Political Lobbying: Listening and Empathising
An important part of our research and preparation before a lobby meeting should include building an understanding of and empathy for our MP’s situation. It is useful to know
the many constraints they face from within their party, locally and nationally
the requirements of the party line
the expectations of powerful influencers in the electorate
what they did before politics
their hobbies and personal interests
their values and identities
All of these will help the all-important process of building connection, finding common ground and ‘coming alongside’. These are essential for CCL’s relationship-building approach to climate advocacy. Being connected and building on common ground enables the relaxed and open communication most likely to lead to successful advocacy. It creates the emotional state most conducive to a change of mind, a weakening of ideological position, movement away from a rigid identity. They also make it possible to become a trusted though unofficial policy adviser, a position that we would like to achieve with quite a few MPs!
As a rule we aim to
listen more than talk
speak no more than three sentences at a time
ask open questions in a relaxed and interested tone
listen closely to the answers
reply thoughtfully in ways that meet their needs, not ours
keep building a relationship such that we will be welcomed to a future meeting
Be aware of the power of listening. The words we use are only a small component of what is communicated in a meeting. Our posture, tone of voice and facial expressions say a great deal more. Approaching our representatives with respect, appreciation and generosity makes it much more likely that we will be communicating in ways that enable our representative to relax and be open to us. And having empathy for them - the position they are in, the pressures they endure, their life experiences to date, etc, - further build connection. All of these can help disarm the defensiveness that MPs have had to build up to protect themselves in the rough and tumble of politics.
“Co-counselling for climate advocates” helps us develop our listening abilities and tap into its power, for ourselves and for others. We will be offering this training regularly and an intro video will be published here soon.
A specific approach for moving from shared values into productive discussion of carbon pricing and climate dividends is motivational interviewing. There are useful resources on this approach on the US CCL website. They are in the CCL ‘Community’ section of the website which is open to CCL members.
