Finding ‘strategies that give us common ground’

The Citizens Campaign has unveiled an online citizen leadership course introducing the art of No-Blame Problem Solving.

“Leadership and No-Blame Problem-Solving” is designed to give every citizen the skills needed to take personal responsibility for bridging the divide that stands in the way of solving today’s many challenges.

The free course teaches proven strategies that people have already used to pass hundreds of local laws to improve their communities and tackle problems, including policing reform, climate change and school discipline.

The course has 10 five-minute videos and can be viewed on a smartphone.

Each has a corresponding chapter from Citizen Power, a manual by Citizens Campaign founder Harry Pozycki recently published by Rutgers University Press.

There are also short, multiple choice quizzes after each video that allows a viewer to earn a Certificate of Training in Leadership and No-Blame Problem Solving. The quizzes are open book and can be re-taken.

Citizens who complete the course will be asked to “Share the Power” and exercise the core democratic values of mutual respect by putting what they’ve learned to work in their discussions of issues with their friends, families and residents of their community. They can also “Share the Power” by urging their friends and neighbors to take the course.

“It’s no secret that there are deep divides in the American community,” said Harry Pozycki, founder of The Citizens Campaign. “If we are to come together in these challenging times, we must all take personal responsibility for the healing process and meet on the common ground of mutual respect ‘Leadership and No-Blame Problem Solving’ arms citizens with the tested strategies that give us the common ground needed to reach solutions to our communities and country’s challenges.”

Pozycki pointed to one proven method that the online course teaches: shifting the conversation on public issues away from blame and political talking points to a focus on practical solutions.

“Ask the other, what is your solution to the problem? and listen,” The Citizens Campaign founder said. “See if you can find any part of the solution that you agree with, even a small part, and acknowledge it. You will find that this practice will lower the temperature dramatically.”

The Citizens Campaign will provide an overview of the course at an hour-long webinar on Tuesday, March 16, at 6 p.m., entitled “Leadership and No Blame Problem-Solving: Take the Course, Share the Power.”

To register for the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_66Tmk5wBS3SNL-y7aQ4E8Q

To take the course, visit: training.thecitizenscampaign.org/courses/leadership

The Citizens Campaign is a community of problem-solvers dedicated to restoring mutual respect, service, and pragmatism to America’s political culture.