Sierra Nevada Alliance

31 July 2005

It was only after Joanie [Joan Clayburgh, Executive Director of the Sierra Nevada Alliance] recruited me for this talk that she told me my job was to summarize the conference and to inspire participants to unite around a common goal and go forth to change the world.

Right.

I come to the Sierra Nevada Alliance Conference to be inspired.  You are already changing world.  What could I possibly tell you?

But I trusted Joanie's belief that I could do this and accepted the challenge. 

How many of you here are inspirational speakers?  Not a single hand?  Why not?

The Alliance's member group survey shows that fully 88% of you use advocacy as a primary tool.  Every single person here should be an inspirational speaker.

Maybe we need a definition of terms.  Turning to the good old Webster's dictionary:

To inspire:  "To breathe in spirit.  To animate  To give life to."

An inspiration:  "the act or power of moving the intellect or emotions."

Isn't that was advocates do?

So how do we become inspirators: "To exert an animating, enlivening or exalting influence.  To motivate"?

Let's think about what we heard here at the conference.  Andrea Lawrence was certainly an inspiring speaker.  What qualities does Andrea have that make her an inspirator?

Yes, passion. How many here have passion?  Of course, we all do.

Her gift seems innate, doesn't it? Maybe you either have it or you don't.

I personally think Andrea could stand up there and read the phone book to us and we'd be inspired. 

I think she does have a gift, but I think there is more to it than that.

So I began studying the speeches of someone who inspired both me and world: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  To me, when he spoke, it was direct dictation from God.  It never occurred to me I could do anything BUT rise up and follow.  What was his secret to inspiring millions?

At first I thought he had to have been inspired in his life's work from the beginning.  But I recalled a story from a friend of mine who went to seminary with Dr. King.  He said that Dr. King wanted to be an academic, an intellectual.  The story goes that he originally resented being recruited to work on what the world considered "black" issues as opposed to universal issues.

So what did he draw upon, early on, when he himself was first recruited?

Well, yes, I suspect he was recruited because already an inspiring type person, but I think he also trained himself and used some sure fire-tools.

Let's look at those tools.

First of all, when he spoke, it was not on behalf of Ebeneezer Baptist Church that employed him or even on behalf of the Southern Baptist Coalition.  He assumed that issues of fairness to people of color affected us all equally.  While that is now accepted as true, it was a radical impossible notion at the time.  He was inclusive of all who could hear.  He spoke as if the world were our community.

Terry Tamminen spoke of the world as a single community when he told of the man who had a great collection of seashells that he kept on beaches around the world.

Let me give you an example of that from my own organization.  A couple years ago I was in London at a conference to promote the study of human/wildlife conflicts as a specific scientific discipline.  As I lamented the plight of the African lion and the cheetah, I found that people in Africa were worried about the American lion.

Can you see how that changed everything about how I thought of my work?  I realized that we weren't just saving lions in each state, we were fighting for the survival of America's lion.    I realized that people in New York should be outraged at how the West is caring for their lion.  And don't think that didn't change my fundraising strategy!  I looked at all the Americans sending dollars to help the African lion and began to wonder where were all the Africans sending dollars to help the American lion.  We now have members from every state and every continent but Antarctica.

Dr. King also connected the past to the future.  Andrea did that in her talk too, didn't she?  Terry Tamminen did that as well.  Both spoke of the history of the struggle for the Sierra, connecting how it was and how it could be again.

They all also tapped into universal truths that were their own passions.  Let's look at that inspirational tool for a moment.

How many of you are fascinated by non profit systems?  How many cannot wait to get up in the morning to raise your own salary?  No?  I get it, you are really motivated by budgeting and finances!

It is the difference on landscape that moves us, isn't it? It's not the process or the protocols.  It's not even the threats and dangers we quote so well.  It's the difference we can make for the better.

In her speech this morning, Andrea talked about the need for outrage 365 days per year.  I'd like to offer a slight spin on that.  I think we cannot be outraged except against a backdrop of commitment.  As a ridiculously simple example, I cannot be outraged that I don't have purple teeth because I don't want purple teeth.  In our outrage, I think it is important to recall and speak our commitment.

Dr. King didn't quote the number of black children who could not read.  He did not cite statistics about poverty levels.  He spoke of how world ought to be.  He tapped into those values we thought we all shared and lived. And he used them like arrows right into our hearts.

So how did he do that?  How can we learn to do that?

