The Problem: Your Story about the Public

Given public mistrust in government, leaders can become jaded about public engagement. After one township administrator expanded the public comment session for a controversial issue – and heard two extra hours of vitriol from the podium – he said, “I’m never doing that again!” He also began referring to the public as “whiners” and, despite a veneer of professionalism, his contempt for them was plain as he abruptly dismissed people from the podium at future hearings.

Another city manager said he doesn’t “do much engagement because the public always says the same thing – they are so clueless.” I asked whether this characterization affected his behavior with the public. He said, “Not really. I tune them out.” Tuning out the public might seem benign, but now the public characterizes him as “aloof and arrogant.” That, in turn, reinforces the manager’s perception that the public is not only clueless but disrespectful, causing him to dismiss their ideas further, which in turn re-confirms the public caricature of him…and so goes the polarization cycle. 

As you will see on the next page, seeing the public as a negative caricature makes your job harder.

Of course, the public shares some blame in creating its relationship with public leaders, and it’s easy for leaders to blame the public for causing the problems in this relationship. The trouble is that the public is a cause, not the cause, of the problem. By focusing on the public’s bad behavior, leaders forget they contribute to the problem themselves and then fail to take their own steps to end the cycle of polarization.

As we will discuss in Chapter 4, human nature ensures that when leaders change, the public will reciprocate in kind. The first step in shifting from blame to self-reflection is for leaders to change their stories about the public.

The Solution

Change your story

The first step in building a high-trust relationship with your public is to make sure you have a compassionate story about the public that frees you from the destructive path that starts with a negative caricature. To build a compassionate story, you must become aware of the negative caricatures you already hold about the public. Paradoxically, your feelings are the best indicator of your mental state; like a check engine light, upset feelings should tell you to “check under the hood” to determine the thoughts causing your feelings. If the thought is a negative caricature of the public, you need to change your thinking to eliminate the negative emotion and the risk of reacting poorly. 

First, assume the person is reasonable. Second, ask yourself, “Why would a reasonable person behave that way?” This question will force you to see the needs driving their behavior. Now, you can respond by meeting their needs rather than reacting to your caricature of them.

From the Field: Why would reasonable people behave like that?

A superintendent saw her teachers as “whiners.” Whenever teachers spoke, she thought “whiners,” got frustrated and angry, and dismissed teachers’ ideas (and stopped visiting schools). Teachers consequently thought she was an uncaring jerk and increased their personal and professional attacks, which reconfirmed the superintendent’s caricature of them. Teacher morale plummeted, as did their support for the superintendent’s initiatives.

I asked the superintendent, “If you assume teachers are reasonable, why would they behave like that when it only seems to worsen the situation?” Here were her answers.

·       We haven’t raised teachers’ salaries in five years, and I laid off many.

·       Increased class sizes have made their job harder.

·       We have added many new initiatives every year.

Retelling her story softened the superintendent and allowed her to wonder, “What do they need from me and our relationship right now?” She saw that teachers needed to be heard, have empathy, and be included, so she started visiting schools to ask questions, validate concerns, and incorporate teachers’ ideas before launching new initiatives—and her relationship with teachers became positive and productive.

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