In my twenties in particular, I remember thinking to myself: If only I was a little older, wiser, better connected … then, then I could really do something that matters. In fact, most of us are pretty great at coming up with one reason or another why now isn’t the perfect time to do Great Work.
Marc Kielburger puts that reasoning to shame. He is the CEO of Free the Children, the world’s largest network of children helping children through education (nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize), as well as being the co-founder and chief executive of Me to We, a sister organization to Free the Children also focused on social initiative. He’s written a NY Times, best seller, won a Rhodes Scholarship, was one of Canada’s ‘Top Forty Under Forty’ and got a law degree from Harvard. And all before he’s 40.
To top it off, he’s a really lovely guy. (It would be so much easier if he wasn’t, wouldn’t it?)
In this conversation we turn the notion of “self-development” on its head, the importance of community and connection and how a single question from a member of parliament changed Marc’s life forever. We also make the connection between doing good and being happy. A contribution to a bigger cause isn’t just about being noble. It’s actually a way to live a life of great fulfillment.
The interviews are all between 25 and 30 minutes long.
You can either download them here as mp3s, or go to iTunes, type in “Great Work Interviews” and you’ll see them all there.
Posted on September 23, 2009
James Huffines is the Chairman of the central and south Texas district of the PlainsCapital bank in Austin, as well as being an SVP of the Plains Capital Corporation. In other words, James is a senior and experienced leader in the world of finance. But what was particularly rewarding in this interview is the perspective he brings having been actively involved in a number of non-profit organizations, such as the Austin and Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and in State government.
In the course of our conversation we looked at the differences between public and private organizations, as well as discussing different strategies leaders at all levels can use to champion change. Listen in particular for:
- What it means to make a commitment for success
- James’s strategies for overcoming resistance to change
The interviews are all between 25 and 30 minutes long.
You can either download them here as mp3s, or go to iTunes, type in “Great Work Interviews” and you’ll see them all there.
Posted on September 18, 2009
In my own small way I’m trying to be a responsible citizen in the world and lessen my impact. I recycle and compost, I rarely drive a car, I think about things like my carbon footprint.
Ron Dembo does too, but he does it in a much bigger and bolder way. He’s the founder and CEO of Zerofootprint, a not for profit organization that combines brilliant financial engineering, brilliant environmental engineering and really snappy business intelligence to create products and services that help organizations and individuals significantly reduce their environmental footprint. Before that Ron was the founder of Algorithmics, one of the largest enterprise risk management software companies in the world,which he started after time worked at Goldman Sacks and as a professor of economics at Yale University.
My favourite part of the interview is when Ron starts talking about the deadening effect of routine – just listen to the moment he knew he had to leave academia – and its inspiring to see how he not just manages but embraces the ambiguity that doing Great Work generates.
- In this interview, we also talk about how TED.com inspired him to start ZeroFootprint
- How the move from cavalry to tanks provides a powerful metaphor for finding Great Work
- And the way to use ‘hedging’ in what Ron calls “a stochastic world”
Listen to my interview with Ron Dembo here
Posted on September 4, 2009
Kevin and Melinda Berg are a formidable pair and their story speaks powerfully to what it means to overcome challenges to do more Great Work. They are parents, college graduates and they run their own small business – so far, nothing out of the ordinary. But they are also the founders of Access Life, a non-profit organization that supports people with mobility impairment. Kevin and Melinda know the importance of that personally, because Kevin has cerebral palsy and has been confined to a wheelchair all his life. He has difficulty speaking, he can’t feed or dress himself and yet in the face of these physical limitations, he has stayed focused on doing Great Work. Access Life finds the funding for people who need high-tech wheelchairs, funding that is routinely denied by government or insurance companies. In this interview we talk about:
- What it means to be “eye-level” and how that changes everything
- The inspiring story of the first fundraiser for Access Life and what a “Kevin Mile” means
- The power and importance of a team to achieve Great Work
Posted on August 14, 2009
