Here’s today’s tip: No candidate is an objective participant in their own campaign.
Some of the worst candidates I’ve ever seen have a lot of experience running campaigns. That seems counter-intuitive, right? The problem usually doesn’t arise from them having bad ideas about what it takes to win a campaign, but rather from refusing to delegate tasks and take good advice.
When you become a candidate, you lose all objectivity about your election contest. I’ve seen people who have run successful campaigns make awful rookie mistakes and experienced business leaders lose all ability to delegate tasks. Pre-campaign experience is critical to winning but you shouldn’t pretend like it’s going to be the same. Your brain is going to behave differently when you take on this new role.
Whatever your experience and background are, you need to select a core group who will help widen your aperture. They are the eyes watching your blind-spots. Ask them regularly to tell you what they think you’re missing…or the things that you see but where your perception is off.
Secondly, you need to find people to whom you can delegate and trust their work. This takes time but if you begin training yourself and your team to delegate effectively from the outset of a campaign, your life is going to be much easier.
No candidate, yourself included, is an objective participant in their own campaign. By acknowledging reality and taking these steps, you’re putting your campaign on solid ground!
