While campaigns are a time for the voters to get to know the candidates, it is also the chance for the candidates to get to know the voters.
Sure they take their polls to see where the "pulse" is, but perhaps campaigns should be more of a listening tour, debates more like gripe sessions and elections about the people who listened best.
Effective listening provides a roadmap for creating key messages that form the basis of a solid agenda and a plan for deploying the necessary resources to create a solid plan for moving forward.
We need to listen harder...Who will be interested in talking with us?...What are they interested in talking about?...Where and on what terms would they like to comment and become engaged.
Then, once we listen, we can participate in the conversation, share ideas, collaborate and otherwise engage each other in creating a community once again.
I know that campaigns and elections are really about politics, personalities and egos, but it also should be about public engagement, open advocacy and honesty with ourselves as to the direction we must go to move our nation / state forward.
These are the principles for 'public engagement,' created by Endleman PR. Their philosophy of "advanced shared interests in a world of cross-influence."
Leadership is in part about "embracing chaos" for the "public good." Similarly, public opinion not only helps create chaos, it helps resolve it.
In this election, both Democrats and Republicans need to identify their key influencers, engage them and use their stories to influence untraditional voters that their party’s vision is the better one.
