The worst kind of advice can sometimes come with the best of intentions, from those who really care for you. The best advice then is the advice you give yourself – to stop listening to the naysayers and to trust your vision.
The worst advice I (and almost everyone) have received and still receive, dose after dose, is: “Don’t do that.” The supporting arguments vary little: “It’s not practical. It won’t work. You can’t make that fly. It will cost too much. It’s a crazy idea.”
“You can’t drive from Europe to India," I was told when I was 19. Three friends and I did, and that is when Ashoka and so much else was born.
“Don’t waste your time with this Ashoka idea. Individuals and their little organizations can’t change the world. Stay with the government or McKinsey,” I was told again. However, over half of the 3,000 Ashoka social entrepreneur fellows have changed national policy within five years of launch. Three quarters have changed their field (i.e. health, human rights) within the same five years.
“You must be crazy to try to repeal payroll taxes; they are taboo because they are linked to social security,” I was told yet again. However, Europe and Asia are now cutting payroll taxes, and U.S. politicians just learned that opposing reduction in this job-killing tax is truly where the chief political danger lies. My work with Get America Working! to tax natural resources, not jobs, is flourishing as a result.
Here’s my advice: The first step to becoming a changemaker (the only secure job going forward) is to give oneself permission, i.e. to ignore — politely, of course — all those who say “Don’t do it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment