July 21

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Forget Causing a Stir — Instead Create a Ripple

By Carol Wain

July 21, 2016

disruption, purpose

Ripple

The events of the past few months have awakened many people and given them a reason to ditch their apathy, take a stand and most importantly, commit to action.

Some people react by causing a stir — by protesting, rioting, marching, picketing, staging a coup or by “dividing and conquering” which is evident in several political arenas.


Others create a ripple by coming up with a possible or partial solution to the problems they see.

In my mind, creating a ripple is much more powerful because it’s more empowering.  You see the problem, you figure out what the root cause is (not the red herrings which are being tossed here, there and everywhere) and you attempt to come up with a positive outcome.

The problem for many individuals is they don’t know exactly how to create a ripple while expressing concerns that they will not make a difference.

You will make a difference.  You make a difference to yourself at the minimum.   When you take a stand against something, especially if you haven’t taken a stand before, you grow as a person.  When you research and formulate a plan, rally for support and engage people, you grow individually and as a community.

Your family, friends, colleagues and people in your network will notice your efforts and some of them will applaud you for leadership.

Your commitment to act — when you figure out what to do — creates the ripple.  Ripples, by nature, expand.   Others, who are also motivated to change, join you and together you make a bigger splash and a larger ripple.

IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A MASSIVE RIPPLE, USE THE LEVERAGE OF BUSINESS

 

You’ve seen it work in the negative — multinational corporations, special interest groups and associations using their resources, influence and money to lobby government to support their agendas.  So you know it works!

You can do this too!  All you need to do is band together with other individuals to leverage business as a source of good and positively impact our planet and society.

You may be thinking… “I don’t have a business, so how do I do this?” or “My business is too small to make much of an impact” or “I’ll never get this past the Board of Directors” or any number of other reasons why you can’t do this.  If so, I’d like to congratulate you for momentarily exploring the possibility.

Now that the thought is in your brain… let’s turn this around and look at how you CAN do this.

 

  1. Start with Yourself
  2. Transfer what you learn to the organization
  3. Convince others to join you
  4. Agree to implement a plan together
  5. Implement
  6. Monitor
  7. Adjust

Simple, right?  Well, not exactly but when you have guidance and support, it’s a whole lot easier.  That’s what we’re here to do.

Contact us if you’d like our help.

Carol Wain

About the author

As an entrepreneur, Carol Wain has created a number of brands which focus on integrating engagement, sustainability, and both personal and business performance.

She works with individuals in leadership and management roles and with aspiring entrepreneurs who wish to leverage the power of business to create positive change.

Carol is also an author, speaker, trusted advisor, and mentor who was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003.

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