Is FEAR behind your drive to change the status quo?

At a Summit on Social Entrepreneurship at Yale University last week,  “Sandbox” community members were asked to share their thoughts on “Fearless Leadership”. Interestingly, the young change agents argued that if you wish to change the status quo you must fear something.

Sandbox members identified three fears necessary to drive change:

1. The fear of not having an impact.
2. The fear of doing something they are not genuinely passionate about.
3. The fear of being ‘normal’.

Had I been asked the same question, I’d have cited discontent or anger at an injustice, but this got me thinking about what is at the core of my own drive to want to make a difference. Does it really stem from my fear of leaving this earth without having made an impact? Is it the fear of not doing something more meaningful. Is it a fear of mediocrity? Maybe. Probably. What about you? What fuels your need to create change? As always, you are invited to share your views here.

Recordings of Fall Tele-seminar Series

As most of you know, I had to postpone the live tele-seminar series in the fall but did record the interviews and the first several are now posted on the Inspired Entrepreneurs page. You may read about these inspiring artists, authors, performers and social entrepreneurs who make a living in the arts and a difference in the world and listen to the interviews here.

Are making a living and making a difference separate parts of your life?

The old idea of philanthropy as writing a check or volunteering after you’ve made your fortune in a high level job is  20th Century thinking.  A trend we’re seeing at universities worldwide is to prepare graduates to build a business that makes money and embraces social change. A business degree is definitely not necessary to start a business, but it’s worth noting that major business schools are turning out a new breed of MBAs who want to make a buck while also making the world a better place. The old MBA model turned out graduates with the goal of landing a solid corporate job. If a student’s goal was to make a difference, they’d go into social work or the non-profit sector.   In a recent article in the Independent, a UK publication,  Pamela Hartigan, director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship was quoted as saying that “rather than separating where they (new MBAs) make their money from where they do good, they are convinced that it is possible to live comfortably and dedicate their careers to pursuits that are fundamentally innovative, philosophically positive and morally compelling.”

Are you ready to join the ranks of 21st Century Entrepreneurs who are creating businesses that improve the lives of individuals, families, communities and countries by using their passions and creativity to solve local and global problems and create social change?  If you’re ready to learn how you can create a profitable business that means something more, I’d like to invite you to join Barbara Winter, best selling author of “Making a Living without a Job” , Idea Artisan, Alice Barry of “Entertaining the Idea”and me, Terri Belford, self-employment muse for a life and

career changing event.

Creating More Meaning in Your Work

The late Anita Roddick knew “if you can create an honorable livelihood, where you take your skills and use them to earn a living, it gives you a sense of freedom and allows you to balance your life the way you want. ” As founder of The Body Shop, she created a business that was  wildly profitable while remaining socially responsible.

There are many ways to make a difference and they don’t have to be limited to volunteer or non-profits. If you’re like many of us, you dream of doing something more meaningful and making an impact but you do still need to earn a living.

As  social media specialist Jeff Korhan noted in his lawnandlandscape.com post yesterday,  “Social entrepreneurship isn’t philanthropy. It is augmenting your business model to include social needs alongside traditional profit needs.” Contrary to the beliefs of so many aspiring entrepreneurs, it’s not only OK to make a solid income from a socially responsible business, but your business is more likely to make an long term impact if your company is profitable. If you are continually worrying about adequate charitable donations to drive change, you aren’t going to be able to focus on the greater good.

If you’re searching for a way to create more meaning in your work, check out  the upcoming Inspired Livelihood workshop in beautiful Sedona, Arizona with Barbara Winter and Alice Barry, where you’ll learn how you can make a living and make a change in society.

The New Social Entrepreneur

Recently, I’ve had several inquiries about what exactly “Social Entrepreneurship” means, so it’s time to look at the new paradigm of meaningful livelihood. 

People frequently equate social entrepreneurship with non profits or charitable organizations but the new model is more focused on the desire to drive change. 

“Cause marketing”, a trend in the 90s, has been replaced by green marketing in the past decade of environmental consciousness. Unlike today’s social change driven entrepreneur, those earlier models were often charitable as an afterthought or a show of goodwill.  Rather than the idea of amassing a fortune before a business begins making contributions,  today’s altruistic change agents are designing businesses as a vehicle for making social change. 

A broad definition of social entrepreneurship would be creating a business venture for the purpose of facilitating common good. 

The most frequent criteria that I hear from private clients is that their new career must have more meaning. They want to not only do work they enjoy and make a nice living but feel good about the impact they can make. 

What do you feel so strongly about that you feel driven to make an impact on?  What pulls at your heartstrings or feels to you like a terrible injustice? Is there something you wish you could do to help others, a purpose that nags at you to address? Most of us have at least one social issue that we feel particularly drawn to work toward improving. What’s yours? What do you believe it is your purpose to try to make a difference in?

If you are like most aspiring entrepreneurs searching for meaning, rather than asking yourself how what you love to do can make a difference in the world, try turning the question around. Ask yourself what it is you want to make a difference in and then look at how you can use your interests, skills and talents to develop a business that helps facilitate that change. As always your ideas and comments are welcome and appreciated and maybe we can all come up with suggestions for how you can be an agent for the change you wish to see in your community or the world. 

In the Heart of Conflict-Search for Common Ground

If you are in the San Francisco Bay area June 10th, don’t miss this emotionally moving event. Search for Common Ground’s Children and Youth Specialist , Felix Unogwu, will be speaking on the role children are playing in transforming deadly conflict. SFCG works with youth in 16 countries to help them step forward and transform their communities and countries. 

Born in Nigeria, Felix lived through violent conflict but become a youth leader and bridge builder. His story is of hope and transformation.

This is the story of  someone who has made a career of changing the world, For more info contact phellmich@sfcg.org .