The bamboo curve
Why advocacy grows slowly, then all at once — and how to read the quiet years.
The book · Oct 2026
The Advocacy Advantage
Build brand power through authentic relationships
A practical guide for leaders ready to move beyond transactional engagement and build advocacy through trust, belonging, and shared identity.
About the book
Real brand power comes from genuine relationships.
The Advocacy Advantage challenges leaders to rethink what makes organizations resilient. In a world where audiences are overwhelmed by messaging but hungry for belonging, Shane makes the case that real brand power comes from genuine relationships, shared identity, and authenticity.
This book offers a well-researched, yet deeply human blueprint for leaders who want to build beyond the numbers and old ways of engaging into advocacy that lasts.
What you'll learn
- How to shift from transactional engagement to advocacy-driven communities built on shared meaning and behavioral insight.
- Effective ways to translate your organization's values into actionable Promises, Principles, and Aspirations people can actually live by.
- How to build an Advocacy Dashboard that tracks relational health, engagement, and alignment.
“This insight goes beyond what I expected. I feel like I learn from him through each solution.”
Who it’s for
- Leaders of nonprofits, foundations and mission-driven organizations
- Communications, brand and marketing teams tired of messaging that doesn't move anyone
- HR, culture and people-operations leaders closing the gap between values and daily practice
- Anyone who has been told to 'live your values' and wanted a method instead of a mantra
What’s inside
6 frameworks and a twelve-week sprint.
Six monochrome figures in the book; on stage and in workshops they become working tools.
The values pyramid
Defining, guiding and informing values: which to protect, which to trade.
The advocacy flywheel
How trust compounds into advocacy that costs less than acquisition and lasts longer.
The twelve-week sprint
A working plan for turning belief into behavior a team can act on Monday.
Stakeholder circles
Mapping who is inside the work — and who has only been told about it.
The CTA ladder
From awareness to advocacy: asks that match where people actually are.
Pre-order
Be first when pre-orders open.
One list, one promise: you hear first when pre-orders open, and nothing else.
Join the waitlist
About the author
Shane Lukas
Shane Lukas is an activist, keynote speaker, and award-winning brand strategist with more than two decades of advocacy and creative leadership. As founder and CEO of A Great Idea he helps organizations close the gap between what they believe and how they behave. A two-time TEDx speaker and co-host of the Power Beyond Pride podcast.
Meet Shane“He deeply understands branding and the need to capture the voice of the client in his work. He is exceptionally responsive and meets every deadline.”
“Shane mapped out an easy-to-follow plan, delivered excellent products that consistently turn heads, and genuinely cared about our mission.”
Bring the book to your stage.
Keynotes and workshops built on The Advocacy Advantage — booking now for 2027.