“Working with Eric was a pleasure. We developed a good rapport and established a level of honesty and trust. I valued his counsel and recommendations. I find Eric to be very competent in a variety of disciplines. He is able to correctly diagnose organizational problems and suggest solutions that are on point. I found Eric to be a professional with the highest levels of honesty, integrity, and ethical behavior. I would not hesitate to engage his services again in the future.”
Kathy Lueckert,
former Corporate Services Director,
Department of Planning and Development,
City of Seattle
(Kathy is now Director of Planning and Finance for Advocacy and Communications at World Vision.)
“I've worked closely with Eric on developing and presenting the Leadership Eastside community leadership program. He has that rare blend of extensive real-world experience along with a very strong background in theory and research. He moves easily between big picture strategy and the tactical details. Eric brings a superb ability to plan, execute and follow-through, both as a behind-the-scenes planner and as an upfront instructor and facilitator.”
Annalee Luhman,
founding board member,
Leadership Eastside
Conflict and change: The blog
29 May 2008
Are you an agent, or merely an advocate?
So you want to make change in your organization? Are you a well-meaning person with a good idea, or are you a well-meaning person with a good idea who has support?
If you’re the former, you’re what’s known as an “advocate.” The first job of an advocate is to gain sponsorship for your idea about how to improve your unit or organization. You need to make your case to the hierarchy (or at least the highest person necessary to implement the change) and gain his or her support in order to move forward. This is where to focus your effort.
Even larger social change requires some kind of executive sponsorship to legitimize it and get people to take it seriously. Maybe the support of a key community organization—think the Southern Christian Leadership Conference for the civil rights movement.
An advocate who continues to push without gaining legitimacy risks being labeled an annoyance, and losing ground. Unfortunately, while working inside organizations, I had several experiences of pushing ideas without sponsorship. I thought my idea alone would carry the day, but it never did. I hadn’t gotten the sponsorship.
On the other hand, a “change agent” is someone who has a good idea AND support to implement it. This is the person who stands a chance of seeing their idea implemented for the greater good. They are the ones to watch because, if their executive sponsorship holds, their organization will take their idea to heart.
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