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Article on Leaning into Discomfort: Social Sector Leadership inthe 21st Century, NPQ (Nonprofit Quarterly), May 7, 2012 Excerpt from interview with Nancy Northup, Center for Reproductive Rights: ""In fact, leaning into discomfort, I think, is critical, to make sure that what we are doing-both externally, as we work to establish reproductive rights around the world, and internally, at the organization level-is bold enough. The organization had better be feeling discomfort if it's leaning into new strategies and ways of working. "You have always to ask, Am I pushing for the change that's really needed? On all of those levels, you have to continually refresh and check and make sure that you're getting the most power for the mission by being as uncomfortable as possible. Because change is hard, and the reason why you have to look at all those different levels-yourself, your organization, and then the world-is that if you're not willing to hold the tension of change as an organization, how can you begin to understand what you have to risk and what others have to risk to make change happen in the world?"" Excerpt from interview with Ai-jen Poo, National Domestic Workers Alliance: As Poo observed, "Domestic workers work in isolated workplaces. They don't have any job security whatsoever, and there are no labor standards or protections, except-for now-in New York, because of us. But really, there's nothing mediating the relationship between a worker and an employer-your workplace is somebody else's so-called castle. It already takes a lot of courage to assert your rights and dignity, and to make sure that you get paid on time, and to make sure that you can get home on time to your own children. And all of these challenges that are just day-to-day challenges of living in that environment already demonstrate a tremendous amount of day-to-day courage." Excerpt from interview with George Goehl, National People's Action �

Written by Yuhyun Park , the chair of infollutionZero Foundation. Great graphic of the digital literacies children must learn as "they spend, on average, 7 hours a day in front of screens from television and computers to mobile phones and various digital devices." He defines these skills as Digital Intelligence, or DQ: Digital Safety (behavior risks, content risks, contact risks), Digital Security (password protection, internet security, mobile security), Digital Emotional Intelligence (empathy, emotional awareness/regulation, social and emotional awareness), Digital Communication (online collaboration, online communication, digital footprint), digital literacy (computational thinking, content curation, critical thinking), digital rights (privacy, intellectual property rights, freedom of speech), digital identity (digital citizen, digital co-creator, digital entrepreneur), and Digital Use (screen time, digital health, community participation).

Nice summary by Alex Beall, Associations Now, of Srini Rao's opening remarks at 2017 conference. Take risks, act on crazy ideas, make it yours, not a replication of best practice.

"Neil Rhule, from the Caribbean's Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship..."Ive heard it said that entrepreneurs are born, not raised. This may or may not be true but I take some issue with this statement and the context in which it is used. First of all, what is an entrepreneur? An entrepreneur is defined as one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise. This basically means that you have a great idea or initiative and are willing to take the bold step to make it happen while considering the risks. To some, being an entrepreneur is just another word for being unemployed! Everyone is born with a talent and has the ability to learn a skill. I would like to share my three steps to becoming an entrepreneur that I believe is applicable to anyone. These three steps are: Step 1 - Have a talent or skill (be creative!) Step 2 - Offer a service based on that talent or skill Step 3 - Start a business from the service you offer

great article on learning agility (innovating, performing, reflecting, and risking) by J.P. Flaum and Becky Winkler, HBR, June 8, 2015

Article in Fortune about Google and innovation Story of Sheryl Sandberg "Take the case of Sheryl Sandberg, a 37-year-old vice president whose fiefdom includes the company's automated advertising system. Sandberg recently committed an error that cost Google several million dollars -- "Bad decision, moved too quickly, no controls in place, wasted some money," is all she'll say about it -- and when she realized the magnitude of her mistake, she walked across the street to inform Larry Page, Google's co-founder and unofficial thought leader. "God, I feel really bad about this," Sandberg told Page, who accepted her apology. But as she turned to leave, Page said something that surprised her. "I'm so glad you made this mistake," he said. "Because I want to run a company where we are moving too quickly and doing too much, not being too cautious and doing too little. If we don't have any of these mistakes, we're just not taking enough risk." When a million-dollar mistake earns a pat on the back, it's obvious this isn't your normal corporation."

from CIO.com by Meredith Levinson, Dec. 11, 2007. Some tips for introverts for f2f networking: smart small, don't apologize when asking for help, tap into your primal instincts as a human communal, tribal animal, be yourself, tap into your passions, ask for introductions, be generous, be prepared, follow up, get over your fear of rejection, take risks, see a shrink if you can't open up.

