Campaign Boot Camp 2.0

Book excerpt: Christine Pelosi presents leadership lessons from the campaign trail from a diverse array of over forty public figures, lending advice for anyone who wants to run for office, advocate for a cause, or win a public policy issue. This book draws from her leadership “boot camps” conducted in over thirty American states and in three foreign countries, working with thousands of volunteers and dozens of successful candidates for office from city council to US congress. Campaign Boot Camp 2.0 is basic training for future leaders who hear a call to service—a voice of conscience that springs from their vision, ideas, and values—and want to translate that call into positive change. Pelosi outlines the seven essential steps to winning: identify your call to service, define your message, know your community, build your leadership teams, raise the money, connect with people, and mobilize to win. Each chapter concludes with a “Get Real” exercise so readers can personalize and integrate these ideas into individual efforts. In this edition, Pelosi updates the book's “Call to Service” profiles of political leaders and their calls to service; details the expanding role of social media, the Internet, and technology as message multipliers; explores challenges unique to women candidates; and expands on the power of volunteers.