Strategy is perpetually changing. The plan of attack that leads to success today, may prove a dismal failure tomorrow. Throughout our MarketingMediation.com website and blog, we talk about strategy and tactics. What they mean, why they’re important, why you need to consider them for your practice development. But it’s easier said than done to first develop a strategic plan and then put it into action.

Every year a new crop of fresh mediators is turned out to the field. A once open range of market potential is now crowded with new players bringing new ideas to mediation practice development and a ton of energy to bode. Let’s be honest, our industry is rapidly changing and new faces are showing up at the same industry conferences more frequently. There’s an old quote that says “differentiate or die”…ok that may be a bit on the extreme, when a simple self-evaluation of strategic planning will do. If you need help, contact us. We’ll walk you through the paces and develop a prescription for you to implement. But in the meantime, regardless of your political party, whether you’re red, blue, pink, or green, consider this wonderful and appropriate story about former President Lyndon B. Johnson from Robert Green’s The 33 Strategies of War.
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As a young man, Lyndon B. Johnson had just one dream: to climb the ladder of politics and become president. When Johnson was in his mid-twenties, the goal was starting to seem unreachable. A job as the secretary of a Texas Congressman had allowed him to meet and make an impression on President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had named him the Texas Director of the National Youth Administration a post promising excellent political connections. But Texas voters were extremely loyal, often returning congressman to their seats for decades, or until they died. Johnson urgently wanted a seat in Congress. If he did not get one soon enough, he would be too old to climb the ladder and he burned with ambition.

On February 22, 1937, out of the blue, the chance of a lifetime opened up: the Texas congressman James Buchanan suddenly died. The seat he left empty, that Texas’ Tenth District, was a rare opportunity, and the state’s eligible political heavyweights immediately threw their hat in the ring. The many contenders included Sam Stone, a popular county judge; Shelton Polk, an ambitious young Austin attorney; any C.N. Aver, Buchanan’s former campaign manager, the favorite to win. Avery had the support of Tom Miller, mayor of Austin, the Tenth District’s only large city. With Miller’s backing he could count on almost enough votes to win the election.

Johnson was faced with a terrible predicament. If he entered the race, the odds would be absurdly against him: he was young- only twenty-eight- and in the district he was unknown and poorly connected. A bad loss would damage his reputation and set him far back on the road to his long-term goal. If he chose not to run, on the other hand, he might wait ten years for another chance. With all this in mind, he threw caution to the winds and entered the race.

Johnson’s first step was to call to his side the dozens of young men and women whom he had helped or hired over the years. His campaign strategy was simple: he would separate himself from the other contenders by presenting himself as Roosevelt’s staunchest supporter. A vote for Johnson was a vote for the president, the popular architect of the New Deal. And since Johnson could not compete in Austin, he decided to aim his army of volunteers at the countryside, the sparsely populated Hill County. This was the district’s poorest area, a place where the candidates rarely ventured. Johnson wanted to meet every last farmer and sharecropper, shake every possible hand, win the votes of the people who had never voted before. It was the strategy of a desperate man who recognized that this was hi best and only chance for victory.

One of Johnson’s mist loyal followers was Carroll Keach, who would server as his chauffeur. Together the two men drove every square mile of Hill County, tracing every dirt path and cow trail. Spotting some out-of-the-way farmhouse, Johnson would get out of the car, walk to the door, introduce himself to the startled inhabitants, listen patiently to their problems, then leave with a hearty handshake and a gentle plea for their vote. Convening meetings in dusty towns consisting mainly of a church and a gas station, he would deliver his speech, then mingle with the audience and spend the last few minutes with everyone present. He had an incredible memory for faces and names: if he happened to meet the same person twice, he could recall everything he or she had said the first time around, and often impressed strangers by knowing someone who knew them. He listened intensely and was always careful to leave people with the feeling that they would see him again, and if he won they would finally have someone looking out for their interests in Washing. In bars, grocery stores, and gas stations all through Hill County he would talk with the locals as if he had nothing else to do. On leaving he make sure to buy something- candy, groceries, gasoline- a gesture they appreciated. He had the gift of creating a connection.

As the race ran on, Johnson went days without sleep, his voice turning hoarse, his eyes drooping. As Keach drove the length of the district, he would listen in amazement as the exhausted candidate in the car muttered to himself about the people he had just met, the impression he had made, what he could have done better. Johnson never wanted to seem desperate or patronizing. It was that last handshake and look in the eye that mattered.

The polls were deceptive: the continued to show Johnson behind, but he knew he hand won votes that no poll would register. And in any case he was slowly catching up- by the last week he had crept into third place. Now, suddenly, the other candidate took notice. The election turned nasty: Johnson was attacked for his youth, for his blind support of Roosevelt, anything that could be dug up. Trying to win a few votes in Austin, Johnson came up against the political machine of Mayor Miller, who disliked him and did everything possible to sabotage his campaign. Undeterred, Johnson personally visited the mayor several times in the last week to broker some kind of truce. But Miller saw right through his charm. His personal appeal might have won over the district’s poorest voters, but the other candidates saw a differed side of him: he was ruthless and capable of slinging mud. As he rose in the polls, he made more and more enemies.

On Election Day, Johnson pulled off one of the greatest upsets in American Political history, outdistancing his nearest rival by three thousand votes. Exhausted by the grueling pace that he had set, he was hospitalized, but the day after his victory he was back at work- he had something extremely important to do. From his hospital bed, Johnson dictated letters to his rivals in the race. He congratulated them for running a great campaign; he also described his own victory as a fluke, a vote for Roosevelt more than himself. Learning that Miller was visiting Washington, Johnson telegraphed his connections in the city to chaperone the mayor and treat him like royalty. As soon as Johnson left the hospital, he paid visits to his rivals and acted with almost embarrassing humility. He even befriended Polk’s brother, driving him around town on errands.

A mere eighteen months later, Johnson had to stand for reelection, and these onetime opponents and bitter enemies suddenly turned into the most ferverent Johnson believers, donating money, even campaigning on his behalf. And Mayor Miller, the one man who had hated Johnson the most, now became his strongest supported and remained so for years.
Andrew Golden is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Golden Media, a marketing and consulting firm dedicated to promoting the resolution industry. He speaks internationally on business development and the successful marketing strategies of the conflict resolution industry. More ADR Practice Development articles and information about Golden Media can be found at www.MarketingMediation.com.