Certainly one way is to speak the big dream.  Dr. King did not speak much about the janitors' strike he first marched for.  He saw and spoke way beyond that to the bigger, impossible dream.

Ron Good at Restore Hetch Hetchy knows how to do that, doesn't he?  And, we almost forget that the Mono Lake Committee's success was originally deemed impossible.   As Will Murray taught us in the Social Marketing workshop this weekend, there is enormous power in speaking the impossible dream out loud -- that doing so establishes an incredibly high standard that even our critics will hold us to.

Interestingly, another way Dr. King inspired people was to speak personally: I have a dream, my children will one day?  He didn't tell you what you should dream.  He told you his dream.  In some poetry class I once had to take, I was told that the most intimate, most private, most personal  revelations would be the most universally received.

So I'm going to try that right now and see how it goes:

For me, it's not about protecting acres.  For me, it's "My country tis of thee?.

Land where my fathers died?This is my country."

For me, it's not cubic feet per second.  Or even sediment load.

For me, it's "my soul singing, the notes rising and falling along the clefs of rock?

it's no higher form of prayer than the contemplation of flowing water."

Ron Good knows this?Shawn Garvey at the Sierra Fund knows this. At some level we all do.  So why do we keep talking about total demand management?

Well yes, we have to.  But in those rules of persuasive speaking, we need all three parts:

We start with the gut.  Most of us can graphically state the threats to our resources.  My blood ran cold when Janet Cohen said, "If you have a favorite tree, you better hug it now."

After starting with the gut, we move to the head.  Ah, there's where we get to talk about sediment load and numbers and dollars.

But, then we must close with the heart.  I mean close -- as in close the deal.  I mean close -- as in leave them feeling achingly incomplete unless they help us.

I offer the notion if we are to suceed in a time frame when our work will still matter, we all need to learn to speak of the heart of the matter.  Of the intimately personal connections. Of truth with a capital T.

If you're like me, you're thinking "fine.  I feel.  I connect. I have passion, but I don't know how to say it.  It's as hard as it is embarrassing."

Is it possible that Dr. King went through the same thing at first?

Did you ever noticed how much of his speeches are quotes from other people?  Think of the many quotes in Andrea's speech.  More than half of Terry's talk was quoting from another person's diary.  Dr. King's most famous speech quotes straight from the prophet Isaiah.  (Well, if you are going to crib, you might as well go for the big time!)

Please note that Dr. King's quotes were well tested.  Many of his quotes are also found in Handel's "Messiah," the most performed oratorio the world.

"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted and every hill and mountain shall be made low ?. and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

That is so moving that we don't even mind that he's talking about flattening mountains!

Dr. King was not above using other famous songs -- other than happy birthday, one of the most commonly sung songs was

"My country Tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty?let freedom ring."

We have these tools available to us too.  Sure, I cannot deliver those words like he did.  That's not my inspirational voice and it's probably not yours either.

But here's the point today.  Right now, we all have a voice that can be every bit as powerful and it is time to use it.

I know.  You're planning on leaving the inspirational speaking to others.  I understand that.

At the funeral of the founder of the Mountain Lion Foundation, Annie Nottoff sobbed to me, "Our elders are dying off and I'm just not ready to take over."   In my usual sensitive way (not!) -- where I put my mouth in motion before my brain -- I pointed at her and said, "It doesn't matter if you're not ready because you're it."  I totally ignored that three of my fingers were pointing right back at me and kept right on writing speeches and sound bites for other people to deliver.

You know what?

Our beloved Sierra Nevada Mountain Range can't afford us that luxury any more.

This Range of Light can't wait for us to get ready. These communities we love don't have time for us to be embarrassed or shy.  We can't leave it to somebody else any more.

In the majority of situations where we have an opportunity to move people, we're alone.

Our job is to improve the moment.  Our. job.  Our job is to motivate them to pay attention to facts and figures we love to talk about.

So, again, how do we get good at using these tools to speak powerfully, to inspire people, to move mountains.  How do we get over embarrassment at the mere thought of being an inspirational speaker?

I say it's the same as any thing else:  practice practice, practice.

Literally, just do it until it comes naturally.

For example, Will Murray told me of a time when he was promoted to a role that others doubted could handle.  Even his own future staff were unsure.  So he called them and said, "We are going to pretend I can do this".  And they did.  And he pretended them right into enormous growth and success.

I just read a study that shows if you simply arrange your face in the shape of happiness, the endorphins release.

