Читать книгу Impact the World - Carrie Rich - Страница 15

 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.

The ability to look beyond a specific place or a specific issue area is a useful asset. Today, the world is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. As a result, most major challenges transcend geographic boundaries. At the same time, few problems can be placed into clear‐cut subject or topical boxes; from economic hardship to climate change, from violent conflicts to social justice, individual challenges often have cross‐cutting roots and expansive impacts. The ability to work across disciplines and issue areas proves immensely helpful.

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.