Base-building and Leadership Development Trainers Guide Prep before - - PDF document

Base-building and Leadership Development Trainer’s Guide Prep before Session

• 1. Get $10 bill
• 2. Write on flip chart before:
• a. What is the #1 job of an organizer?
• b. Write 5 tips for turnout
• c. Draw three leadership structures ahead of time? (a. Big base, narrow

skyscraper up; b. pyramid with steep rise near top; and c. pyramid) Introduction

• I will give $10 to anyone who can answer this question:
• What is the #1 job of an organizer?
• Two rules:
• You have to get it exactly right
• You only get 1 guess
• What does it mean to “build a powerful organization?” What does a powerful
• rganization do?
• Builds a base
• Develops leaders
• As the title of this section suggests, we’re going to talk about base-building

and leadership development. We’ll cover:

• In terms of base-building--Understanding what a base is, who is in

your base, and how to build your base with good turnout

• In terms of leadership development--How to develop leaders, the

difference between leadership traits and skills, and leadership

• ladders. You’ll also have time throughout different parts of this

session to really think about your own organization--to assess your current base and leadership development strategies and think about what you could do to strengthen them. Intro to BB

• What is a base?
• Soft: The people who put your organization in their values tree and

take action on your shared values

• Who is your base?
• Who is your organization? Who puts your organization in their values

tree? How many people is that?

• If someone claims people outside their base, make sure the use it to

explain the difference between your base and a potential base/target demographic

• What is the only way to truly know who is in your base? (go into

action)

• Why is it important to know/be honest about your base?

• Does anyone know why Christians call the fourth book of the Old

Testament ‘Numbers’? Because they take a census of the Israelites near the beginning and end of the book. King David takes a census of the Israelites too. Why? Because they needed to know their base. They needed to know how powerful they were. So that when they went to battle they were honest about what they could win. You’ll get more into this idea later today in Cutting Issues. (But when you count your base I suggest you don’t just count men who can carry a sword as they did then!)

• How do you build a base?
• By building relationships! Bases are built 1 one-on-one at a time.

When I was an organizer for CRS, I started with about 10 churches in my turf, and by the time I left, there were about 30 member churches in that turf. Where do you think they came from? They all started with a single one-on-one with the pastor or a key lay leader from each of those churches.

• But another key tool to building your base that grows out of your

1on1s is action.

• FINALLY, building a powerful organization—building your base and

developing leaders—is only useful if you are going to move into action!

• And we have a saying in organizing about the absolute necessity of

action. ▪ “Action is to ___________, as ___________ is to the body. ▪ How long can you live without food? ▪ Water? ▪ Oxygen?

• If you’re doing good organizing, doing lots of 1-on-1s, your actions

should actually build your base. Why? (because your existing base is using those actions to leverage their relationships and add new people to the base) ▪ This is like worship in some ways for faith communities. Good worship will build your congregations. People will invite other people to be part of it, and when new people come they will want to come back. ▪ So, actions are an opportunity to invite new people to be part

• f an exciting experience, to energize them, and make them

want to get more involved in your organizing

• Later on today, you’re going to learn the basics of how to plan and

execute an effective action. But the first key to an effective action is having as many people as possible there! So first, we’ll talk about some tips for how to do ‘turnout’ for an action. ‘Turnout’ is the term in

• rganizing we use for the process of ‘turning people out’ to an action.

So here are 5 rules for doing effective turnout? ▪ Rule #1: “Do you use that line on everyone?”

• You know those people on the street downtown who try

to catch your attention while you’re walking by to ask you to make a donation to some organization? Why are they mostly ineffective?

• Because they have no relationship with you. And

therefore they don’t know who you are and what your self-interest is.

• Well, the same holds true for when we’re making an ask
• f people in our own churches or organizations or
• neighborhoods. Not all asks are created equal! Canned

asks get tepid responses. But if you are able to make an ask in such a way that clearly shows a person that you understand their self-interest and how their self- interest is connected with the ask you’re making, it’s much more likely to be successful.

