BEcoming an Impact Leader

Potent local and global challenges have all of our minds spinning. Many of us feel helpless in the face of all that's happening around us.

However... have faith...BEing an impact leader IS possible in your personal and professional context. Social/enviro impact can be something you work on during lunch and weekends or it can become your full-time calling.?This article shares a little about my journey and gives others interested in addressing the world's challenges at home and at work a roadmap and resources to do so.?

Last week I attended a meeting with dozens of?Pledge 1% community peers on behalf of an inspiring company I advise called?CharityVest .

We learned and workshopped concepts that will supercharge impact/ESG roadmaps for our fast growth clients/employers. It was incredible to spend a day with impact leaders devoting 100% their career selves [and more] to advancing business + impact/ESG aligned strategy. Such a great day!

On a break, I texted a friend of mine who has been successful at making money in his career to see if they had any social/enviro impact aspirations and if they’d parked any of their wealth in a giving account aka DAF (Donor Advised Fund) like?CharityVest. ?They responded, “I have no plans to give it away since it was so hard to make.?I earned my money and don’t feel a bit of guilt not sharing any of it.”?I found their response thought-provoking and tragic.?This is an era of intense societal urgency. We need all the impact leaders we can summon and embolden. I also found my friend’s response surprising, since being generous and sharing my resources (knowledge, network and money) has always increased my level of self esteem/joy, connectivity with leaders, career success and abundance.?

Participating in Boy Scouts as a teen and earning philanthropic leadership roles in college gave my instinctive sense of generosity a platform. Volunteering in India for months in 2001 instilled in me a need to volunteer more within my career context.?This volunteering + career weaving put in motion my recent?15+ years of starting and building impact/ESG aligned business strategy ?at?salesforce.com , LinkedIn, Box, Zillow and Snyk.?

Schedule a zoom call with me?here ?if you/your company want this brand of strategy support.?

If you're interested in using your [or your company's] resources to positively impact the world?(hobbyist or full-time), the balance of this article is for you. Start by answering these five questions in your favorites journal or a Gdoc:

1- What challenges have I experienced that I can learn more about and take action on?

Seeing my wife dedicate herself to partnering with the?Sepsis Alliance ?after narrowly surviving a scary case of sepsis will remain with me forever.??Here 's her story on that. Have other peers in your professional network (colleagues, customers, partners, investors, etc) experienced challenges they wanna solve? Ask 'em!

2- Which challenge in my community or broader society am I most interested in?

Every community in the world is facing something that you can help with (starting with harmful climate change).?See links below to inspire your thinking on this one. Now apply the question to your professional context. What issue would your company or colleagues be interested in?

3- What nonprofits or social enterprises am I interested in or supporting today?

There are many millions of nonprofits and social enterprises in the world.?Many are excited to partner up with you and your place of employment. See below for some resources for this one too. Ask around online and in your next conversations with colleagues at work.

4- Who do I know that is making an inspiring difference in the world?

Here ’s a list of 100 that caught my attention a few months ago.??So many inspiring examples. Leaders at all 25+?www.impactcloud.org ?companies have social/enviro impac teams and armies of employees BEcoming impact leaders. Go to Linkedin and find 'em. Schedule a chat!

5- What social/enviro issues is my employer investing in and how can I get involved?

If your employer isn’t involved in any, what would you like to see them learn about and engage in? Once your knowledge and network grow in an area, you can be their motivator.

Now Pause... reflect on the answers you wrote. Take a walk in nature to see if your answers are landing deeply with you. Don't skim over this like we do with most of life. If your answers are coming from a deep and true place you're onto something. You'll have more energy for your journey. If they're not, keep pausing and reflecting until they are.

If the five questions above inspired you?to take more action and they're come from a deep and grounded place within you, here’s a highly summarized roadmap and tips/resources to use in your journey.?A version of the below can easily fit into your current busy life.?Start with baby steps, then widen your strides, then pursue running leaps as life and inspiration level allows.?

Educate

1- Learn more about what "social impact" is overall?-?Here 's a resource list the stars at?www.MovingWorlds.org compiled for individuals interested in learning about and or pursing social impact.?Read Bea's book "Doing Good at Work" found here .

