote to the Coast Guard that aspects of the regulation could enable currently approved inflatable products to be marketed to teens, and that these life jackets weren’t safe for teenagers. …
“May I Help You?”
One technique for building relationships is to find ways to help the “big dog” you want to influence. Joel Ulland, who represents the Minnesota Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society before the Minnesota state legislature, built a relationship with an unlikely person of power long before he needed the relationship.
Ulland is a member of several coalitions for Minnesotans with disabilities. In the spring of 2005, Minnesota was reeling through three years of budget cuts. Ulland knew this meant tough times for people with disabilities.
“The state was facing a deficit for the third straight year, and the Republican governor refused to raise taxes. The question became not if the state would make cuts in state programs, but where the cuts would…
