PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.
[This is at least a partial repeat of what I wrote a year or so ago. But the points bear repeating.]
Lobbying is an often-misunderstood vocation.
When many hear the word, they think of agents running around with bags of money to buy results. But, most of the time, that is not true.
Most of the time, lobbyists play their trade in at least a workmanlike fashion to achieve results for their clients.
When I began my career as a lobbyist, I had to explain to my mother what I did for a living. I resorted to two examples, hoping that one of them would make sense to her.
The first was that I was like an attorney. I had a client. That client paid me to represent its interests. My courtroom was the Capitol building, sometimes in a hearing room, sometimes in an office, sometimes in a hallway. Or, for me, sometimes at a lunch or on a golf course.
Anywhere where I could make an impression on a person who held public office.
My second example referred to a trader on a busy commodity-trading floor. Figuratively, I had to yell to get attention to make a sale. The example was meant to illustrate that I had to compete for time and attention.
A final example is one I have used more recently. It was that of a salesperson. As a lobbyist, I was not selling cars, houses, furniture or some other identifiable commodity. I was selling ideas.
The question was whether the buyer – a legislator, a member of Congress, a government agency official – would make a decision to buy what I was selling.
But, beyond these illustrations of what a lobbyist is, it is important to list credentials that make a good lobbyist. Here are several.
- A PERSONAL COMMITMENT: A “YOUR WORD IS YOUR BOND” ETHIC
There is no more critical trait than this one. At a Wall Street Journal CEO Forum, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie put it this way: “No one in this city (Washington, D.C.) talks to each other anymore. Or, if they do, they don’t speak to each civilly. They don’t develop relationships. They won’t develop trust between each other.”
Governor Christie – admittedly he had his own credibility problems — could have added that, when officials talk, they don’t believe what each other says because there is no “your word is your bond” ethic.
If you say something, mean it. Stick by it. If you have to change your perspective, alert all those to whom you previously spoke that you’ve had to change. That, alone, will enhance your credibility.
- A PERSONAL STYLE: PERSEVERANCE
Over my 40+ years at the State Capitol in Salem, I saw that those who arrived early, remained active during the day and stayed late often got things done. In the sometimes-awkward nature of lobbying, finding legislators early and late often translated to an important minute or two – a minute or two to make a positive impression on behalf of a client.
Because lobbying is the business of making a series of positive impressions, finding time to make the first one is critical. Then, the others follow – early, mid-day or late.
- A PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT: CLIENT EXPERTISE INVOKES LOBBYING
In the lobbying business, I used to say that it didn’t matter what I thought or whether I agreed with a client. What mattered was what the client thought.
I had the good fortune to represent clients over the years with whom I generally agreed. Moreover, they often allowed me to react to their point of view, caring about what I thought as I prepared to carry their views to the Capitol.
I also was fond of saying that, with regard to a client’s interests, I was “an inch deep and a mile wide,” while the client was a mile deep in its understanding of its issues.
The point? It is that a client’s perspectives, words and deeds are critical to representing that client’s interests, more critical than a lobbyist’s perspectives, words and deeds. What a client wants or does not want from the legislative process should dictate what the lobbyist wants or does not want.
My approach was, first, to listen carefully to a client’s perspective, then apply my experience — how to get things done in a public policy environment — honed over my years in the process.
If a client wanted just a message carrier, I wasn’t particularly interested, as immodest as that sounds. I wanted to work with client to hone the message, then use the client’s expertise to achieve results.
- A COMMITMENT TO ACHIEVING SOLID ENDS: FIND THE SMART MIDDLE
Getting back to the Wall Street Journal’s report of what Governor Christie said at the CEO forum, he issued a clear call for the benefits of compromise, which, after all, is the definition of politics…the art of compromise.
“When I’ve developed relationships with Democratic legislators (in New Jersey), it means you have to compromise at times; you don’t walk away with everything you want. But, man, if I walk away with 70 per cent of my agenda, New Jersey’s 70 per cent better than it would have been otherwise.”
Well, you could quarrel with elements of that quote, but the point is clear: Finding the smart middle is better than imposing an idea from either the right or left extremes.
Look no farther these days than the federal “Affordable Care Act,” which doesn’t appear to be so affordable. It was imposed without any attempt to find the middle; only Democrats in Congress voted for President Obama’s proposal. Now, rather than learn lessons from that several-years ago debacle, Republican leaders in Congress tried to impose their will without working with Democrats.
The result? Health care policy in place today does not work as well as it could if reasonable persons from both sides were involved in finding the smart middle.
As a lobbyist, my goal was to get clients, first, to explain what they wanted and why, and, second, to be open to finding the smart middle. That’s the way to get things done — in Salem or in Washington, D.C.
The issue is not winning or losing. It is finding middle ground.
What it takes to be an effective lobbyist relies, I contend, on the four qualities outlined above. It also takes a willingness to work with others to achieve results, for nothing ever happens in the lobbying world unless it revolves around a team.
For me, helping legislators draft good law was a purposeful pursuit.
Perspective from the 19th Hole 