B Y: R E P R E S E N TAT I V E D R E W S P R I N G E R S TAT E R E P R E S E N TAT I V E F O R H O U S E D I S T R I C T 6 8
HOW TO BECOME A TRUSTED ADVISOR TO YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
T
he one constant in politics is that everyone has an opinion and plenty of advice for elected officials. Regardless of color, creed, or political affiliation, we all hunger for creative and civil approaches to improve our democracy and people’s lives. The question becomes how can you differentiate yourself from other voices shouting among the masses to a trusted advisor. Before you dismiss yourself from exercising your voice, please be assured your voice needs to be heard. You can’t be afraid to talk to an elected official. Politicians are just like you. We get up in the morning, drink our coffee, get dressed, and head to work. The truth is a good elected representative is one who can admit they don’t know everything about the policies and issues they are required to evaluate, vote on, and implement. Elected leaders are pulled in many different directions and asked to weigh in on a myriad of issues. You have a vast amount of knowledge; please tell us the things we don’t know. Tell us when you need help before the train has left the tracks. Just as important, tell us when you don’t need help from the government. But most importantly, don’t be afraid to talk. The politicians who won’t listen or don’t want to talk to you are ones who aren’t doing their job, don’t value your
opinion, and should be voted out. Once you have conquered your fear of speaking up, the question becomes how can you ensure the elected leader you are attempting to reach will value your voice. One way to ensure this is to provide value to the conversation – this does not mean signing a petition or letter that a hundred other constituents have already signed. You need to deliver value to your voice by bringing unique details or new data sets government officials don’t have, which illustrate how the issue affects you or your community personally. Bringing a problem to the attention of your representative is a good thing: but help your representative to understand the subject better by delivering information and insight he or she does not already have. A real-life example of how things really works always helps. If you are serious about your voice being heard and want to add value to your voice, you have to build a relationship with your representative through goodwill, friendliness and mutual benefit. Just like training a show goat, it takes time. Don’t be expect us to be grand champions after the first five minutes. Would you take advice about how to do your job from an unannounced, random stranger who just walked up to you and told you what you’re doing wrong? In the same way, a representative may discount
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“IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR VOICE BEING HEARD AND WANT TO ADD VALUE TO YOUR VOICE, YOU HAVE TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR REPRESENTATIVE THROUGH GOODWILL, FRIENDLINESS, AND MUTUAL BENEFIT. ”
