2 What does good look like? Introduction

When I was at the Red Cross, I remember that they had a project on what a good local Red Cross area looked like; now while it is easy to ridicule such an initiative, I always thought that it was a compelling concept. To help you plan and build for the future what does it look like when you reach a ‘good’ stage in your development? And I Iike the use of the word ‘good’ instead of words like ‘outstanding’ or ‘exceptional’ – those can all come later. At this stage as you are building – what does good look like? What should we be aspiring to?

Well to try to answer this question of what good looks like in campaigning in the next few blog posts. I am going to look backwards at the times in my working life when I have felt that I was on a roll with a campaign. Times when I felt that the campaign was flying or in words that I Iike to use – my campaign had ‘developed legs’.

Now I’ll be quick to add that my whole career sadly has not been filled with these moments! I have written extensively in the past about the obstacles to effective campaigning, many coming internally as well as externally. But there have been enough moments for me to tentatively suggest what good campaigning might begin to look and feel like.

These are just my own reflections and I’ll be fascinated to hear other people’s reflections. But I haven’t seen any attempt to describe what good looks like, so I am, perhaps foolishly, going to give it a go.