Coalition Leader? Do This, Not That!

Have you ever read this book or seen the authors on TV? They talk about what we should eat (Eat This!) versus what to avoid (Not That!).

As I was filling out a speaker form the other day, and their framework came to mind. I was submitting to speak at a national coalition conference. I am always trying to think about how I can make my/our presentations more interactive and “sticky.” The idea of getting community leaders to think about “Do This, Not That!” came to mind.

Like:

  Do have engaging meetings, versus Don’t just meet and talk!

Do develop strategies, versus, Don’t just implement a single program

I will definetly be incorporating this framework in future trainings.

Before I let you go, I’d like to share two resources with you.

The first is an article in Nonprofit Quarterly, Unpacking Capacity-building, by Sarah EcoHawk.

Her article is about how funders support nonprofit capacity building in a highly prescriptive, top-down way. But this quote jumped out at me; “Providing us models and programs that were developed without our input perpetuates power inequity and often harms our communities rather than helping them.”

Ouch. And she is right of course. The same thing could be said about work often done in the name of “helping” people. 

The second is the book, Influencer, by Grenny et al. No, it’s not about learning how to be the next social media icon. It is all about the science of individual and social change. The book is super easy to read so don’t let the word ‘science’ scare you. There are so many memorable quotes! But I will share two gems:

“Bringing a simple solution to a complex behavioral challenge almost never works.”

“Unsuccessful agents of change make one of three early mistakes that undermine their influence: 1) Fuzzy, uncompelling goals; 2) Infrequent or no measures; 3) Bad measures.”

What book or article is influencing you these days?

Ann

P.S. Speaking of books, my book with Susan will be published in May 2023 in the UK (and digitally everywhere) and in the US in July 2023. Yay, us!