Convening Power: Definition and Explanation of Benefits
Article by Herb Rubenstein
Introduction
Many readers have never heard the term “convening power,” but they use it, benefit from it, and “do it” without even thinking about it. This article defines the term “convening power” using two definitions that are related. The goal of this article is that individuals, groups, companies, associations, educational institutions, government agencies, religious organizations and all who currently have and use convening power can use this power more intentionally and more successfully. In addition, this article is written for those who have never developed convening power or used it before. By reading this article all readers will be better able to deploy this essential “power” that we call convening power.
Defining Convening Power With Examples
Convening power takes two forms. The first form is the ability of a person or organization to make an invitation to individuals, a group, or groups to come together for a particular purpose and be successful in getting all or most of those invited to come together as requested by the “inviter” or the “convener.” In the United Kingdom, for decades that Chatham House has had significant convening power. In the United States, the Brookings Institution and many Associations have substantial convening power. In all countries the major religions play the role of “convener” bringing people together for prayer, for community events, for discussions, and the like.
The role of the inviter or convener is to decide for what purpose, at what time, at what place, and in what format those invited will “convene.” The convener then:
creates meaning for the event in the eyes of the invited
provides for the location and handles or delegates the handling of the logistics
manages the event in a manner consistent with the expectations of those invited
sets the agenda or the activities that will occur at the convening (which can be modified by those invited)
facilitates or leads the discussion or dialogue or events that occur at the convening
sets the goals for the convening and gains acceptance or agreement on these goals with those invited
follows up to see that the goals are achieved (possibly as modified by those invited)
decides whom to exclude from the event
decides what activities, discussion, dialogue to exclude from the event
possibly sets a series of events to work with each other and build on the success of the previous events
Examples of “convenings” include many regular events and many “one off” events. For example,
Weddings, Funerals, Naming Ceremonies, Religious Holidays, Church services
Association Annual Meetings, Conferences, and Political Conventions
PTA Meetings
Sporting and Athletic Events, Golf Tournaments
Study and Support Groups
Press Conferences, Public Gatherings for a Political Purpose
Social Gathering at One’s House or Selected location
Company and organizational meetings
Crowd-funding, for example, raising $10,000 in 36 hours for a person to have surgery
Educational Workshops, Seminars
Conferences
Reunions
The ability to design the event, invite the people or groups, and bring the invited together for a specific purpose is the first form of convening power. Some may call this form of power “charisma,” which we acknowledge is the power to “draw attention” or “draw a crowd.” However, convening power in this form is different. Sometimes convening power comes with the office or position of the individual or group seeking to convene others. Sometimes this power is a function of the personality or persistence of the person or group seeking to convene others. However, and these are the true key to this form of convening power, an individual or group’s ability to convene others on a regular basis are:
The inherent attractiveness of the purpose, goal, meaning, opportunity, and activities to which people are asked to convene.
The value the invited perceive will accrue to them and others in coming to and participating in the convening.
The positive emotions, feelings, sentiment, and self-respect generated by the invitation and expected from participating in the convening.
The chance of success of the convening as perceived by those invited.
The expected level of acknowledgement those invited will receive by participating.
Impact of the Internet, Virtual Gatherings and Social Media
Social media has transformed the entire concept of this first form of convening power,
the power or the ability of a person or organization to make an invitation to individuals,
a group, or groups to come together for a particular purpose and be successful in getting
all or most of those invited to come together as requested by the “inviter” or the “convener”
just as it has transformed the second form of convening power discussed below.
Today, when an invitation goes “viral” that means that those who are invited by the convener
take it upon themselves to invite others and make the “pitch” to others that participating in the
convening will be rewarding or worth doing to all of those they invite. Before the internet, we
called this “word of mouth.” Today, it is called social media, and plays an essential role as a tool
that assists persons or groups expand their convening power.
