4: Strategic Leadership
- Page ID
- 292263
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)In the 1990s many big companies hired contracting firms to manage the janitorial services at their buildings. Janitors worked in hard jobs for low wages with very few workplace protections. Gaining rights for workers by unionizing those janitorial service contracting firms was difficult. Each contracting firm was a very small business, not well known to the public and each of them did not hire very many janitors.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) realized that if it went after the big companies that hired those janitorial companies, they could shame them into requiring the firms they hired to do janitorial services to recognize a union. The campaign to make that happen was called “Justice for Janitors.” The campaign was a brilliant example of strategic organizing. Organizers analyzed the relations of power and influence before them, they analyzed their own forms of power, and they found a pathway to building community power by developing a strategy that leaned on their strengths..
Strategic leaders pay attention to the chess-game aspect of organizing. They think about the assets on their side, the obstacles they face, the forms of power their opponents have, and their opponents’ vulnerabilities. They engage in research to find these things. They think about how to bring other players onto their side, and how to split support for their opponents.
When organizers don’t have a clear strategy for obtaining their goals, they can engage in a lot of work that can feel satisfying and can build organizations, but it can end up not actually creating significant social change. A good strategy makes the difference between effective and ineffective organizing.
In this section, you will:
- Learn about strategic leadership
- Study the story of Justice for Janitors
- Practice identifying a good issue to organize around
- Develop a strategy
- 4.1: Characteristics of Strategic Leadership
- This page discusses the importance of strategic leadership in achieving organizational goals through planning and execution akin to strategy-based games. It highlights the role of strategic leaders in evaluating objectives, utilizing power analysis tools to assess stakeholders and dynamics, and fostering relationships for effective strategy development. Successful strategy implementation is underscored as dependent on the organization's capability to focus and mobilize resources effectively.
- 4.2: Justice for Janitors Part 1
- This page details the Justice for Janitors campaign, launched by SEIU in 1985, showcasing effective union organizing among hard-to-unionize janitors. It highlights the use of public demonstrations and community support to combat economic and racial injustices. Key successes included a significant rise in unionized janitors in Los Angeles and improvements in wages and conditions nationwide.
- 4.3: Justice for Janitors Part 2
- This page details the Justice for Janitors campaign in Washington, D.C., spearheaded by the Janitors Union. It describes how new strategies, including "Days of Rage" and high-visibility actions, successfully organized 90% of D.C. janitors into a union, leading to substantial wage increases.
- 4.4: Cutting the Issue
- This page explains the difference between "problems" and "issues" in community organizing, where problems are broad societal challenges like racism, and issues are specific targets for campaigns. It emphasizes the importance of "cutting the issue" to decompose a broad problem into manageable symptoms, enabling organizations to focus their efforts, identify root causes, and strategize for effective change.
- 4.5: Choosing an Issue
- This page discusses the key qualities of an effective issue for community organizing, as outlined by Minieri and Gestos in "Tools for Radical Democracy." It emphasizes the importance of resonance, tangible benefits, winnability, clear targets, power building, and alignment with organizational values, while acknowledging that not all issues will meet every criterion.
- 4.6: Action Star
- This page introduces the Beautiful Trouble toolbox, focusing on strategic campaign planning using the Action Star. It highlights eight key factors for evaluating actions: political targets, intervention points, ally activation, audience and message definition, story framing, value appeal, action logic, and group capacity. The aim is to encourage critical thinking about campaigns by addressing strategic questions, thereby improving the effectiveness of actions.