INTRODUCTION

Being a leader means being able to take the initiative, motivate others, help others to take the next step and finally be able to inspire participants learning in the working environment, to change their habits to become better advocates and  to act confidently. To achieve this, you need to be very aware of your own actions in the group, your role and the ability to cooperate. Today there are many areas and professions where there is a need for people who are effective in action, inspiring, motivating and leading. You can become such a leader – not to be worshipped, but to inspire people to act and to mobilise them. The aim of this WebQuest is to guide you through activities that will help you develop leadership skills through communication, persuasion and mobilising others.

TASKS

You would very much like to start your own business in the future. You even write down your ideas in your free time and read interviews with individuals who have already started their own business. Your friends, seeing how interested you are in this, have decided to take you on a course of mobilisation and promotion in social media. At first, you do not understand the link between this and your future plans, but after a while of reflection, you realized that in the media world good promotion is one of the essence of success. When you look at the agenda of this course, you discover that the participants will be asked to promote a solution to a social issue that will be previously found through online research. This task will require knowledge about persuasion, and the importance of mobilizing others. which you will gain from the following steps. So let’s do it!

PROCESS

Step 1: What is mobilization, and why is it so important?

The Collins dictionary describes the concept of mobilisation as : “If you mobilize support or mobilize people to do something, you succeed in encouraging people to take action, especially political action. If people mobilize, they prepare to take action.”

How to mobilize others

Mobilizing others is the art of motivating people  and getting them on board with your idea. It is one of the skills of being a good leader – an entrepreneurial trait, helpful in both professional and private life. But how to effectively mobilize others? Here are some steps that might help you:

  • You must make your audience  aware that change is a good thing, highlight change and why things cannot always  stay as they are.  
  • Make sure your audience understands that they can help, and how. It is very motivating to know that your actions can really make a difference!
  • Engage people by giving them a sense of understanding and being heard.
  • Show that you are all in this together, and you pursue a shared goal.
  • Appreciate everyone’s commitment, and celebrate all the little successes together!

For more information on mobilisation and leadership, please visit the following articles:

Step 2: Choose your topic

Select a topic or issue of your choice. Remember that your task will be to promote a solution to this problem and to mobilize others to do so, so it is important that this topic is close to your heart. For example  think about – What kind of issue exists in your local community that you would like to raise awareness about  and help change it for the better? Discuss your ideas in groups. If several people come up with the same topic then don’t worry. The rest of the task will be mostly done individually, so the final results are likely to be different and you will be able to see the solution and the way to mobilise for the same topic from a different perspective!

In the following link you will find issues you could address:

https://www.inc.com/business-insider/worlds-top-10-problems-according-millennials-world-economic-forum-global-shapers-survey-2017.html

Step 3: Online research

You have chosen your topic and now it is time to research this topic and to generate ideas for a solution that you will promote in the next steps! This solution can be a service, a product, or an action.  Conduct a thorough online research on the subject, write down the  ideas that you think are the most appropriate and that can help you express interest and motivation while you research your topic. Then discuss your results with your partners, listen to their perspectives and together help each other to select the best solutions and actions to which you can encourage others in this field.

During the discussion, remember about mutual respect and principles of good communication. Let everyone speak up so that everyone can feel heard. The final decision on the solution to the issue you have chosen will still be yours, but it is good to listen to other people`s opinions in order to have a better understanding!

Here are a few links that will help you with your  research and refresh your knowledge of the principles of good communication:

https://www.managementstudyguide.com/role-of-communication-in-group-discussion.htm

Step 4: Persuasion skills

Persuasion is actually exploited by each and every one of us on a daily basis – it is used by parents when they try to persuade their children to do something, but also by various salesmen or advertisers. At its simplest, persuasion is about convincing. In this task we will learn more and try to use one of the many persuasion skills – the what-how-why approach.

What is the What-How-Why approach?

The What-How-Why approach is a persuasion method based on the Golden Circle model developed by the leadership expert – Simon Sinek. There are three parts of The Golden Circle: Why, How, and What.