Ultimately, to be successful in having and deploying convening power on a consistent basis, the convener needs to produce great value for those who participate. The second form of convening power discussed below describes how conveners can make their gatherings more successful through the use of this second form of this power.
Once a decision has been made to “convene” people or groups, the convener becomes responsible for the success of the convening. This is the second form of convening power. The ability to make the convening a success. Certainly those who attend or participate in the activity also have some level of responsibility for the success of the event, but the convener has many tools in her or his toolkit to increase the likelihood that the event or gathering will produce valuable results.
Therefore, when we talk about this second form of convening power, we are talking about the group’s newly found power, and talking about how the convener can help the group leverage this new found power.
As Simon Berry has talked about in his presentations to the Royal Society of Medicine and TedX Berlin, individuals, by themselves, may not have a significant amount of power, but when they convene, join forces, they aggregate their power into a collective force. While there is nothing new in this concept, once we unpack this idea, one can see that there is a substantial amount of useful information that one can glean from this second form of “convening power”– the power of the group being convened.
Again citing Berry (http://www.colalife.org/2011/04/09/convening-power-2/) by the simple act of convening a group, a variety of sources of power are generated by the very existence of the group, including:
Credibility (likelihood of success) is enhanced
Collaboration and co-creation/co-innovation opportunities are enhanced
Additional resources are brought to bear on the matter
People feel responsible not just to the idea or purpose of the convening, they now feel “responsible” to others in the group, they feel responsible to the convener, and they gain “energy” from the energy invested by others in the now coordinated activity.
People find it easier to recruit and enroll others and even in discussing what they are doing with others thus enhancing the power of the individual and the group that has convened in the process
The convening itself has “attraction power” from the media, onlookers, and from observers who now might join in the process
Those who have convened find it relatively easy to communicate with each other, share experiences, bond, form sub-teams, become organized, are more able to deploy resources more efficiently, and can expand the purpose significantly from the original purpose of goal set out by the convener.
One simple example of both forms of convening power occurred in Denver in June, 2014 and was orchestrated by the authors of this article. Martin Rubenstein had just passed away and pursuant to Jewish Law funeral arrangements were made quickly. Martin was not known by many and few, less than ten people were expected at the funeral. Rabbi Brackman was called by the family and was asked to officiate. (Convening power number 1 above). He agreed. Then, he suggested that he call members of his congregation and his students, and by doing so he would recruit at least ten people (men, since the Rabbi follows the Orthodox tradition of only counting Jewish men over the age of thirteen for a Minyan) since Jewish law allows for additional prayers to be said when ten men (people) are gathered together to pray. (Again, this is convening power number 1).
Twenty-one people showed up at the funeral and those assembled were able to:
Say additional prayers
Organize themselves to take part in the ceremony
Communicate with each other and create a bond
Improve the quality of the experience of those who had originally planned on attending
Honor the deceased, Martin Rubenstein, more fully with a more proper funeral.
All of these “benefits” represent examples of the second form of convening. The Rabbi conducted the ceremony, was responsible for the purpose of the funeral being achieved, guided the experience of everyone involved, and since the group was successful in making the event achieve all of its goals, all aspects of convening power were present. The results of this larger group than the family of the deceased could have gathered or convened not only show the convening power of this Rabbi, but also increase his convening power going forward.
Making Convening Power A Conscious Leadership Element
Every human being from birth has convening power in both forms discussed here. A baby crying for food convenes food providers and once the baby takes the food, all convened are rewarded. One model for people to use in increasing their convening power was created by one of the authors. This model is simple and straightforward.
The actions when dealing with a challenge or an opportunity should follow this order:
Idea/Vision/Purpose (Some would call this the “problem statement”)
Recruit
Organize
Manage
Deploy
First, a person who has an idea, or a vision of a goal, or a solid purpose, begins to discuss this idea with others to “vet” the idea or get others’ input. This is the creative stage, so it is too early for “collaboration” per Greiner’s curve of organizational development which states that the order for growth or maturation of an organization is:
Creativity
Direction
Delegation
Coordination
Collaboration
Alliances
At this stage, in the words of Elisa Jaegerson, CEO of Speck Design, the person with the idea/vision/purpose goes around “tin cupping” to ask others what they think of the idea. At Capital One they call this “socializing.” Once the person is getting clearer about the idea/vision/purpose, the next step is: Recruit.
