Some Advice I Would Tell My Younger Lobbyist

It is not over until it is implemented. Don’t walk away until then. What you think you won can be untangled when you are not watching.

If you only want to work with people you agree with,   join a cult.

Carry a small notepad with you at all times. The answers will come to you when you least expect them.

Sleep with a notepad and pencil next to you. When you wake up in the middle of the night, jot the answer down, and go back to sleep.

The best place to find an answer is by walking in nature, in the shower, or sleeping. Walking with a notebook is easier.

If you are stuck, sleep on it. The answer will spring out tomorrow.

No policy changes or regulatory decision comes out of the blue.

If people act surprised, likely, they did not flag the issue to their boss.

The call for change starts ten years before the law/policy change. Policy change gestation takes a long time.

If you don’t have evidence to support your position, the only people who’ll believe you are those who already believe you and don’t want evidence.

It takes time to assemble credible and persuasive evidence.

If you are starting when the proposal is announced, you have a long and fast sprint ahead of you. You are likely not in a condition for that race.

The only way to have your position taken into account is to turn up and raise it in public. Talking about it with allies behind closed doors will not influence events.

Learn to read. It is a superpower. Most of the answers you seek are out there, hiding in plain sight.

Don’t selectively cite. You’ll be caught, and your whole case will be discredited.

Don’t misrepresent anyone’s views. You’ll be called out and your whole case discredited.

There are no conspiracies; you don’t have the full picture.

You are playing in a game where you don’t know the rules,  or have a role in the game which is likely not deserving of a footnote.

The later you start, the less your chances are.

Real people take decisions. There are not so many of them. Know them, not just their names.

People make policy and political decisions. Algorithms don’t.

It takes deliberate practice over five to become good at one thing.

Mastery takes ten years of focused practice.

You don’t need to be good at that many things.

Most people won’t put in deliberate practice consistently over the long haul. This puts anyone who does at an advantage.

Know the rules of the game – the procedures for adopting and passing decisions and laws. It is a secret power that you can use.

Know how the rules are applied in practice and realise that they incrementally change.

Try and help people. If you can help someone, do so.

If you don’t know, say so, and see if you can find someone who can help.

If you don’t know, pick up the phone and ask someone likely to know the answer. The worse that can happen is they say no.

Be pleasant and civil, even when people are being rude and abusive.

Tidy your desk at the end of the day. Don’t leave it to the cleaning team. Their job is hard enough.

Never raise your voice in public or in private. It just reveals your lack of self-control.

Keep your sources to yourself, and don’t reveal confidences.

If you learn a secret, forget it. That way you can’t reveal it.

Don’t think victories happen on the extremes.

Alcohol and late nights will unlikely lead to political revelations that were not already public. All it will lead to is a hangover and a wasted next day.

Never say anything in writing or in a private meeting, you would not say to the person.

If you are bad-mouthing someone, it is just better not to.

Be honest about the chances of success; you’re not selling fairy dust.

There are no magic bullets. They exist only in fantasy land. Silver-tipped bullets may work for vampires, but they don’t back in the real world.

Anyone who promises a sure thing win is impersonating a political crack whore.

You don’t want to be a political crack whore, selling the idea of victory for a few dollars. It is not a good look.

Don’t be a cheerleader. Cheerleaders don’t make good advocates; they may make some clients feel good about themselves. Overweight, middle-aged men don’t make good cheerleaders.

If your client is not trusted, there is little you can do for them.

If they are not trusted, tell your client. Find out what’s driving the distrust,

Try and understand why your client is in the position they are in. The solution to their political challenges is likely staring you in the face.

Sincere acts of contrition are a good way to win back trust.

Sleep is a superpower. You can’t cheat it. If you have not slept well, ensure nothing important is on the agenda.

Sleep on a note and then edit it. The quality will be 5x better.

Sleep on any challenge/problem. Your brain will mysteriously work out the right answer.

Writing is a two-step process: (1) writing it and (2) editing it. Never combine.

Write for the audience and not yourself.

If you want to understand how little you know about an issue, write what you know in 300-400 words.

Before you send any note to someone, ask yourself, would you understand that you had to read it, and make a recommendation about it at  19:30  on a Friday night?

Start from the position that most people you are dealing with don’t care about or understand your issue.

Always have a written lobby plan to get you from where you are today to where you want to be.

If you don’t have a lobby plan, your chances of getting what you want are slim on a good day.

If you want to check the likelihood of success, ask for a copy of the lobby plan.

If the plan does not add up, tell the client. At least you all know the chances of success going forward.

