Making a difference in our lives and in the Community
Self-Advocacy: Claiming our Voice
We may say that self-advocacy is the civil rights movement whose members speak out for their rights, dreams, and goals, make decisions, and take control of their lives. It may be helpful to look at self-advocacy in terms of what Stephen Covey has to say about personal and organizational development.
We may view self-advocacy as a ladder including awareness, self-care, daily routine, relationships, collaboration and partnerships, political advocacy, experiencing music and the arts, and expressing our creativity. This corresponds well with Stephen Covey’s four needs for an individual or a group: to live, to love, to learn and to leave a legacy.
Covey stresses that individuals have free will. We may have experienced negative histories but we have the capacity and freedom to choose our responses and make our path for our lives to satisfy the needs of our mind, spirit, body, and heart. He writes that having voice draws on our passions, talents, needs, and conscience and that wisdom is the intersection of character and competence.
We may regard trust as the foundation for making our voices heard. Covey says that having voice and being heard begins with modeling trustworthiness, seeking to understand, and working to be understood.
Covey offers suggestions for enhancing our trust and voice:
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- Making and keeping promises
- Honesty and integrity
- Kindnesses and courtesies
- Clarifying expectations
- Being loyal to those not present
- Apologizing
- Giving and Receiving feed back
- Forgiving
Source: The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, Stephen R. Covey, (2004)
For more information, contact Debbie Marshal at (619) 688-4236.
