An accessible, comprehensive handbook to achieving change in any environment, featuring time-tested methods and practical tips from real activists.
As President of the Giraffe Heroes Project, which since 1982 has been recognizing people who ""stick their necks out for the common good,"" John Graham has seen what hundreds of average citizens around the world have done to bring about constructive change. He's drawn on their experiences, his own as a veteran environmental activist, and that of a hand-picked group of seasoned activists to produce an accessible, eminently practical, inspiring guide on how to work effectively for change in any environment.
Stick Your Neck Out covers every aspect of working for change, from choosing an issue to mapping out a strategy, getting a team together, building alliances, working with the media, and more. Each chapter contains a series of practical tips as well as inspiring examples of real people-artists, truck drivers, doctors, waitresses, and others-who have made a difference on issues like poverty, racism, gang violence, environmental pollution, and many more. Everything in this book has been honed and practiced; nothing is untested theory.
This is a comprehensive guide to the skills, qualities, and strategies you need to make a difference on any issue. But it's also about becoming fully alive-about the meaning and passion you can add to your own life by getting involved. Active citizenship and personal growth are linked. The information in this book can change your world-and it can change your life.
By:
GRAHAM,
Morris A. Graham
Imprint: Berrett Koehler
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 254mm,
Width: 203mm,
Spine: 27mm
Weight: 1.070kg
ISBN: 9781576753040
ISBN 10: 1576753042
Pages: 220
Publication Date: 01 January 2018
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface Who Should Read This Book Hard and Soft How to Use This Book What’s Not in This Book Acknowledgments INTRODUCTION WHAT DO YOU CARE ABOUT? What Problem Do You Take On? Giraffe Stories CHAPTER ONE WHY DO IT? What’s the Path to a Meaningful Life? Going for It Giraffe Stories CHAPTER TWO START HERE Research Decide the Form of Your Participation Create a Specific Project Create a Vision for Your Project’s Success Add Details to Your Project Giraffe Stories CHAPTER THREE TRUST THEM? ARE YOU KIDDING? The Importance of Building Trust How to Build Trust Efforts to Build Trust Are Risky Giraffe Stories CHAPTER FOUR BUILDING A TEAM AND KEEPING IT TOGETHER How to Build a Team from Scratch Team Structure Team Management Create and Communicate a Team Vision of Success Giraffe Stories CHAPTER FIVE MAKING A PLAN Steps for Visionary Planning What to Do When Your Plan Succeeds Giraffe Stories CHAPTER SIX RISK TAKING AND COURAGE An Ostrich Nation Turning It Around—the Giraffe Heroes Project Turning It Around—Why You Should Take Risks for the Common Good Tips for Taking Risks as an Active Citizen Giraffe Stories CHAPTER SEVEN FINDING COMMON GROUND: NEGOTIATING AND RESOLVING CONFLICTS General Principles for Negotiating and Resolving Conflicts Ten Steps to Common Ground It Doesn’t Work Every Time Giraffe Stories CHAPTER EIGHT PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATIONS: SPEECHES, FUND-RAISING, AND MORE Persuasive Communications—Style, Attitude, Heart, and Vision How to Give a Great Speech Tips for Raising Money Giraffe Stories CHAPTER NINE DEALING WITH THE MEDIA: THE SECRETS OF GOOD PR Why Should You Tell People What You’re Doing? Creating a Media Strategy How to Get the Media Results You Want Giraffe Stories CHAPTER TEN GETTING INSTITUTIONS TO DO WHAT YOU WANT Developing the Public Will Working with “the System” Lobbying Giraffe Stories CHAPTER ELEVEN PUBLIC TESTIMONY AND LEGAL ACTION Public Testimony Legal Action Giraffe Stories EPILOGUE A PERSONAL JOURNEY Connectedness—A Spiritual Concept with Political Power Lightening Up Being Responsible for Our World—and for Ourselves Resources Index
John Graham's first job upon leaving the Foreign Service in 1980 after 15 years service was lecturing aboard a luxury cruise ship. 140 miles out into the Gulf of Alaska, the Prinsendam caught fire and began to sink. His lifeboat lost in a violent storm, Graham was finally pulled to safety, and to a new sense of what his life was about. He began by creating a series of lectures and workshops on creating political and social change. In 1983, these merged with the Giraffe Project, a national program inspiring people to stick their necks out for the common good. The Project finds ordinary people acting with extraordinary courage on a broad range of important issues--then tells their stories to millions of others through the media, and in schools. Graham, now the Project's President, is a familiar keynote speaker on themes of leadership, courage, meaning and service. He also leads Giraffe Project workshops, helping organizations, businesses and individuals handle their challenges more effectively. His work in mediating conflict has brought him eye-to-eye with, among others, leaders of apartheid and of the Khmer Rouge.
