Impact the World. Carrie Rich. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Carrie Rich
Издательство: John Wiley & Sons Limited
Серия:
Жанр произведения: Экономика
Год издания: 0
isbn: 9781119848929
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are pessimistic about many aspects of life in U.S.,” Pew Research Center, March 21, 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/03/21/looking-ahead-to-2050-americans-are-pessimistic-about-many-aspects-of-life-in-u-s/.

      2 2. Megan Brenan, “Americans' Confidence in Major U.S. Institutions Dips,” Gallup, July 14, 2021, https://news.gallup.com/poll/352316/americans-confidence-major-institutions-dips.aspx.

      Key Takeaways

       A citizen statesperson finds opportunities to develop leadership skills, follow their passion, and make a difference in local communities and on a global level.

       Acting as a citizen statesperson puts demands on finances, time, and relationships. Passion and drive make the tradeoff worthwhile.

       A citizen statesperson is uniquely positioned to adopt a multifaceted viewpoint that helps develop unlikely solutions to advance a cause.

      BEING A CITIZEN statesperson is issue‐ and geographically agnostic. That's not to say that citizen statespeople aren't passionate about specific issues or focused on specific places; to the contrary, a deep interest in an issue can be essential to progress, and a sense of place—a commitment to a local community or population—can help a citizen statesperson build social capital and create an effective movement. Instead, what it means is that passion around any issue offers the opportunity for citizen statespersonship, and any location or community can be a hub and launching pad for change. In that way, citizen statespersonship has the ability to cut through the greatest challenges of our time, providing a universal mentality and approach capable of solving problems at scale.

      That mentality—understanding the value of context and connections—is key, because being a citizen statesperson requires the skill to connect meaningfully with others. The citizen statesperson thinks about how to convene people, how to gain knowledge through dialogue, and, ultimately, how to use the power of one‐on‐one interactions to move issues forward. Whether you are acting as a citizen statesperson locally or working abroad—and whether your work is narrowly focused or more expansive—openness to these connections allows you to have greater impact in your community and in the causes most important to you.

      Being a citizen statesperson comes with tangible benefits. It spurs leadership development, harnesses passion to drive impact, and can lead to extraordinary and fascinating careers that set the stage for global progress. In fact, the process of becoming a citizen statesperson—interacting with others, finding learning opportunities, and building social capital—provides incredible value, because it offers an up‐close, high‐resolution view of leaders of different stripes. In a way, interacting with a variety of leaders is the best way to learn leadership. It's like an apprenticeship program: it allows you to observe the traits and behaviors of other leaders to bring some of those qualities into your own toolkit.

      Citizen statespeople come to learn that leadership skills are developed, not innate, and it's only through doing—through watching leaders, interacting with leaders, and collaborating with leaders on challenging issues—that you truly enhance your own toolkit. Public speaking skills, moderating and facilitation skills, thinking through how ideas and people could benefit from one another or the cause, convening, conveying ideas clearly through the written word, and choosing causes that unite diverse people—these are all skills that a citizen statesperson comes to embrace.

      Of course, taking on the role of a citizen statesperson doesn't only provide you with a chance to hone important skills; it also opens the door to incredible opportunities and experiences. Every time you open one door, another door opens. When you engage with opportunities for citizen statespersonship, you are likely to interact with other citizen statespeople—that experience can present you with fresh contacts and new chances to make an impact.

      These are trade‐offs that we understand. In 2016, we were both offered the opportunity to participate in the Eisenhower Fellowship—a program designed to connect and inspire leaders around the world and create a global network of change agents who are committed to a society that is more peaceful, more prosperous, and more just. It was an opportunity to travel abroad to other communities, to see change in context, and to join with other people passionate about making a positive difference.

      Sounds great, right?

      It also meant spending a full month away from home and family. At the time, we each had young children. We each had partners who needed to shoulder a greater share of responsibilities on the home front in our prolonged absence. We each had ongoing professional responsibilities and social networks that we would need to leave behind.

      We also had individual considerations. Carrie had a one‐year‐old child and was helming a three‐year‐old organization. She had been on her version of maternity leave the year before, and was now considering the prospect of absence for a month, with no ability to check in regularly with the remaining leadership team. Two weeks before Carrie was supposed to depart for China, the person tasked with helping care for her child pulled out, leaving Carrie and her husband scrambling for additional support.

      In fact, in Carrie's thinking, even the costs themselves had benefits. After her hired help pulled out, she was in a privileged position to ask her