Tag Archives: Underdog Influence
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. …
Advocacy Isn’t Persuasion
We always strive to go beyond the existing conversations on grassroots influence and not just move the bar, but raise it relative to grassroots persuasion. Because advocacy is an activity rather than a result, we wanted to focus on what should be the ultimate result of advocacy: persuasion. Is there a pattern of behaviors that “everyday” people use that changes the minds of those “up” the food chain?
No matter your current station in life, all of us will be in the position of having to influence “up” the food chain. I was curious if there is a set of behaviors that tend to result in upward persuasion success. So, I interviewed not just people who “had a good meeting” with…
