Putting It All Together

Coalition building entails consolidating existing sources of support while developing relationships with those whose resources or connections you need to succeed. The sequence in which you consolidate and build support is key. You will also need to persuade convincibles to become supporters rather than opponents.

To consolidate existing support, call on established social and political relationships and strengthen them through regular conversations. Make sure you keep your allies up to date. Pay attention to how they react to changing conditions. You can even provide them with advice for how to counter opponents arguments. You want to affirm the importance of existing relationships and leverage them into support for your new effort.

ACCELERATION CHECKLIST

1. Whose support do you most need to succeed? What existing coalitions seem most powerful?

2. What influence networks are most important to you? Who defers to whom on key issues?

3. Who are your potential supporters? Potential opponents? Convincibles? How will you test your hypotheses about support and opposition ?

4. What tools of influence will you employ to convince the convincibles? How will you shape potential supporters perceptions of their interests? Of their options?

5. How can you sequence interactions to build momentum for your initiatives? Are there patterns of deference that you can exploit? Can your supporters help you to recruit other key people?