So I propose we do some pretending and some practicing and some just doing.

We'll have to overcome a few barriers.  We'll have to be willing to be inspired and let others be inspired at whatever level works for them.  How many of you noticed that during Terry's speech some of us were getting a little uncomfortable when he spoke of things we considered too simple for this sophisticated audience?  We were wondering if we might have to join hands and sing.  Or during Assembly Member Tim Leslie's speech, that some of us were spending our time recalling how many things we don't agree with him on, rather than being inspired by the incredible opportunities where our values overlap? 

Here is my proposal for how we all practice together with a common goal to go out and  change the world.

Let's start with the basics:  Think globally, act locally.  Then speak globally, act locally.

Here's how that might play out.

Question:  Who is Ron Good restoring Hetch Hetchy for?  That's right, he is doing it for all creation.  Who else is he doing it for?  That's right, he is doing it for you personally.  By the way, have you written him a thank you note?  This man is willing to tear down a dam for you!  Is that not worth a thank you note?  Thank him personally by speaking about what he does globally.

The theme of this Conference is UNIQUE and UNITED.

Each of us perform a unique task on behalf of the united ? well the United States actually.  What if, for one year we practice thinking that way?

I'm not recommending we officially represent each other or even agree on details -- I'm pretty sure we are stronger if we do not -- but on the level of "purple mountains majesty" could we do that for one year?

What if we demonstrated that thinking in our speaking? 

What if we had a members only list serve where one of us could send out a message like,

"There's a big Tuolumne County Supervisor's meeting tonight and I've got it covered for you?"

What if we sent an encouraging note thanking them for taking care of that while we have dinner?

What if that person could admit feeling fear or intimidation by a bully supervisor?

What if some of us said, "Hey, I'll make myself available by phone. Call for moral support during a break."?

What if, when Pete Bell attends one of those interminable river meetings where he is the only conservationist, and he could say, "I'm Pete Bell, representing the Foothill Conservancy and the entire Sierra Nevada Alliance's got my back!"

With that point of view, we can practice speaking inspirationally at a higher heart level.

Not just about process, but about change on the landscape and the values we share.

It will take practice.  In my case. it may also take a teacher.  Sometimes after some big action goes down and I'm not sure how it all came about, I call Will Murray and say, "What did I just do?" And he will tell me, from the advantage of distance, the more global principles that describe what just happened. 

We could all do that.  We could be each other's teachers. 

We could say words to each other that help stretch us out of our local, process speaking to our global world-changing speaking.

Let me give you an example that is long overdue for me.

When the Sierra Nevada Alliance was suffering for funds a few years ago, the Mountain Lion Foundation -- at the process, practical level of speaking -- hired Joan Clayburgh to do media outreach on our predator-proof pen builds that keep livestock safe and therefore reduce the number of mountain lions killed on depredation permits.

That description is of something extremely important and not terribly inspiring.  But it could be.  At a higher inspirational level, let me tell you what happened:

"Joanie --

When you helped us with the media on our first pen build,

you laid the foundation upon which our entire message of living with lions is built. 

You changed how we speak of harmonious co-existence and we've watched hundreds of newspaper change how they speak of harmonious co-existence.

You literally changed the world. 

That success has grown into a million dollar program because of your help. 

Since you did that, Joanie, thousands of people download our blueprints and every single one of those has the potential to be livestock protected and lions saved.  You set the standard for all future efforts. 

On behalf of America's lion and every one of our members on every continent and every single living being that relies on this earth for life, thank you, thank you, thank you."

I propose that we be willing to be corny, vulnerable, grandiose, silly and occasionally in danger of joining hands and singing "Kum Ba Yah."   

I propose for one year, we just do it --

whether we are ready or not,

whether we want to or not,

whether know how or not. 

I propose we support each other in growing our inspirational speaking muscles. 

This time next year, let's check in.  My dream is that this way of thinking and supporting and speaking will be so ingrained in us that we won't even remember not doing it.

I have a dream that by next year's Sierra Nevada Alliance conference, speakers' bureaus are calling us and that people all over this country pay us (they do that you know) to come talk to them. 

They will pay us to tell them what they can do to save the Sierra Nevada. 

When we open the New York Times, we will read other leaders using our words, reflecting our passions.  We will see the world changing right there before our very eyes.

When that happens, we will be speaking at the level this amazing Range of Light deserves. I believe, at that level, we'll not only move mountains.  We'll save them.

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