The kid that shows up at your door with a petition or to register you to vote is probably not an organizer.  He or she is a canvasser trained to deliver a "rap" and not take no for an answer.  If you are lucky enough to belong to a union, your business agent or steward is probably not an organizer but someone trained to serve you, not organize you.  If you've ever been a part of a union drive, you might have had a card shoved under your nose by someone who identified themself as an organizer, but chances are he or she didn't organize you either.

Experienced organizers often refer to the job as "herding cats" meaning it's an organizer's job to drive (not lead) persons of disparent interests and limited focus to stay on task and live up to their commitments.  The best organizers ignore labels and are models of tolerance, always seeking to find common ground in any group, no matter how diverse.  
The best organizers are expert at "painting a vision" of what can be accompished through collective action.  Yet the best of them are not snake oil salesmen; while the vision is ambitious it is always attainable if enough people get on-board.  Good organizers are clever, adaptive and resilient in their positive energy -- if the goal isn't reached they set a new one without loss of momentum.

A great organizer can regularly turn a "5" into a "1", meaning they can take the venom of the worst detractor and turn it into the passions of a committed activist just by reframing the arguments.  They take on resistance as a welcome challenge without labelling or dismissing those that work against them.

A great organizer makes their living challenging others to their personal best, to push beyond their own limits and cynicism to things they never imagined themselves doing.  As such, the best organizers have nothing to do because they've organized and trained other to do everything that needs to get done. And at the end of the day, no one remembers to thank the organizer because they believe they did it themselves.

Great organizers ignore the issues that divide a group to keep them focused on what they have in common.  They build groups that have momentum and energy by fitting each person into the whole in a way that both honors the individual and best capitalizes on their talents.   They constantly monitor their groups looking for potential pitfalls and mending relationships.

The bedrock of an organizers work is guiding people to make and keep commitments.  The ""ask" is high but realistic, the follow-up is persistent and firm, the expectations are unwavering.  
An accomplished organizer develops the hide of a rhino, keeps coming back and coming back regardless, taking every obstacle as a challenge, ignoring all negativity, to keep the thing moving forward.  The organizers job begins when you say no.
Great organizers never bully or prey on fears.  It's not that they don't take no for an answer, it's that they see no as the start of a productive dialogue.   They brush off negativity, hold it up to the light and turn it into an insight.

As someone who suffered through the stupidity that was our first actor as president, I'm elated at the notion of an organizer president.  And I can clearly see already the evidence of Obama the Organizer all over his campaign.  

I have to love Obama for always acknowledging his organizing staff after every victory.  He clearly recognizes the challenges of what they do and the skills they need to meet them.

It has been my honor and priviledge to work beside and know some remarkable organizers over the years, unsung heroes who made the impossible possible without ever expecting any applause.

the greatest compliment an organizer can recieve is to be recognized as one by one of our own.  "Obama is a real organizer.  He gets it" is the finest thing any of us could say about him.

Thank you, Barack Obama, for elevating and spotlighting this forgotten profession.  May his accomplishments bring more gifted individuals to the profession of change through collective action.