Although our nation’s political and policy currents have always been shifting, we find ourselves in uncharted waters. The pace and force of change are accelerating, and the policy questions before us are complex and consequential.
Leading a lobbying and public policy advocacy practice in these evolving times requires a relentless focus on trust, teamwork, and transformation. These are foundational to building a resilient practice that is enduring in its ability to help clients navigate the political and policy volatility created by the transformative societal, economic, and technological changes altering our nation.
Trust
Representing a client before their elected officials is a sacred trust. This may sound hyperbolic, but clients are entrusting us with their policy agendas in the halls of power, as an extension of their organizations and on issues of critical strategic importance. This is a profound responsibility; those who serve as stewards of their interests are engaging in a fundamental aspect of our democracy and our First Amendment right to petition our government.
This sacred trust is the north star. From a leadership perspective, it guides the collective mindset, shaping organizations and how they operate. It also fosters a culture that is principled in maintaining the highest standards of service and integrity.
Teamwork
Whether zealously advocating to advance a client’s policy objectives or providing incisive counsel to navigate policy risk, teamwork is necessary to deliver successful results.
Effective policy advocacy requires working across the full political spectrum. As political configurations of power—and the resulting policy positions—change with increasing frequency, clients are not only seeking policy resiliency but also want to decrease the risk that policy positions or engagement taken now won’t be targeted for scrutiny down the road. This means building a team that has meaningful experience working with policymakers in the executive and legislative branches, with a deep understanding of ideological underpinnings and an ability to build durable alliances.
Shaping policy outcomes requires extensive substantive depth and breadth. In today’s environment, issues rarely stay in neat jurisdictional boxes. Agriculture issues have trade ramifications; energy and technology are inextricably linked. Success requires cross-pollinating across issues sets.
Policymaking is changing and client success requires a broader set of tools. In the last two decades, reconciliation has been increasingly used for bills of larger magnitudes, and while Congress may legislate less, legislative vehicles that advance are often of a broader aperture.
Additionally, recent cases such as Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and West Virginia v. EPA, and the current focus on the White House’s executive authority is shifting the balance of powers between the three branches of government. As policymaking becomes more complex, government oversight and investigations are increasingly used to change private sector behavior.
Taken together, while strong legislative and regulatory capabilities are foundational, procedural and reconciliation expertise, administrative law, and oversight and investigations capabilities are critical.
Effective teamwork also requires a team to seamlessly absorb a vast range of inputs, develop a sophisticated engagement strategy, and nimbly deploy from a tactical perspective. This requires thinking several steps ahead, anticipating potential consequences, and operating with tactical agility.
Transformation
The first policy shops were established with desks and telephones. Today, smartphones in our pockets are exponentially more powerful and provide instant connectivity. With the artificial intelligence revolution underway, even more transformation is ahead.
Leading a lobbying and public policy advocacy practice not only requires an appreciation of our history and our institutions, but also requires being steeped in the context of today and constantly keeping an eye on the trends that are shaping tomorrow. As the world changes around us, policymaking and how we influence policy will shift, too.
What does this mean?
The interplay between the executive and legislative branches, political party constituencies, resonant policy arguments, policymakers’ information consumption, and the role of money in politics are all changing. Strategies and tactics must continue to develop to be successful in light of these and future differences.
Success means adopting and building technologies that help make you more effective, allowing you to monitor, analyze, and communicate information, assist in the development of dynamic strategies, and facilitate implementation. This promise of technology, however, is coupled with the clear-eyed view that it must be deployed judiciously through the balance of human judgment and ethical rigor.
These changes also mean considering how to evolve the business model to ensure responsiveness to the changing environment.
Advocacy and Democracy
At its core, public policy advocacy is an exercise in democratic engagement. It is an avenue through which we help to shape the laws and policies that govern our ever-changing society. Policy professionals serve as interlocutors between stakeholders and their policymakers. The trust our clients place in us, the values we uphold, and the democratic principles we serve demand nothing less than excellence, integrity, and unwavering commitment.
Ast he head of a lobbying and public policy advocacy practice, my goal is to ensure that our business consistently embodies these principles in all aspects of our work to successfully advocate for our client’s policy objectives.
This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, and Bloomberg Government, or its owners.
Author Information
Karishma Page is partner at K&L Gates and a member of the firm’s public policy and law practice.
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