Tag Archives: trust
Common Obstacles to Trust and How to Overcome Them: Part Three
We’re going to explore more common obstacles to trust and how to overcome them.
Negative communication
If we are truly grassroots professionals, we should embrace bottom up communication. Many times our messages only ask members to do something for us, or tell them what they should not be doing, saying, thinking, and so forth. It is important to be a carrier of good news. It affects how we are seen in the organization and how much time our advocates will give us in the future.
People attribute negative personal characteristics to those who bring us bad news, regardless of whether they were involved in creating that bad news. We generally don’t trust those we don’t like.
What is your positive-to-negative communication ratio? Ask your…
Common Obstacles to Trust and How to Overcome Them: Part Two
We’re going to explore more common obstacles to trust and how to overcome them.
Direction changes
The insidious impact of direction changes is why it is so important to foster a grassroots and PAC community within an organization. Campaigns definitely have their purpose, but they can reduce motivation in the long term unless community is created from them.
Our advocates will tolerate change, but not ambiguity. I’m thrilled to hear about organizations that are revitalizing their grassroots and PAC communities. However, the fact that they have to “revitalize” means that the original effort stalled. This impacts our ability to motivate our team for future battles.
How do your advocates and PAC leaders know that this “revitalization” isn’t just another two-year attempt (or more commonly,…
Who Do Your Stakeholders Trust?
The Edelman Trust Barometer has been released, and I am always intrigued by the findings, as they have implications for grassroots influence professionals.
A change in the findings from past years is a decrease the trust people place in “people like me.”
Here is Dr. Kelton Rhoads’ take on that finding:
“One could guess that in a time of crisis, people turn back to established authorities. I read it as ‘I’m less confident in my own understanding (and friends’) of reality, and in crisis I am looking toward established authorities.’ I think there’s a general pressure toward the veneration of authorities during a crisis, and the subsequent sacking of them if they don’t produce, unless they can consolidate power before the push-back.”
What…
Common Obstacles to Trust and How to Overcome Them: Part One
We’re going to explore the common obstacles to trust and how to overcome them.
Regular grassroots and PAC underperformance
Success motivates. People want to be on a winning team. When successful grassroots leaders are asked why they volunteer so much of their time to their organization’s cause, they often respond with the following: “I thought we could win,” “I saw our victories and wanted to be on a winning team,” or “I heard the organization has a good reputation.”
If your organization usually fails to meet its grassroots and PAC goals, your potential volunteers likely won’t want to join that team and won’t be motivated to act when you need them.
In life and business, it’s important to mind the pattern. If your PAC…