No lobbyist is a miracle worker. You can only guide someone. You are not a faith healer.

Think on paper. There is no better way to realise whether your plans/ideas/solutions  can work.

Leave a paper trail. Plan for the reasonable worst-case scenario. Make sure people have read it.

Plan ahead of time. Take action to change what’s happening in three months. Focus on executing what’s agreed for the three months ahead.

Don’t confine yourself to your tribe. Your tribe is too small.

Focus on external action rather than internal deliberation and prevarication.

If your audience doesn’t understand you, it’s your fault, not theirs.

Your job is to make your position/issue/ask as clear as possible for the audience rather than you/your clients/experts.

 A great superpower is to get into the minds of your audience and see the world they do as they do, and even harder is to re-articulate your case–issue–position in terms that land with them.

People are going to lie to you. Just get over it, don’t take it personally.

People are going to ignore your advice. Don’t take it personally.

People will accept the very same advice you gave from an older/ grey hair/balder person who is just repeating what you said. Take it as a compliment.

Your ego is your biggest enemy.

Take one day off a week. Your brain needs a break.

Your job is just a job. It is not a vocation. If you want a vocation, take vows or join a cult.

If you were to be struck down tomorrow, you will soon be forgotten.

Learn from those you disagree with. Find out their ‘truth’.

Listening is the most important skill. Use prompts to bring out understanding.

Use deadlines to drive progress. If people don’t stick to deadlines, it reveals the issue is not as important as they say it is.

You can only have focused work on a few things. If you are doing too many things, you’ll deliver little value on anything.

Ask stupid questions. They are not stupid, and most people have the same question.

If someone is using terms you don’t understand, ask them to explain it simpler. If they can’t, they don’t understand the issue they are talking about.

People are going to lie, cheat, and let you down. Forgive them. It’s good for your peace of mind.

The are many things you are unable to do. There is nothing wrong with saying so.

You can learn the things you don’t know. You don’t have enough time to learn everything, so don’t.

You don’t need to attend every meeting you are invited to.

Have a done list and a to-do list.

You are not going to win everything. No-one does. You need to deal with this.

Learn what worked and what did not work from every campaign you work on – whether you win or lose.

You’ll get more from having a meal with someone to discuss an issue than a face-to-face meeting.

The best way to learn anything is to teach what you know.

If you face the choice of being right or being kind, be kind.

If you want to win, understand what drives the other side. Once you understand what drives them, you are in a way better place to put something forward that will persuade them.

A superpower is to think and write clearly.

Don’t get angry. There is nothing you can do about it.

Work with people from whom you going to learn.

If someone promises you the extraordinary, ask for extraordinary evidence to support their claims.

If someone promises you a 100% success rate in lobbying/court cases etc. ask for the evidence. 100% success rates only exist in fantasy novels.

The rule of 3. Raise only three main points in a memo/conversation.

You are going to make many mistakes. Recover and learn from them.

Don’t take it personally when someone turns you down. Just assume they are like you: busy, occupied, distracted. Try again later, and on the second try it often works.

If you need to be liked/loved in your job by clients/colleagues, you will be disappointed.

Be seen as the only person who can help in a situation.

Promptness is a sign of respect.

If you do only one thing, follow the Golden Rule: do on to others as you would have them do unto you.

Incremental improvement, over time, is powerful.

If you want to understand anything, speak out loud to an imaginary classroom, explaining it in your own words.

Be honest and don’t cheat.

If you make a mistake, admit it openly.

Shorten your to-do list by asking yourself “What is the worst thing that will happen is this does not get done.” Eliminate al  but that will lead to a disaster.

Don’t work for someone because it pays the most money. There is a reason they are paying so much.

If you find yourself working for a psycho, walk away.

Obesses on how you help your clients.

Saying “No” is fine.

You are going to make mistakes. If you are not, your job is too easy.

Most success is just persistence. Turn up.

Give things away and help people with no expectation of reward.

Don’t rush. You’ll miss what’s important.

Have a contingency plan for when you are knocked down by a proverbial bus. You’ll need them.

If you are asked to do something in the future, ask yourself this question “Would I do this tomorrow?” If not, don’t do it.

Hire for aptitude and attitude and train for skills.

Don’t hire brilliant jerks.

When you apologise, do it quickly, specifically and sincerely.

Don’t bother asking a barber if you need a haircut. Pay attention to incentives. The same goes for lawyers and lobbyists.

Don’t think you are ever getting it back if you lend something.

If you’d be embarrassed or upset about your views appearing in the press, they are likely the wrong views to have or use.

