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Seeing Possibilities
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In our twenty year experience of identifying and supporting emerging social entrepreneurs, Echoing Green has found that they are as diverse as they come. They come from all over the world, with different educational, religious, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. They have different skills and varying passions. Their leadership styles are different. But, they all display, in one way or other, the four elements of boldness. Over the last six weeks on this blog, we discussed the first three—moment of obligation, gall to think big, new and untested. The fourth and final Be Bold quality I would like to focus on today is the notion of always seeing possibilities.
To highlight seeing possibilities, let me tell you the story of Echoing Green Fellow Katie Redford.
After graduating from college, Katie wanted to spend a year living abroad before starting law school. She signed up to teach English in Thailand, but didn’t realize at the time that she had signed up for so much more.
Katie arrived in Thailand in the early nineties and very soon after arriving, she became painfully aware of the challenges faced by the people she was teaching. The brutal military dictatorship in Burma had created a constant stream of refugees into the already-impoverished border region as the army and the rebel forces battled it out. Anxious to be of more use, Katie headed for a refugee camp to teach English and live with a displaced Burmese family that had escaped to Thailand. She found herself teaching in a bamboo hut, while bombs exploded around her.
Katie’s resolve to become a human rights attorney hit an all-time high upon learning that an oil company, American-based Unocal, had hired the Burmese military to protect the oil pipeline they were building on the border. On the oil company’s dime, members of the Burmese military were torturing, raping and murdering villagers. Katie and her partner Ka Ksaw Wa spent months traveling down the Salween river meeting and interviewing survivors of their wrath.
“Not being bold is sometimes too awful to imagine,” Katie said.
Armed with seed funding from Echoing Green and a newly bestowed law degree and bar membership, Katie and her partners launched the NGO, EarthRights International, and decided to do what any social entrepreneur would do in this situation--sue a multi-national oil company.
This is a dramatic example to demonstrate the Be Bold quality of seeing possibilities. It is more than seeing what can be, it is an unwavering resolve in seeing your vision through. It is more than being positive – it is believing positive. It is being fueled by the roadblocks to stay afloat, do more, and get more done, instead of being stopped. Anyone who takes on big problems needs a healthy dose of seeing possibilities.
Seeing possibilities is an attitude more than anything. Effective champions of social change inherently know that negativity will get them nowhere. They don’t need to browse through the rows of self-help guides to understand the concepts behind seeing possibilities. They know that the more they are clear about what change they want to see in the world, and the more they believe it will happen within their lifetime, the more it will happen. They know the more positive they are, the better they will feel, and the better they will feel, the more positivity will emit from their actions.
Seeing possibilities is what sustains you through the long, challenging journey to reach your vision. More than that, though, seeing possibilities is the attitude that makes the change possible. Katie’s case against Unocal was an ultimate David against Goliath pitting. With little money, but a lot of heart, Katie and her team waged a battle that lasted ten years--even fighting when the case was dismissed in 2000. But, her ability to see possibilities saw her through and Unocal settled the suit in 2005. It was the first time in history that a major multinational corporation had settled a case of this type for monetary damages. In the landmark settlement, the company agreed to compensate the Burmese villagers who sued the firm for complicity in forced labor, rape, and murder.
The key is to be clear about what you see possibilities for and make sure your beliefs and actions reinforce your vision over time.
If you are reading this and thinking about what you see possibilities for, please know that your example will inspire others. Try to share your vision to someone else today.
To highlight seeing possibilities, let me tell you the story of Echoing Green Fellow Katie Redford.
After graduating from college, Katie wanted to spend a year living abroad before starting law school. She signed up to teach English in Thailand, but didn’t realize at the time that she had signed up for so much more. Katie arrived in Thailand in the early nineties and very soon after arriving, she became painfully aware of the challenges faced by the people she was teaching. The brutal military dictatorship in Burma had created a constant stream of refugees into the already-impoverished border region as the army and the rebel forces battled it out. Anxious to be of more use, Katie headed for a refugee camp to teach English and live with a displaced Burmese family that had escaped to Thailand. She found herself teaching in a bamboo hut, while bombs exploded around her.
Katie’s resolve to become a human rights attorney hit an all-time high upon learning that an oil company, American-based Unocal, had hired the Burmese military to protect the oil pipeline they were building on the border. On the oil company’s dime, members of the Burmese military were torturing, raping and murdering villagers. Katie and her partner Ka Ksaw Wa spent months traveling down the Salween river meeting and interviewing survivors of their wrath.
“Not being bold is sometimes too awful to imagine,” Katie said.
Armed with seed funding from Echoing Green and a newly bestowed law degree and bar membership, Katie and her partners launched the NGO, EarthRights International, and decided to do what any social entrepreneur would do in this situation--sue a multi-national oil company.
This is a dramatic example to demonstrate the Be Bold quality of seeing possibilities. It is more than seeing what can be, it is an unwavering resolve in seeing your vision through. It is more than being positive – it is believing positive. It is being fueled by the roadblocks to stay afloat, do more, and get more done, instead of being stopped. Anyone who takes on big problems needs a healthy dose of seeing possibilities.
Seeing possibilities is an attitude more than anything. Effective champions of social change inherently know that negativity will get them nowhere. They don’t need to browse through the rows of self-help guides to understand the concepts behind seeing possibilities. They know that the more they are clear about what change they want to see in the world, and the more they believe it will happen within their lifetime, the more it will happen. They know the more positive they are, the better they will feel, and the better they will feel, the more positivity will emit from their actions.
Seeing possibilities is what sustains you through the long, challenging journey to reach your vision. More than that, though, seeing possibilities is the attitude that makes the change possible. Katie’s case against Unocal was an ultimate David against Goliath pitting. With little money, but a lot of heart, Katie and her team waged a battle that lasted ten years--even fighting when the case was dismissed in 2000. But, her ability to see possibilities saw her through and Unocal settled the suit in 2005. It was the first time in history that a major multinational corporation had settled a case of this type for monetary damages. In the landmark settlement, the company agreed to compensate the Burmese villagers who sued the firm for complicity in forced labor, rape, and murder.
The key is to be clear about what you see possibilities for and make sure your beliefs and actions reinforce your vision over time.
If you are reading this and thinking about what you see possibilities for, please know that your example will inspire others. Try to share your vision to someone else today.