The idea behind this method is to always start with the “Why” in order to persuade someone – That is the purpose. “Why are you doing this?” “What do you believe in?” – What are the core values of your idea, solution, product, company etc.?

Then we move on to answering the question “How? – “How are you going to do it?” This is a description of the process.

And finally the “what” – the thing that many organisations and companies wrongly start with – ‘What do you do? That is, a description of the product, solution, service etc. In this method, the “what” is supposed to be the result of the need -the “why”.

For a better understanding on the subject please visit the following links:

Step 5: Presenting your solutions and mobilising your team

It is time to present your solutions to the whole group. Your mission is to mobilise the rest of the group to get involved in the issue and motivate them to work together for the benefit of the cause. Remember to apply the what-how-why approach while presenting. If this is your first group presentation – don’t stress out, here are a few articles with advice to help you make a great presentation!

https://www.imindq.com/blog/make-convincing-presentations-in-4-easy-steps
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/specific-phobias/expert-answers/fear-of-public-speaking/faq-20058416

Step 6: Promoting your solutions in social media

The promotion of your ideas and solutions is very important. You have already mobilised your team and now it is time to find out how you can promote your ideas in the social media to persuade others to act for the common good.

Many aspects of social media promotion can be simplified or improved by using appropriate solutions such as:

  • Create a schedule for posting publication
  • Attach photos to the content.  ( you can use free stock photo websites such as pixabay or unsplash)
  • Involve your audience in what you have to say and answer their questions.
  • Optimise the publication of posts with available statistical and analytical tools.
  • Use appropriate platforms – facebook, twitter, blog, instagram, youtube, etc.

Focusing on the last point – which platform to promote?

Here are some information to help you make your choice.

Whether you want to reach out to your audience with useful content, promote your products or your image, a consistent social media campaign should be part and parcel of the overall web marketing effort.

Here is a set of the most popular platforms and their specificity as well some  advantages:

Facebook- The most popular channel – Which can mean very high popularity. Its advertising platform can be very well suited to a very specific audience.- but unfortunately, when you start, you will probably have to take into account the cost of promoting and sponsoring your posts.

Instagram- The fastest growing social channel. Instagram is primarily about photos, which is an excellent medium for promoting visually attractive products and services. If your target group consists of young people, you will find a great deal of them there.

Twitter – The great benefits of using Twitter can be sought by people and industries for which a very fast flow of information is important, as well as those related to new technologies and marketing, where the number of users is growing fastest here. The rotation of information on the timelines of this medium can be really intense, but the limited length of these messages and very efficient navigation according to lists, trends and hashtags make it much easier to reach the target group, especially with good quality information.

LinkedIn – Another one worth noting is LinkedIn, a business portal based mainly on professional contacts. With almost 200 million active users and very dynamic growth, LinkedIn is an interesting complement to the other channels. Companies from the B2B (Business to business) sector will find great opportunities for promotion here, while image promotion based on involvement in theme groups and a system of recommendations and referrals may bring benefits here.How would you choose to promote your ideas?

EVALUATION

KnowledgeSkillsAttitudes
• Factual knowledge about certain methods and techniques for spreading and promoting ideas on various social media platforms• Persuade others by providing evidence for my arguments and by appealing to their emotions• Awareness of the importance to “talk” about people’s feelings for promoting ideas
• Factual knowledge about the methods and techniques used for developing audiences’ profiles for promoting ideas• Use various methods, including social media, to communicate value-creating ideas effectively• Appreciation of the various online communication methods for promoting ideas
• Factual knowledge about persuading others using the “Why-How-What” approach• Use media appropriately, showing that I am aware of my audience and purpose• Awareness of how I can influence people and situations for the better

CONCLUSION

Congratulations! You have just contributed to making the community aware of an important issue!  Mobilising people to act for the good of society is a very important part of leadership.. And remember- don’t be too hard on yourself, especially if you’re a beginner – as Ronald Reagan once said “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”