• In other words, use Relationships and Self-Interest
• 1on1s are the building blocks of our turnout
• You can make an ask to an action at the end of a 1on1 if

it’s appropriate for the person’s self-interest

• Or you can use the relationship that you’ve built with

someone in a 1on1 to make an effective ask that

• So, Rule #1...use relationships and self-interest when

making asks ▪ Rule #2: “One is the loneliest number.”

• Doing turnout by yourself is both draining and

ineffective Turnout is a team sport.

• Set your turnout goal as a team and make a plan to hit

your goal.

• Divide and conquer--make a list of everyone on your

team, have people make commitments for how many asks they will make, and get specific with who each person is asking.

• With team doing turnout--make/keep up to date a list

that everyone has access to or that you review regularly at your team meetings

• To hit your turnout goal, you need a plan. With clear

steps and assignments for how you will reach your goal.

• So, Rule #2...make a clear turnout plan with your team

and share responsibility. ▪ Rule #3: “But I put it on Facebook!”

• Indirect asks (bulletin announcement, e-blast, social

media events/postings, newsletter article, and minute for mission) are good and you should use those that are part of your church/organization’s communications, but they are ineffective on their own

• Make Your Asks Count!
• Face to face is best, then phone call, then email

• Ask individuals--And while it’s good to make face-to-

face invitations to a group (i.e. a committee), it’ll be even more effective to individuals

• When in person, making people actually sign up when

possible--rather than just a verbal commitment--is helpful

• So, Rule #3...make your asks different ways--but face to

face is always best. ▪ Rule #4: “Yea, I know I said I would, but...”

• The first step towards accountability is having clear
• assignments. Making that plan--having clear
• assignments. But then once you have that, it’s about

holding one another accountable.

• Within your team--it’s about regular check-ins and

reminding people of your team’s goals. Accountability doesn’t have to shame or become a time where everyone lists all their excuses about why they didn’t do what they said. It should be about people reaffirming their commitments and

• With those you’re asking--don’t be shy about following
• up. And be sure to have your team make confirmation

phone calls or texts the day before an action. Some churches have found that organizing/assigning carpools ahead of time can increase accountability/turnout percentage.

• So, Rule #4...hold one another accountable.

▪ Rule #5: “What’s 50% of 70?”

• That’s what we call Organizer Math
• 100% of the people you sign up won’t make it…
• Things happen…
• Plus people just bail...
• So, Rule #5...use organizer math to avoid overestimating

your turnout.

• If you follow these steps, you will increase your turnout. And when

you increase your turnout, you will grow your base.

• Because remember, who is your base? (The people who put your
• rganization in their values tree...who take action on shared values)
• Plan and execute good actions, and those people will keep coming

back! Intro to LD

• Ok--so that’s base-building. What is the other thing a powerful organization

does, again? (Develop leaders!)

• These are the two core practices of all powerful organizations--they’re

always building their base and developing new and existing leaders. It’s not enough just to build a big base...you also constantly need to be developing the

leaders in your base to be successful. Organizational Models

• But...most organizations fail in one or both of these areas. They either build a

big base with little attempt to develop leaders from within the base AND/OR they concentrate lots of effort on developing existing leaders in the base without much attempt to expand their base

• MOST organizations/churches, look like one of these two
• What’s happening in the first? fat, square base with a narrow, steep

pyramid at the top) ▪ BASE: big base; creating entry points for new people to get involved; low level of commitment from many people; ▪ LD: leadership concentrated at top; power in hands of a few; no gradual development of leaders in base means people in top leadership may come from outside; ▪ Examples: churches; advocacy organizations; orgs that are heavily led by staff or boards or a few people who have been around for a loooong time

• The second? (upside down skinny pyramid)

▪ BASE: smaller base; few entry points for new people; ▪ LD: may ask new people to step into higher leadership roles quickly; broader set of highly developed leaders ▪ Examples: smaller organizations; grasstops

• rganizations/coalitions
• Healthy organizations/churches look like this (draw pyramid)
• What’s different about this organization?
• Take a minute, draw a picture in your book of the leadership ladder that you

think best reflects your organization (doesn’t have to match one of these three exactly--draw what you think represents yours)

• Take responses. Be prepared to ask follow-up questions and push

back

• Draw arrows on pyramid (going across base, going up sides of pyramid,

going into bottom rung)

• What do you think these arrows symbolize about what this
• rganization is doing?
• Take a minute…what is your organization doing to build a base? To

develop leaders? What are you NOT doing that you should be? Leadership Ladder

• These healthy organizations develop leaders because they have clear levels
• f leadership and they use it to create plans. In short, they have a leadership

ladder.