2- Start your research wide, then narrow in -?Google search for social/enviro impact areas and have fun swimming around in what you find.?Local -?Scan local news feeds, attend city council meetings or ask local elected and school officials what’s on their mind.?Global -?If large global risks are your thing, check out?The Global Risks Report 2022 ?from the World Economic Forum.??Here 's a good summary (and sub-goal details and metrics) for these 17 goals to transform our world. Dig in and see which ones resonate the most for you or your company. Lot's of folks are focusing locally or hyper-locally then branching out. Your approach is up to you.

3- Learn more about your issue and nonprofits and social enterprises working on it -?Start to learn how they’re approaching issues you find interesting.?Start thinking about how you would approach the issue with your growing knowledge and the resources you control.??What impact data do they share? Is their annual report on their site??Nonprofits disclose their financial numbers and much more as required by law.?Finally, how are local companies and government actors that you know approaching the issue??

Activate?

1- Build a list of resources you can bring to the table?- What are your skills and specialties??Where do you have influence??Who do you know that can join your efforts? What financial assets can you contribute or raise with your communities? Does your employer have programs that support your impact efforts with Volunteer Time Off, gift-matching, etc? Does you company offer products or services that could generate positive social/enviro impact if approached in a strategic and thoughtful way?

2- Build a list of nonprofits or social enterprises to work with?- Tools from?Candid.org ?can help you build a short list of nonprofits and funders working in specific focus areas or geographies.

3- Connect with impact leaders and movement makers -?Use Linkedin to get in touch with leaders from the nonprofits or social enterprises working on your issue.?Starting with their development, volunteering or partnerships leadership may be a smart first step, however I suggest networking for a warm introduction to their senior leadership or Executive Director/CEO.?Ask them about their issue area, their theory of change and level of progress toward mission fulfillment.?What are the barriers you can help them remove?

4- Share your muscle, knowledge/skills or network as a volunteer or advisor-??This site will help you find volunteering directly -?www.volunteermatch.com .?Pursuing advisor roles or board seats with social enterprises is the same as it is in the corporate world.

Get your colleagues and other members of your work network involved.?For your company's efforts, tap amazing organizations like?www.givetoget.com ?and?www.team4tech.org ?who can help activate your colleagues/employees in volunteering.?www.pointsoflight.org and?www.realizedworth.com ?offer good resources too.

5- Invest financial support -?Your giving strategy can be simple or complex, just get it started. Creating a giving fund aka DAF (donor advised fund) with?CharityVest ?as an individual or company is much easier than you think. It’s not just the stuff of the mega wealthy or large companies.??Here 's a DAF overview guide to check out. Another simple idea - You can start banking with?Spiral . They'll match up to $150 of your charitable giving per year (and offer great interest rates)!

At work - www.joindeed.com ,?www.hedado.com ,?www.milliegiving.com/ ?and many other SAAS platforms can help you and your colleagues take action via giving and volunteering!

Celebrate

1- Communicate your growing knowledge and efforts publicly?- This is less about tooting your own horn and more about giving others permission to take action, building awareness and helping others increase issue fluency.?Start with a few supportive social media posts for nonprofits you’re working with and their momentum.??

2- Make a public pledge/commitment related to your chosen impact area -?If your pledge is specific, inspiring and bold yet achievable others will help you fulfill it. This could be a pledge of a certain amount of your time or financial resources to specific organizations you admire and trust.?It could also be outcomes driven.?For example:?I’ll help 100 youth from our community get higher education scholarship support by the end of 2025.

If you’re a corporate leader, consider signing the?Pledge 1% pledge ?or others like it.??I'm happy to help you make this effort highly strategic for you, your business and your future impact partners.

3- Build community around your pledge/commitment -?Helping other folks in your personal, professional, academic and faith circles own a part of your pledge (or an increasingly more ambitious shared version of it) is always a good way to go.

4- Keep folks posted on your progress?- Don’t leave folks hanging! They’ll wanna know how you’re progressing.?Maybe it’s time for you to create your version of the?BE {Impact} newsletter ?here on LinkedIn.?

As my friends at?MovingWorlds ?like to say... "Create Change. BE changed."

Know that you can always restart the steps as your interests and the needs of the world shift over time. I’m?here ?to help you in your journey if I can be helpful.