Power Shifts

In this episode, I share a talk I gave in October 2024 on the disruptive nature of politics and regulations.

I break down how political decisions, like New York City’s crackdown on Airbnb hosts, can reshape entire industries overnight. Regulation isn’t slowing down—it’s ramping up. From insurance brokers to tech giants, every business faces the same challenge: adapt or get caught off guard.

Joseph Lavoie and Andrew Percy discuss the chaotic political landscape of 2024, exploring the implications of leadership changes, the dynamics within political caucuses, and the importance of voter advocacy for businesses. They emphasize the need for businesses to adapt to political chaos, plan for potential changes in government, and engage with constituents to build resilience in uncertain times.

Chapters

00:00 The Political Landscape of 2024

04:02 Navigating Political Chaos

09:10 Leadership Changes and Their Impact

15:36 Caucus Dynamics and Business Interests

22:37 Building Resilience in Political Uncertainty

27:57 The Power of Voter Advocacy

Your regular 9-5 job might not challenge every aspect of your abilities, but a side campaign can push you to new heights.

Here’s what happens when you define an enemy:

• It rallies supporters with a clear focus. In the case of the carbon tax, it became a symbol of government overreach for some and a call for fairness for others.

• It simplifies the narrative. Suddenly, you’re not fighting a vague concept like ‘climate policy’; you’re fighting a specific tax that impacts families and businesses.

• It focuses resources. By targeting the tax, campaigns could zero in on legislative repeal or public pressure on key policymakers.

• It creates a compelling storyline. The battle became about ‘standing up for working Canadians,’ a story that resonated deeply.

Choosing to sit it out is riskier than playing the game of campaigning.

This week, a client shared a thought-provoking Substack from The Honest Broker that provides a new framework for communications, he calls the 6 new rules for communicating. The main point the author makes is that the era of teleprompters and talking points has come to an end.

Some of these rules we’ve always known to be true in politics. But they’ve been harder to adopt in a business or regulatory context. But, given how less accessible the public has become, it might be time to loosen up a bit.

Here are the rules, and my take on each.

Tactics and activity for the sake of it can be distracting and ineffective.

In trying to assess what went right/wrong for Democrats in last week’s lost to Trump, I’ve come across several pundits who are using these results as proof that the ground game doesn’t matter.

The take goes along these lines:

Harris relied on back technology: the technology of knocking on doors. In some battleground states, they estimate they were knocking on 10 doors for every one that the Trump campaign knocked on.

And yet, it wasn’t enough.

In other words, stop wasting so much money on old tech, because if Trump can with without it, surely the Democrats can.

Which is absolute BS

There’s been plenty of coverage and analysis in the aftermath of Trump’s victory.

It’s while there is such a thing as over-simplifying these, sometimes, there’s solace in simplicity, so long as it’s not simplistic.

And I think every corporate communicator has a simple lesson to learn from the results.

It’s not about who has the better ground game.

It’s not about who signals the right virtues.

It’s not about whether you can or should trust public opinion polling.

It’s about one simple thing: Do you know what the ballot question is?

I’ve been spending a lot of time recently obsessing over word choices.

That’s because words matter.

The right combination of words matter even more.

But here’s why I obsess over word choices: It is tough to find the right combination.