This post was written by Tom Siebert for Aol Jobs.
Rebels are sexy. Rebels are cool. Rebels are not always welcome in the workplace. In fact, if you're a rebel in the workplace, it's often a small step to becoming a martyr for the workplace, says Lois Kelly.
"Rebels' velocity scares people," says Kelly, an author (Beyond Buzz) and former PR professional, who runs the website RebelsatWork.com, with the former deputy director of intelligence for the CIA (!) Carmen Medina, now a Deloitte consultant.
The pair appeared together at South by Southwest last month to "show rebels how to lead change from within [a company or organization] without committing career suicide."
Kelly and Medina offer these 20 ways "to be a more effective rebel," and effect positive change without ending up roadkill for a cause:
1. Be positive: People may listen to a nag, but no one will follow them.
2. Frame it: Don't just make a point. Build a narrative around it.
3. Stay out of drama: Life isn't a television show. The more straightforward your cause, the less you dramatize it, the better off your message will be.
4. Judge ideas, not people: Someone you dislike may well have good points to be made; listen to them.
5. When angry, stop and wonder why: Are you angry for the right reasons? Are you personalizing what's made you angry?
6. Strive for influence, not power: In the end, influencers carry the greater power.
7. Start the flame, tap into the collective brilliance of others to fan the flame: The whole object of being a rebel is to draw others to your cause; when you do, don't be greedy.
8. Share the glory: See above.
9. Communicate in ways that create clarity from complexity: Keep your points simple and easy to understand. Once the basic points are grasped, you can go deeper.
10. Address the cost/value tradeoff: There's no free lunch. Even if your idea is genius, there will be repercussions. Don't flinch from them; people will appreciate the honesty.
11. Let ideas breathe: A good idea can be made better by room to roam.
12. Pick the right boss or executive sponsor: A powerful ally is a wonderful thing. Conversely, a manipulative or weak ally can sink you.
13. Ask good questions; become a good listener: Hearing people out builds alliances and may evolve a good idea to a better one.
14. Learn how to facilitate messy collaboration: Working together ain't easy, but great things can come from it.
15. Address the fears: Change scares people. Reassure them.
16. Show how success can be measured: This puts your money where your mouth is, and can provide indisputable proof that you should be heard.
17. Learn how to have constructive conversations: Get to the point. Take criticism in good faith.
18. Be thoughtful in all you do: Rebels need to watch their words and actions, because there'll always be someone looking to trip them up for the status quo.
19. Know when to walk away: You'll live to fight another day.
20. Believe you are enough: No one's perfect, but you can be your own hero.
