ChangeThis
ChangeThis is our weekly series of essays from today's thought leaders that are meant to evoke conversation by bringing forth new and unique ideas.
ChangeThis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
Four Forces for Economic Dominance to Unleash the Second American Century
By Porchlight
"I've been watching the American economy for decades, and for the last few years I've put it under a magnifying glass. My conclusions are strongly positive: the United States is about to enter a period of prolonged economic growth, filled with opportunity. It's not the emerging market countries that will power the world into the next economic era. It's the United States. There are four forces that explain my optimism: America's astounding levels of creativity The renewal of manufacturing Vast reserves of energy Massive amounts of investible capital. Add to these four forces two additional facts. American consumers—the world's engine of growth for more than 50 years—have less debt, as a share of income, than at any time in the last 35 years, thanks to the cleansing effects of the recession (see chart below). And, Americans are savings are at record levels. To paraphrase George Costanza's declaration to Jerry Seinfeld, 'America's back, baby!'"
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
The Calorie Myth Manifesto: How We Can Eat More And Exercise Less—Smarter
By Porchlight
"Over the past few decades, we've been trying harder and harder to be healthy and fit. The result: We got heavy and sick. What's going on here? When did healthy and fit start making us heavy and sick? And why is everyone calling us lazy gluttons? If an architect builds us a house and it crumbles, is that our fault? No. But we better find a good contractor who knows how to build something solid and safe. Similarly, if a doctor prescribes us a medication and it makes us worse, it is up to us to stop taking it and to find a new doctor. We have to apply the same logic to health and fitness. We've received so much contradictory, damaging advice over the years, often resulting in frustration and extra pounds. It's high time for us to make a better choice. But what other option do we have than the decades-old, calorie-counting approach?"
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
The Thought Leader Manifesto: Strategies for Building & Leveraging Your Influence
By Denise Brosseau
"Whether you're an executive, entrepreneur, or a non-profit leader, your success is often dependent upon your ability to engage and enroll influencers to get on board with your ideas. When you create connections with recognized and well-respected influencers, you move from a "one-to-many" to a "many-to-many" model, empowering others to carry your ideas forward to their communities. What follows are 12 strategies to secure the support of influencers and empower them to amplify your message."
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
Don't Block Up the Hall: Bob Dylan's Advice on Climate Change?
By Leidy Klotz
"In perhaps his most influential civil rights era song, Bob Dylan asked senators and congressmen to 'please heed the call.' Of course, help from those in power makes it easier to address any major societal issue. But Dylan went on to warn these leaders: 'Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall.' His sage advice to allow other contributions is now as relevant as ever. We must prevent catastrophic climate change, our societal challenge akin to those Dylan was 'singing' about and King was meeting. We can do it, but only with new thinking, thinking that is currently shackled by the status-quo."
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
The DO! Manifesto: The Pursuit of Xceptional Execution
By Kevin Kelly
"What if launching and leading an xceptional business was simpler than you've ever imagined? Not easier. Not less time consuming. Not less gut wrenching. But, simpler. Guess what: It is. What if I told you many successful entrepreneurs didn't start with a compelling vision or indeed a workable business plan? Guess what: That's true. What if it was possible to dominate a market without any previous background in it? Well: It is. Xceptional execution is about taking a relatively simple idea from brainstorm to breakout hit."
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
Inspiration Made Simple
By Porchlight
"Inspiration is the most used and abused word in our daily existence. Whether it is business, politics, sports, or any other endeavor of life, inspiration is considered to be the panacea or silver bullet which can transform personal lives and propel organizations to unbelievable heights. No wonder, everyone (individuals and organizations alike) is constantly seeking this transformational wonder and are expending an enormous amount of money and time in this search. It has come to such frenzy that a large number of experts have surfaced as inspirational gurus and are having a brisk commercial business by offering their expertise to inspire individuals and organizations. However, despite this obsession to master the art of inspiration, most individuals and organizations do not achieve their desired goals and keep on guessing what went wrong."