Work as if you had a Go Pro camera live streaming to a fetish website. It will help you guide how you act.

If you find yourself with people who lie, cheat, and deceive, walk away.

Focus on the important rather than the urgent.

If a campaign fails, even though you thought it would fail from the start, it does not mean it is a failure.

A campaign takes a few years, so celebrate the small victories along the way, even if you don’t get the final victory you want.

Realise that the final victory you wanted in your imagination rarely comes to fruition.

Prevention is a better cure. It is better to resolve a problem quietly than re-open the issue in new legislation.

A dignified peace is a good thing. Let all sides take something good away.

Start with an exit strategy. When do you need to walk away and call it a day? Ask yourself this before you start and have it written down in your lobby plan.

Don’t aim to be liked, just be respected for what you can deliver.

To come up with good ideas, it is good to speak with people face to face. Something mysterious happens; out of many bad ideas, a good idea will reveal itself.

Overnight success happens after five to ten years.

Spend your time focused on a few things.

If someone doesn’t tell you how much something will cost, it will be much more expensive than you can afford.

Political fear leads people to do stupid things. Avoid these situations.

Move beyond needing the approval of others.

Underpromise and overdeliver.

Cautiously estimate how long something will take and double it. We tend to underestimate how long any action will take.

Good decisions don’t come in panic or anger.

Mirror the person you are trying to persuade.

Measure twice, and cut once.

If you think you once saw signs of a change happening, you did. If you see it more than once, it means change is coming soon.

If three people in a room use the same words in the same discussion, they met before to push the decision in one direction.

People won’t remember more than three points from what you write or say.

Learn to write clearly and concisely.

To learn, read books and good articles. Spend an hour a day on this.

Don’t believe in good v evil. It leads people to do bad things.

Become friends with your opponents., You’ll learn what sincerely drives them.

Write it done because you won’t remember it.

Praise in public, criticise in private.

Have uncomfortable conversations.

Learn to tell stories – the most effective device humans have learned to explain an issue.

Make sure the subject line grabs the reader’s attention. If not, they are not going to read anything else.

Don’t pray that the inevitable is not coming.  Your prayers are not going to be answered. Instead, get prepared.

When you write a memo, cut it down over a few drafts, and focus on the essence.

Be the person who ends the meeting early.

Be polite to rude people.

A not-so-smart person who can communicate well can do much better than a super-smart who can’t communicate well.

If someone can’t communicate, don’t use them in public-facing work.

Remember the names of people you meet.

If you can’t find the solution to a problem, explain the problem simply to someone. By explaining the problem, you are likely to reveal the answer.

Your first idea is rarely your best. Your best idea is often your fifth idea. Move beyond obvious ideas.

The best way to understand what is driving people to table proposals etc is to ask them. They’ll tell you, which is usually not why you think.

When you meet someone who takes a different view than you, realise that you know very little about them or what is driving them. You’d do better to understand that.

And likewise, they know very little about you or what drives you. Try and find out more.

Missundertsanig of that is driving people will always lead to a sub-optimal outcome for all.

Do something that is play for you and is work for others.

Challenge your beliefs regularly.

Learn from people you don’t like or agree with. You’ll find something useful. They know something you don’t. Read what they have written, and listen to them.

See things from other’s people’s points of view. It allows you to persuade others.

Realise that most people won’t understand you when discussing campaigning, lobbying and the EU. Make it easy for them to understand.

To get better at speaking, record yourself speaking and watch it. You’ll cringe, and this is an effective way of learning. Use your iPhone.

Record what you’ll say before any external meeting, and watch it. Refine and repeat.

For anything important, rehearse, and bring in a sceptical audience to provide feedback. They’ll be ten times nicer than the real thing.

If you are meeting officials or politicians, send in a pre-read at least a week before if you want an answer. If you have a meeting to listen to your voice or vent your anger, don’t have a meeting.

Don’t worry. There is nothing you can do about it most of the time.

It is easier to make big changes rather than small changes.

Read the books your favourite author read.

When faced with two choices – the easy one that pays off immediately, or the best one that pays off in the long term, take the second.

Learn to shut up and listen. You’ll learn a lot by observing how people how sit (heads looking at the ceiling, on their phone, arms crossed)  than by just pushing your case.

The purpose of listening is not to reply but to hear what is not being said.

Learn from your many mistakes by laughing at them.

Learn to argue the opposite of your position as well as the other side can.

Trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets.

To explain something hard,  write a detailed letter to a friend explaining why it is so hard,  and then at the end remove the introduction  ‘Dear Friend’.  You’ll have a great first draft.