• DRAW PARALLEL LINES IN PYRAMID DIAGRAM
• What do you think these lines represent?
• Resource that outlines the different levels of leadership within your
• rganization, the expectations/qualifications/training necessary to be

at that level, and a clear path for how to move from one level to the next (refer back to pyramid and draw lines to represent different levels)

• Lay out example of CRS leadership ladder

▪ Level 1: Action participant ▪ Level 2: Faith in Action Team member ▪ Level 3: Congregational leader/Issue Team member ▪ Level 4: Issue Team Member ▪ Level 5: Strategy Team

• Does your church/organization have a leadership ladder?

▪ What does it look like? ▪ Are there written job descriptions for each position? Are the expectations (and time commitment) clear? ▪ Are there requirements/qualifications to be at each level? (and are they actually enforced?) ▪ Do people understand how to reach different leadership positions? ▪ Is there regular movement? That is, have the same people been in the same leadership positions for decades, or are you actively developing new leaders?

• Who:
• Who is in this leadership level in your organization?
• What:
• What is their role/responsibilities? (job description)
• When:
• Leadership ladders are fluid and they assume movement. A leader

may not be ready for a particular role right now, but where do they want to be in 6 months or a year? Is there a plan to get them there?

• Where:
• Where within the organization or community do they have

responsibility/power? (local, regional, organization-wide?)

• Why:
• Why are they in this place in the leadership ladder?

▪ What training have they had? ▪ What skills do they have? ▪ What ongoing support are they receiving to support them?

• Take a minute to think about what your church’s/organization’s leadership

ladder does/would look like…

• Ask people to share (in groups??) or ask questions
• Ok so we’ve been talking about leadership development at the organizational

level...now let’s shift to talking about it at the individual level.

• Let’s start with the obvious question...what is a leader? What makes a leader

a leader?

• What does a leader have?

▪ Followers! By definition!

▪ Why don’t we like the term “followers”? ▪ Who had followers? (Jesus!) ▪ Are you a follower? Of who? Why? ▪ We are all followers of someone.

• Ask for examples of who people follow

▪ We’re NOT talking about followers as blind sheep. We follow people who we are in relationship with, who share our values/have mutual self-interest, and who we trust

• I follow my pastor because she knows my self-interest

and I know hers, and I know that she’s acting in our mutual self-interest ▪ Use Numbers 27:16 and/or David example as shepherd leaders here??

• So all leaders by definition has followers. But what does a good leader

do with their followers? ▪ Develops them into leaders! ▪ What do you think that looks like? How do you develop other leaders?

• Training/teaching new skills
• This starts with knowing their self-interest well

enough to know what kinds of skills they want to develop and help them find the right training

• pportunities
• Creating roles for others
• If you lead the Faith in Action Team or some
• ther committee in your congregation, and you

chair the meeting every time, is that developing new leaders?

• Don’t set them up to fail--PREP with them

beforehand!

• Watch, help, do

▪ Have them watch the first time--Don’t ask someone to lead a meeting or a training if they’ve never been to it before ▪ Help the second time--Find ways that you can actively support the leader the first time they try something new ▪ Let them do it on their own the third time--give them space and understand that they might do things a little differently than you

• if you finally allow someone else to

chair, and then when they’re struggling you step in and take

• ver, what are you communicating

to them?

• Example: preparing leader to chair a meeting for

the first time with a legislator--Who has chaired a meeting with an elected official before? How would you prepare another person to do if for the first time?

• Debriefing learning with them after new

role/experience

• There is a fine line between allowing someone

space to make mistakes (and learning with them after the experience) and letting someone fail when you can provide some help.