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
Grow Up and Lead: A Manifesto
By Porchlight
"Let's get a few things straight right from the start: Leadership is not about coming to work on time, dressing professionally or having a firm handshake. Leadership is not about 200 carefully worded phrases or five shortcuts to credibility. Leadership is not about calling people out or gloating. The moment you think, 'I've got this' is the very same moment you've lost it. Leadership is one of the hardest things you will ever do. And make no mistake about this. . . you are on your own. This leadership discussion is not about correcting something that is wrong in a performance review kind of way. I walk in the shoes of a leader every day and don't always come out on top. It's what we as leaders choose to do when we are at the bottom that defines us. There are leadership voids to fill in our workgroups, organizations, groups, clubs and communities and you are perfectly positioned with interest and intent to fill. You are selling yourself and your leadership short if you are listening to that voice in your head that is telling you that you can't do this and that this call is meant for someone else.
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
Leading from Above the Line
By Steve Satterwhite
"In the wake of the great recession, in businesses and organizations around the world, we have a crisis on our hands. But it's not the crisis we all think it is and talk about. It's worse. ... We don't have an Employee Engagement crisis. We have a Leadership Engagement crisis. It should be no surprise that only 13% of employees are engaged when you discover that only 19% of managers and executives are engaged! Engaged Leaders are outnumbered 4 to 1 by those who are not. Bradford D. Smart (Topgrading) reports that the top Human Resources executives of the largest 100 companies in the world admit that only 20% of managers they hired turned out to be the high performers they expected. 'That's an 80% mis-hire rate!' Smart, says. And yet, these are the same leaders that we are expecting to raise levels of Employee Engagement in our organizations. Maybe the old saying is still true—people join organizations but they leave managers."
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
Trust Trends 2014: An Executive Brief on How to Gain the Ultimate Competitive Advantage from Key Opportunities Embedded in the Year's Trends
By David Horsager
"From the Cyprus bank fiasco and Edward Snowden's intelligence leaks to the European horsemeat scandals and chemical weapons attack in Syria, stories of distrust are overflowing from the news. These trust breaches are combining with trends of increasingly rapid change to leave the world in a volatile state. Worse yet, leaders are leaving our world vulnerable. According to the Interaction Associates, one of the biggest questions of the year is whether leadership is consistent, predictable, and transparent in decision and action. Leaders who once exhibited these trustworthy characteristics, such as Silvio Berlusconi, Lance Armstrong, Bo Xilai, Anthony Weiner, and Joe Paterno, have fallen in the last year. Edelman Public Relations is aptly calling 2013 the year of the "Crisis of Leadership," and we are feeling the consequences in 2014, just like we did after the AIG, Enron, and Lehman Brothers disasters. The trust crisis appears to be an inescapable cycle, but we at Horsager Leadership, Inc.
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
How to Build Meaning, Impact, and Opportunity with Your Body of Work
By Pamela Slim
"No one is looking out for your career anymore. You must find meaning, locate opportunities, sell yourself, and plan for failure, calamity, and unexpected disasters. You must develop a set of skills that makes you able to earn an income in as many ways as possible.") The new world of work requires a new lens and skill set to ensure career success. You must create your own body of work as you operate in different organizational systems and structures."
Categories: changethis
The original idea behind ChangeThis came from Seth Godin, and was built in the summer of 2004 by Amit Gupta, Catherine Hickey, Noah Weiss, Phoebe Espiritu, and Michelle Sriwongtong. In the summer of 2005, ChangeThis was turned over to 800-CEO-READ. In addition to selling and writing about books, they kept ChangeThis up and running as a standalone website for 14 years. In 2019, 800-CEO-READ became Porchlight, and we pulled ChangeThis together with the rest of our editorial content under the website you see now. We remain committed to the high-design quality and independent spirit of the original team that brought ChangeThis into the world.