First I want to acknowledge all the pain and hurt being felt in the country right now.  The pandemic alone is a major stressor and has a wave of grief in its wake.  Add to that senseless deaths from racism that still runs rampant in America’s veins, and it’s just too much for some to bear.  Protests have erupted all across the country, some peaceful, some violent.  The question is, what is violence going to accomplish?

Between 1900 and 2006, nonviolent civil resistance has been twice as successful as violent protest, according to research by Erica Chenoweth, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, and Maria J. Stephan, Director of the Program on Nonviolent Action at the U.S. Institute of Peace.  There’s a reason for this.  In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate...Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

What is a protest really about?  A protest is a demonstration of a stakeholder group that has gone unheard for too long.  Reflecting on this, and the above, and then thinking about your organization, what kind of change agent / leader have you been for your organization?  Have you taken sides, encouraged discord, and been fanning the flames of hate?  Or have you been bringing people together thereby bringing light to a dark situation?  If you’re in the latter category, keep up the great work!  If you’re in the former category, and want to be more of a light bringer, here are five things you can do:

1. Give a voice to the unheard by ensuring each stakeholder group has a seat at the table during important change management discussions 

2. Speak up if you see others inappropriately quieting the voice of a stakeholder group, as there is strength in numbers

3. Acknowledge stakeholders’ feelings, let the stakeholders vent if they need to get emotion out.  Recognize very little progress can be made if unacknowledged feelings are in the way. 

4. Identify and bring to light miscommunications given where there is discord, many times there is misunderstanding.  Bring to light the assumptions made that are actually untrue, and clarify communications where one stakeholder group is misunderstanding what another stakeholder group is saying. 

5. Seek win-win solutions instead of win-lose.  If all you can see is a win-lose solution, it’s time to get creative, call in some reinforcements, and put in the effort to find a win-win.

The more you can be a light bringer, the more powerful of a change agent / leader you will be for your organization.  Stakeholders may not always remember what you said or did, they will however always remember how they felt around you.

Call to Action

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About the Author: Rosanne Essiambre helps change agents and departments in one-on-one and group settings to be seen, be heard, and be effective in bringing about change in the organization and/or in their personal lives. She provides consulting and facilitation to organizations to improve communications and collaboration, smooth out the change / transformation journey, get to the root cause of an issue so it can be solved for good, improve processes, and implement successful lessons learned. And she conducts workshops, trains, and speaks on Energy Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Resilience, Being a Change Agent and more. If you or your organization could use support with your change effort or some inspiration, contact Rosanne for a complimentary consultation. Rosanne is a Change Agent Coach, Facilitator, Six Sigma Black Belt, Change Management / Continuous Improvement Consultant, Speaker, and Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner with more than 20 years experience working on a variety of transformations across a diverse set of industries both domestically and internationally, while continuously improving herself.