By “recruit” we mean to ask people or organizations or groups of people to join in the effort. At this stage, the convener does not know what role they will play, how they might be compensated, how well they will work with others who are being recruited, or how long those recruited, and who accept the role of assisting with the effort, will be around to help. What is important about putting “recruit” ahead of the other stages essential for convening power to be strong, is that the idea person has energy, has a sense of what the effort could be and what the effort could yield, but may not be the person who is fully capable of the other three key stages that are essential for convening power to be achieved. As part of this recruiting stage, listening to those whom you as the convener has recruited is essential as they will have great ideas. They will serve as “advisors,” but often, as the convener, the convener has to make the key decisions consistent with the convener’s idea/vision/purpose.
The next stage is to “organize.” At this stage some rudimentary elements of you do this and you do that, and let’s do things in this order begin to take shape. What many people do not realize is that when you have an idea and have recruited people to assist, someone has to figure out what is the best sequence for people to undertake activities that will help lead to success. In this organize stage, this is an early effort to identify people or groups’ strengths, identify how best they can help, and begin to develop a plan for how to move forward with the effort to be successful.
The third stage is “manage.” Manage is putting into organizational charts, spreadsheet, or even yellow “sticky notes” some semblance of who will be doing what, what role or roles each person or group will play, identify how financial resources will be gathered and deployed (i.e., budgets, business plans, etc.), and what legal form the organization or effort will take. Manage is still a “preparation stage” leading to the action stage or execution stage. This is called “deploy.”
As those who have been recruited begin to deploy actions to realize the vision, achieve the purpose, or fulfill the idea, those recruited must be given considerable leeway in using their own judgment to carry out the tasks they have accepted. In addition, in the “deploy” or “execution” stage, there must be a system for everyone involved in making decisions to be kept abreast of what is going on, what is being executed successfully, and what is failing. In the “deploy” stage, getting the information about how execution is going and what results are being produced will lead to timely changes in the plan and how to execute the plan to correct anything that is either not being executed properly or is not producing the desired results.
This system – idea, recruit, organize, manage, and deploy – are the stages which each convener must master in order to gain the full power that convening power has to offer. This second form of convening power is far beyond just bringing people together. It is creating a force to achieve the idea/vision/purpose that is stronger that the force one would achieve by adding up each individuals’ force who is participating.
Conclusion
The good news is that every human being has convening power of both the first type (getting
people together) and of the second type (securing great benefits of the group working in
alignment toward achieving the purpose, vision, or fulfilling the idea). In addition, one can be trained in both of these leadership tools.
Convening power is not some form of power restricted to some elite. It is a power that every human being uses every day. Certainly, some people have currently more convening power than others, and certainly one’s position as a leader or officer of an organization, often brings with it some level of presumed convening power. Ultimately, convening power will grow for any individual or group that uses it well, that has good ideas, has a strong vision, and has a legitimate, valuable purpose for bringing people together. The bigger the challenge, often, but not always, the more people, resources, and effort one needs to convene to successfully address the challenge.
However, many of the challenges in life can be addressed at the level of the individual or small group. In fact, even addressing the larger challenges of life, and the largest opportunities in life, start out with one individual deciding to tackle this challenge.
Understanding the dimensions of “convening power” gives one a set of tools to be more powerful and effective in life. We hope that starting tomorrow, or even with what is left of today, you begin to test your “convening powers” to address challenges and pursue opportunities. You will improve your “convening power” over time, and ideally, you will help show others how they can recognize and improve their own convening power.