Making a Vision for Change a Reality

By Nell Edgington

One of the many things I love about my job is meeting social entrepreneurs (who often don’t even know that they are social entrepreneurs) who have amazing, game-changing ideas for solving social problems.  Their creativity, vision, passion and commitment are truly inspiring.

But the thing that strikes me about some of them, and the main reason I started Social Velocity, is that they don’t know how to make that idea, that solution, a reality.  We can’t expect that the same people who come up with great ideas or have a grand vision for change also have ALL of the skills required to build momentum around that idea and execute on it.  Often people approach me with a great idea, or a great organization, that has hit a roadblock.  They can’t figure out how to take the idea or organization to the next level, how to make their vision a reality.  Often I find that the roadblock exists because they are missing three key steps.

The first step is assembling an effective group of advisors, evangelists, supporters, workers, whatever you want to call them.  This doesn’t have to be an official board of directors or advisors.  But it does need to be a group of people who get the vision, are deeply committed to it and have resources to offer toward making the vision a reality.  These resources could be expertise in the particular solution, connections to influential people, funding, who knows.  But the idea is that a single actor cannot do it alone.  The same is true for people within organizations who want to take the organization in a new direction, toward a new solution.  Again, they need to find key supporters who can help them make their vision for change a reality.

The second key piece is a plan.  An idea for a new solution or an idea for a change in direction is great, but it is just an idea. It is difficult to build action around an idea.  To bring an idea to fruition you have to create a plan for how you will get from point A (where you are right now) to point B (where the vision is a reality).  What is it going to take to get there (infrastructure, funding, people) and how will you make it happen?  A clear, articulate, compelling plan demonstrates that you have done your homework, you know what you are doing, you have a clear vision, and you are going to get there.

Finally, you need to translate your plan into a pitch that will convince funders to jump on the train.  But how to successfully communicate with potential supporters is a key and often misunderstood skill.  You need to translate what you know to be truth (your vision for change) into something that will compel an outsider to become involved.

These three steps are key to making a vision for change a reality.  And this is what Social Velocity helps social entrepreneurs navigate. I think we are wrong to expect social entrepreneurs to do it all alone (assemble supporters, create a compelling plan, build the infrastructure, find funding).  They aren’t superheros; they are just leading the charge.

Related posts:

1. Making Change the New Norm
2. Making Change Happen
3. A Food Fight that Could Change a Country
4. Fixing the World Requires Disruptive, not Incremental, Change
5. Leadership as Creating Change

Tags: change, social entrepreneurs, Social Velocity

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