Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant Communities - ILRC

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant CommunitiesJanuary 20034. Always take the name of the person with whom you speak. It is very likelythat you'll need this in later negotiations.5. Be well prepared for meetings.Be prepared to prove your whole case from the beginning. Bring:• an organized file with copies of all documents related to the issue;• notes on the history of the issue, including the dates of important actions;• notes on what you want to say during the negotiation;• a notepad to take notes during the negotiation;• if the client is a negotiator, she may bring a friend to translate or providemoral support. The friend might not be allowed in to the actual meeting, butshe might be allowed to attend.If possible, talk to other people about the people with whom you are going tonegotiate. Find out who responds to sympathetic stories and who responds to threats.Share stories of what works with different people with whom you might negotiate.6. Know what you or the person you are assisting wants. Be prepared tocompromise.Figure out what you (or the person you are assisting) want from the negotiation.Make sure you know all your options. Explore any other alternatives that might fulfillwhat you or the people you are helping want. Understand what compromises your sidemight agree to and what compromises the other side might agree to.7. Organize with others.Governmental agencies, landlords, schools, and others, often pay more attentionto a group than an individual. Coalitions of agencies (or agencies and attorneys) can getmore benefits for the community member than they can work alone. They can "speakwith one voice" to the other side, as well as to the media, local government, andCongressional representatives. They can request official meetings, where they can try tosolve problems on a policy level instead of just individual cases. You may form acoalition to deal with just one problem -- such as abuses in INS raids -- or to deal withproblems on an ongoing basis. Many existing coalitions or other groups are willing toadvise people who are forming a group.Negotiation Strategies1. Be prepared to make a legal argument in case you have to. Bring legalauthority and supporting documents.Part of negotiating can include making a legal argument to the other side. Youmay need to bring a lawyer or paralegal with you to the negotiation, or you may need toApp.7-A-3
Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant CommunitiesJanuary 2003meet with a lawyer before the negotiation to fill you in on the legal angle and even writea letter for you to present at the negotiation.2. Attack the problem, not the person on the other side. If necessary, accept areasonable compromise.Whenever possible, separate the problem you and your client are working on fromthe person with whom you are negotiating. Some problems are not the individualworker's fault. Moreover, you may need to negotiate with the same person another time.It is important to maintain as good a relationship as possible. Be open to looking at theproblem from the worker's viewpoint and making a reasonable compromise.Example: Lin, a community leader, is helping Victor approach themanager of his apartment building about a leaky ceiling in Victor’sapartment. They first went to the manager about the leak two months ago.Everyone knows that the manager is overwhelmed with work because hedoesn’t have any assistants and the building is old and falling apart. Atthe meeting, Lin and Victor acknowledge that the manager faces a hugetask and that the manager has been courteous to them, but they stress thatafter waiting for two months, Victor needs the leak fixed now. They showcopies of the letters they have written to both the manager and thelandlord. They finally make a deal: if the manager has not fixed theproblem in three days, Victor can fix it himself and subtract the cost fromthe next month’s rent.After the meeting Lin and Victor write a letter to the manager thankinghim for the meeting and stating the terms of their agreement.3. If someone on the other side is behaving wrongly, tell him so. If necessary,ask to speak with a supervisor.In some cases the governmental workers might clearly be breaking the rules. Ifpossible, be strong but calm and polite. Don't get personal. A good tactic is to talk aboutthe law (that is, what he is supposed to do) and ask the worker to justify his behavior inlegal terms. If necessary, ask for a supervisor.Example: Mohammed is trying to schedule a meeting to talk about youthservices for refugees at the city’s community center. Mohammed knowsthe community center is available to use for free on Tuesday evenings at6:00 P.M. Yet, when he approaches the city's community centeradministrator to reserve the room, the administrator first says Mohammedcannot use it. Then, after Mohammed shows him that the communitycenter’s brochure says community members can reserve the room, the cityworker tells Mohammed that he will have to pay $125 to use it. AlthoughMohammed would like to say, "Listen you idiot! Don't you even knowthe your own city’s requirements for using the meeting room,"App.7-A-4
Page 1 and 2:
InspiringLeadership inImmigrantComm
Page 4 and 5:
Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant C
Page 6:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
Page 32 and 33:
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37:
Page 38 and 39:
Page 40 and 41:
Page 42 and 43:
Page 44 and 45:
Page 46 and 47:
Page 48 and 49:
Page 50 and 51:
Page 52 and 53:
Page 54 and 55:
Page 56 and 57:
Page 58 and 59:
Page 60:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
Page 74 and 75:
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
Page 80:
§ 8.9 ConclusionInspiring Leadersh
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
B. Critique of the brainstorm sessi
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Some possible answers to share with
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143: Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant C
Page 154: Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant C
Page 200: ilrc700 Light Street,Baltimore MD 2
show all

Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant Communities - ILRC

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?