Building and Sustaining Relationships

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Building and Sustaining Relationships
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Relationships are the building blocks for all
community organizing activities
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Why do we need to build and sustain relationships?

• Community building
• To win allies
• To give meaning and richness to our work and lives

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When do you build relationships?

• You do it all the time.

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But you can also

• Establish relationships before you need them
• Establish relationships even in a crisis

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An 11-step program

1. Build relationships
2. Be friendly
3. Ask people questions
4. Tell about yourself
5. Go places and do things
6. Accept people

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An 11-step program (cont.)

1. Make connections
2. Overcome rejection fear
3. Be persistent
4. Invite people
5. Enjoy people

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Building relationships among different cultures

• Learn about the person's culture
• Put yourself in another person's culture
• Take a stand against the person's oppression

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Building relationships with people who hold
positions of political power

• Don't get intimidated
• Listen to them and withhold judgment

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Sustaining relationships

• Attention to people
• Communicate openly
• Appreciate each other
• Extend yourself
• Volunteer to do work
• Challenge each other
• Back each other up

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When relationships get messy

• Take time to listen
• Put on the other's shoes
• Look at what is true
• Emotions does not equal reality
• Appreciate and respect
• Speak from your heart
• Don't give up principles
• Hang in there

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You can disagree and still build relationships
with individuals who belong to organizations that
are working against yours
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Set up a dialogue group to listen to your
adversaries