This past weekend the Advocacy Committee is hosted a Leadership & Lattes. In addition to having a fantastic speaker, we explained how to make advocacy attainable for each of you. As an output of this, I’ve decided to share a recent personal experience that has created an advocacy “opportunity” for me. I’m hoping that by providing an example of advocacy in daily life it will make it tangible, and perhaps take some of the intimidation out of it.
As you likely know, Target eliminated 1,700 jobs two weeks ago. My job was one. You may be close to people who were impacted, or have been impacted yourself at some point in time. I like to think that I wear my confidence with humility, so being my own biggest advocate is always a slightly uncomfortable place for me. I find it much easier to advocate for others, or for a cause I am passionate about, than to shamelessly advocate for myself. However, if ever there were a time to advocate for myself, this would be a good one. Here are some things I am remembering as I look for the next great thing in my career. These things are so easily applied to our work within the league that I thought it relevant to share them:
1. Know what you want. In the case of the league, know your elevator pitch. We will develop your advocacy speaking points at this weekend’s training. This articulation of what you’re looking for or what you want to share is often the most difficult piece.
2. Ask for help. Who is responsible for “fixing” the achievement gap? That question could be material for 20 more blog posts, but it illustrates how complex the issue is, and how one organization will not solve it on their own. Take partners.
3. Be uncomfortable. In my case, I’m advocating for myself as I would my best friend. For Junior League, show your passion and it will be infectious. If you want to be an advocate, make it a goal for yourself to inject this topic into a different conversation each week.
Not only is advocacy relevant to our work in the JLM, but it clearly crosses boundaries into many other areas of life. In what ways do you advocate outside of the JLM?
Post contributed by Kacie.DeWolf.
Junior League of Minneapolis 