I arrived a tad late to this session, but am very excited. I just met Leslie with Echoing Green, which published Be Bold! I picked up a copy and am looking forward to reading it. They don't think you need a million bucks or a thick Rolodex or all the time in the world to change things. You just need to be willing to try. Certainly you can see why I like them.
This group has studied social entrepreneurs that have changed the world and each has similar characteristics. Their Boldness DNA consists of:
- Internal Boldness
- Vision for Impact
- Bring It On
Once the DNA is there, certain things line up to produce bold results:
- There is a "moment of obligation where you identify what means the most to you and committing to carrying out your dreams."
- There is also a "gall to think big, in which you believe you can take on the world and develop a clear and expansive vision for change."
- Then there's the "new and untested, in which you question the status quo and create new solutions to address seemingly intractable social problems."
- Finally, you've got to make sure you're "seeing possibilities, by which you identify solutions when others can't and have hope when others don't."
Don't underestimate the "moment of obligation." In my opinion, nearly everyone who has done something great did so after coming to a crossroads. There was a point at which they had to act. Something happened to them, or they did something, or saw something, that forever changed them and the path they're on. If you haven't had yours yet, don't fret. The magic of these moments is that you can't pencil them in beforehand. They smack you upside the head on a random Tuesday. They find you at a park or movie or ice cream shop. You trip over them, look back, and wonder how you didn't see it to begin with. But when they happen, they're beautiful.
Now, we're going to write a letter to ourselves to help us be bold. It will get mailed to us in three months. I did this in high school once.