Originally Posted by chipcom

I had to deal with the rebuilding of our entire main street and all the competing factions who had their own ideas what it should look like. Unfortunately, despite my own cycling lifestyle, the cycling 'advocates' were split between those who wanted bike lanes and those who vehemently opposed them, preferring just wide lanes. Both sides came off as extremists who refused to compromise. In the end, because the 'advocates' spent so much time bickering amongst themselves and could not compromise, the project had no bike lanes and instead of wide outside lanes, medians were installed with trees and shrubs (the beautification folks DID have their act together) that died and fell into disrepair within a year of planting.

The moral of the story - if you want to get something done, you have to have the support of people and organizations that have proven voting power, speak with a unified voice, and are willing to compromise and accept long term solutions rather than getting everything they want in the short term. In short you gotta have your ducks in line and the right people/groups behind you....which means sometimes you gotta give them something in return for their support.

As much as I pick on HH, having a debate in here with him and everyone else can only help you to get your ducks in line...but the political part, building consensus and gathering support, is something you can only do there, on the ground. Now, to be brutally honest...I think your skills in that area need improvement - a diplomat you are not You tend to give the perception that you are tooting your own horn and that people who do not agree with you are the enemy. That doesn't cut it when you are trying to get people to do something that might be easier for them not to bother with. You gotta make it easier to do what you want than not to, you gotta stroke em and cuddle em and treat em like they are your best friend.

You have to persuade the right people to support what you want done, not by trying to sell them on what YOU believe, but by showing them how it meets THEIR wants, needs and goals, even leading them to think some things are their own ideas, rather than yours, allowing them to take credit, whether it is due or not, and giving up non-core pieces of your plan as trade-offs to help them soothe the interests of their own constituencies. Indeed, sometimes it's better to let others, with more power, skill and influence, take the lead to push the project through and take the credit, even if you are still the one doing all the grunt work. Sometimes you get more done by pushing and prodding behind the scenes rather than trying to take the lead and make your face the public face. If you want credit, you're going to be disappointed...credit goes to those pretty folks with the smiles and charisma that makes people like them and want to follow them. Like me, you ain't one of those people, so you gotta be the one who pulls their strings behind the scenes and get your satisfaction from seeing the job get done.

You know me, I don't pull any punches, I call em like I see em, so don't get offended by me telling you straight. Others will have other advice...look at what they are saying, rather than how they say it and how it affects your ego. You think ILTB and me always got along? Ha, we used to tear each other apart until we got past the egos and saw that we agreed more than we disagreed and were spending more time attacking each other rather than listening to what the other was saying. Sometimes you gotta look past how something is said to understand what is being said.