A User’s Guide to Thinking and Acting Politically: Understanding the People Across Your Organization

A User’s Guide to Thinking and Acting Politically: Understanding the People Across Your Organization

As a leader moving systems to better serve Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian children and families, you are moving people or “stakeholders” to take aligned actions to transform systems. In moving people or “thinking politically,” you are tasked with understanding the people closest to the problem you want to solve. Getting those people to move toward a shared result, or “acting politically,” means to:

• Expand your informal authority
• Find allies Value dissenting voices
• Stay connected to the opposition
• Manage those who have authority in your system or strategy
• Take responsibility for causalities (people who lose something they value) in implementing your strategy