My dear friend and colleague, Ron Schultz, has recently edited and released a profound book called Creating Good Work, which is a compilation of essays by some of today’s greatest social entrepreneurs.
One of the themes that emerges from reading these amazing individuals is that their success in changing the world transcends their own individuality. They’d be loath to call themselves heroes. And they’d probably not be very comfortable with the appellation of “amazing individual,” either.
In a post for CSRWire, Ron observes that, “If — as Todd Khozein, Carrie Freeman, Michael Karlberg and Ron Garan insist in Creating Good Work — collaboration is our only real hope to attain the kind of reach we are seeking to solve our social challenges, then continuing to focus and proclaim the lone and heroic efforts of individuals goes against the tide.”
He goes on to say,
“We need to consciously begin creating Social Innovation Collaboratives, that have at their core not the veneration of the individual, but the salvation of our society. It is together, as social innovation collaborators, that we can reach our goals.
“And in this reformulation process, we don’t have to exhaust ourselves trying to lift the burdens we face, alone. We aren’t made for that kind of Herculean labor. We simply aren’t as effective alone as we are when we join together as a social unit reaching far into our societies, to shift the often un-shifting with our collective effort.
“So social entrepreneurs: don’t let go of your vision, but do let go of your need to do it alone.
“We don’t need a gazillion social entrepreneurial efforts vying for the same scant resources and accomplishing only a bit of the picture because the focus settles on the idea that ‘I have to do it’ rather than ‘only we can do it together.’
“Social Innovation Collaboratives find funding together, share capacity together, reach deeper and further together, and accomplish more together. More than we can ever hope to accomplish alone.”
Amen to that.
It’s easy for us to mistake Extreme Leadership for Extreme Individual Heroism; however, the greatest leaders that I’ve met over years, never focus the attention on their own greatness, and they most certainly never–never, ever–try to change the world alone.
So how about you? Are you trying to be a hero, or are you trying to change the world?
It seems they’re mutually exclusive aspirations, after all.
“So social entrepreneurs: don’t let go of your vision, but do let go of your need to do it alone.”
What a powerful statement that is! Thanks for sharing, Steve. I’ll be looking up the book, for sure.
“Your vision” is much more powerful when you drop the “Y.” Hmmm…think I’ll tweet that 🙂
“So social entrepreneurs: don’t let go of your vision, but do let go of your need to do it alone.” My goodness, this statement is an affirmation of what I must do but have resisted for too long. I declare that I will ask for more support and stop hesitating because I feel like I am imposing. Steve, thanks so much for letting us know about the book. I will get it today and dive into it right away. With gratitude, Chrissy Carew
Seems so obvious, doesn’t it Chrissy? So many of us resist asking for help, yet none of us can do anything significant without it.
You bet Steve. And please know how much I love your books. You have a place on my most favorite books … shelf : ) And I buy your books as gifts.
Three weeks ago, for the first time ever, I put a section in my newsletter that simply says “I need your help” and describes the type of content I’m looking for that I’m not qualified to do myself. It’s been interesting to see how the Untrained Housewife community steps up and responds so brilliantly.