• Ex: I’m consulting for a church and working with

a very experienced senior pastor. She asked me to evaluate her facilitation of the first meeting I was part of an debrief with her afterwards. Even experienced people need evaluation and feedback. Leadership Traits and Skills

• Now we’re going to shift into talking through how to identify and develop

leaders in your churches and organizations, and how to develop your own leadership capacity

• Does everyone agree that we want gifted and capable people leading our
• rganizations?
• Good! Then we need to identify people with strong leadership traits and

work to develop key leadership skills in them.

• So what’s the difference between a leadership trait and a leadership skill?
• A trait is characteristic, quality, or gift that you naturally have (traits

can and should be cultivated/developed, but you can’t hold a training to teach someone a trait)

• A skill is an ability that you can teach someone—you can actually hold

a training to teach a skill

• Ex: Difference between being artistic and learning to draw a

landscape (remember Bob Ross?!)--Or between being funny and learning a joke ▪ Knock Knock (Who’s there) ▪ A broken pencil (a broken pencil who?) ▪ Never mind...it’s pointless

• You may not be Dave Chappelle...but at least you now know a knock

knock joke. You’re welcome.

• We could probably come up with a long list of leadership traits you’d like in

people in your church/organization, but I’m going to give you 5 that I think are particularly important in organizing work...

• Joy/Sense of Humor
• Passion
• Accountability
• Ego: starts with being clear about your self-interest

• Humility
• How do you think you cultivate traits?
• You learn skills related to that trait
• Put yourself in situations to challenge yourself to grow in that area
• Intentionality--Think about it when you prep--how you will practice it
• Ask someone to hold you accountable
• Write down the 1-2 traits you bring and the 1-2 you need to work on most

(again, you can’t do a training for traits, but you can work on cultivating them)

• Ask people for responses
• For strength: How can you use that trait to strengthen your team?
• For weakness: How do you think you can cultivate that trait?

▪ Who will hold you accountable in your public life? ▪ Who in this room will hold _______ accountable to bringing _________ over the next day and a half?

• What are the public skills you want leaders on your team to have?
• Public speaking
• Chair meeting
• Power analysis
• Cutting issues
• Agitation
• One-on-ones
• Power meetings
• Turnout
• Social media/communications
• House meetings
• What skill(s) do you need to develop? (only pick 1-2 because if you choose

more you won’t do any!)

• (IF you’re not sure that the skill is the most important for a person,

ask why they think that’s the most important skill for them to develop/how it will help them achieve their self-interest)

• Who can train you on that skill? (or at least who can you ask about

where to seek training?) Who will you ask to hold you accountable to following through to get the training you need?

• It’s easy to identify what skills you need to develop. But what about other

leaders on your teams or in your churches/orgs? How can you identify what skills they need to develop?

• There may be team needs for skill development (e.g. team wants to

turn out 50 leaders to action needs turnout training)

• There may be individual needs: do 1on1s, understand someone’s self-

interest, and identify the skill(s) they will need to fulfill their self- interest (e.g. person who wants to build more relationships in the church needs 1on1s training)

• Take a minute…write down the names of 3 leaders in your church/org

you want to have a leadership development conversation with

• REVIEW
• #1 job of organizer?
• Definitions:

▪ Base ▪ Leader

• Action is to the organization as WHAT is to the body? Why?
• Tips for turnout
• What do healthy organizations look like/have?
• What are some core leadership traits?
• What are you going to go back to your organization with from this

session?

• There is a saying in organizing: “An organizer walks with their head on

backwards.”

• Any idea what that means?
• This is the primary difference between activism/advocacy and
• rganizing
• An activist is always looking ahead, trying to win the issue
• An organizer is simultaneously trying to move forward towards

winning the issue AND looking back at their base to try and develop leaders and build power

• If you can win an issue and make a meaningful change in your

community, that’s great. But if you haven’t built any power in winning that change, then winning the next campaign isn’t going to be any easier

• If you can win your issue AND build power, then the next campaign

you take on can be even bigger!