Many lobbyists act like Pavlov’s dogs. The ring of the bell is replaced by the ‘leak’ of a document. Everything stops. All attention is switched to the ‘leak. It seems not to matter that the leak is authorized, usually sent up as a red flag to gauge responses.
Many lobbyists have been conditioned to respond. Pavlov conditioned his dogs to salivate at the sound of the bell, associating it with food. Lobbyists salivate at the ‘authorised leaks’. This bright shining object must be shared with the client, often with considerable deconstruction of the plain words. That the client is unlikely going to have the time to read anything longer than 3 lines escapes most.
What to do
There are obvious solutions.
1. Look at the ‘leak’ at the end of the day, and ask yourself is it really ‘special’. Search for the one line that may be of interest to the client and send them that, with the ‘leak’ attached.
2. If, on the rare occasion, the ‘leak’ is ‘not an approved leak’, and they are rare, don’t send it any further. All documents have hidden identifiers, and as soon as you send it far and wide, you’ll identify the source. Instead, check with a small circle of people privvy to the discussions, and see if the news is both genuine and the decision is not finalised.
3. Instead, go about your day not responding to the next bell, and deliver your tasks one by one.
It will lead to less cortisol flowing through your viens and the perception of excetiement, but that is not a bad thing
An easier approach
I’d recommend a task by task approach , calmly go through the day or process, step by step. Add in a buffer for the inevitable delays etc.
Sure, re-calibrate from time to time, but not daily! And, certainly not on the basis of ‘a leak’, or ‘gossip’
After all, if the ‘problem’ is not real, or you ‘can’t do anything about it’, don’t do anything about it.
You may learn that the proposal has been made, the decision has been taken. You did not turn up on time, or not at all, you gave the wrong evidence, or presented it in the wrong way. No amount of fretting will turn back time.
The only two things you can do are:
1. Do the right actions to make sure the proposal gets changed.
2. And, learn from the experience, for when the next proposal/decision comes up, and you do the right things at the right time.
A lot of lobbyists turn up late in the day, or the wrong place, or have no know idea about the map of the journey they are on. But, worrying about it after you are far into your journey is not going to make things any better. And, over time, it is clear to me that many lobbyists don’t have an accurate map of the legislative or regulatory process they are driving along. So, the only thing a client can really do is ask they lobbyist to show them the map of the journey that they are on, and that they have taken other clients on that journey, and they lived to tell the tale.