Forbes, 10/22/13, by Jacquelyn Smith "Entrepreneurial spirit is a mindset. It's an attitude and approach to thinking that actively seeks out change, rather than waiting to adapt to change. It's a mindset that embraces critical questioning, innovation, service and continuous improvement. "It's about seeing the big picture and thinking like an owner," says Michael Kerr, an international business speaker, author and president of Humor at Work. "It's being agile, never resting on your laurels, shaking off the cloak of complacency and seeking out new opportunities. It's about taking ownership and pride in your organization." Sara Sutton Fell, CEO and founder of FlexJobs, says: "To me, an entrepreneurial spirit is a way of approaching situations where you feel empowered, motivated, and capable of taking things into your own hands. Companies that nurture an entrepreneurial spirit within their organization encourage their employees to not only see problems, solutions and opportunities, but to come up with ideas to do something about them." Entrepreneurial companies tend to have a more innovative approach to thinking about their products or services, new directions to take the company in, or new ways of doing old tasks, she adds. "Entrepreneurial spirit helps companies grow and evolve rather than become stagnant and stale." According to Jay Canchola, an independent human resources consultant, entrepreneurial spirit is also associated with taking calculated risks, and sometimes failing. "

Commencement speeches at different colleges, June 15, 2014 Harvey Mudd College Beth Shapiro, evolutionary biologist "Your unique education has prepared you for careers at the cutting edge of innovation. This is both good news and bad news. It's good news because you're probably going to find a job, it will pay well, and it will be intellectually fulfilling. It's bad news because whatever you thought you were training for when you started this exercise might not actually exist anymore. Five years ago, when you guys were deciding where to go to college, there were very few mobile-app developers or big-data architects, and there certainly weren't any chief listening officers for social media outlets. It's hard to imagine where the next five years will go, but it's kind of fun to do so. ... Who knows, but you guys are going to be among the people that are actually making it happen. And it'll be awesome, as long as you're willing to take some risks and step outside of your comfort zone. When an opportunity arises, take it." UNC at Chapel Hill Atul Gawande, doctor and writer "Ultimately, it turns out we all have an intrinsic need to pursue purposes larger than ourselves, purposes worth making sacrifices for. People often say, 'Find your passion.' But there's more to it than that. Not all passions are enough. Just existing for your desires feels empty and insufficient, because our desires are fleeting and insatiable. You need a loyalty. The only way life is not meaningless is to see yourself as part of something greater: a family, a community, a society. ... the search for purpose is really a search for a place, not an idea. It is a search for a location in the world where you want to be part of making things better for others in your own small way. It could be a classroom where you teach, a business where you work, a neighborhood where you live. The key is, if you find yourself in a place where you stop caring - where your greatest conce

Seth Kahan on CEO peer groups--way to control risk-taking with small group of co-learners 3. CEO Peer Groups form in DC & Chicago - Chicago has One Opening I have been leading CEO Peer Groups since 2009. They are an opportunity to take a year long journey together with 3-4 other CEOs under my facilitation. These special groups are made up of 4-5 leaders who work together to develop leadership performance, improve their results, and dive deep into both strategy and tactics. It is a safe place to expose vulnerabilities and get powerful assistance for the most challenging situations. Ultimately it is about raising the bar on your leadership performance through a community of peers."

Intuit report from 2010 that speaks to demographic trends ( including digitally savvy kids with global grid; baby boomers gray to go into unretirement); she-economy; social trends (social networks via web and mobile platforms, localism, individuals shoulder the risk); economic trends (including "work shifts from full-time to free agent employment" and niche markets); ubiquity of technology (working in the cloud; data criticality; "social and mobile computing connect and change the world").

Good five minute video on women entrepreneurs and how they overcome internal self-judgments/fears to succeed. "Hard to succeed without failure..." "Grateful to mother for failure is a stepping stone to success" "It's fine to risk it." "Way workplace is structured means that a lot of women don't want to be there--pay that price." "If we take the time to regenerate, to renew ourselves, we will be much more successful..."

blog post by Quentin Hardy, NYT, on how new companies developing algorithms are using them to loan money to people who are better risks than their financial circumstances might suggest, track high performers in sales jobs to find the indicators of their success for export and use by other employees, etc. July 26, 2015

Scott Dinsmore's TED talk about how he found the work he loved by hanging around those he saw doing what he wanted to do, and seeing that it could be done. Being with people who took a risk to work at their passion allowed him to feel more confident, gain valuable incite and advice from them, and forge ahead much more successfully. His steps for quitting your job and doing what you love is to become a self expert first, then find those who are doing what you want to do.

An amazing project that utilizes gaming, social media, digital badging, and virtual worlds as methods to promote digital literacy to youth in high risk areas. These after-school programs are designed to "Global Kids believes that youth be not merely critical consumers but active producers of digital media". Kids produce games on social issues impacting them (such as neighborhood violence or racial intolerance) that are designed to teach others about not just about the issue but how it feels to be impacted by the issue.

The Global Kids definition of leadership is very in tune with what we have been trying to convey, I think. Here is there goal statement: "The Global Kids Online Leadership Program (OLP) integrates international and public policy issues into digital media programs to encourage digital literacy and technical competency, foster global awareness, promote civic participation and develop 21st Century skills. OLP was created in 2000 to bring new media into Global Kids' after school programs, introduce these programs into online communities, and explore how the combination of the two could develop 21st Century Learning Skills. Through programs utilizing video games, virtual worlds, social media, and other forms of participatory media, youth involved in our programs now have the opportunity to have their voices heard and make a global impact in ways that were previously unimaginable."

Excellent blog post by Mindy Jackson on why less is needed more than ever before in terms of content, July 7, 2014. She explains why practice is more important than content. She writes in a less is more manner, too. Found her via Jane Hart's blog. excerpt: Just-in-time knowledge resources combined with a self-service model is the answer to course content glut. Text is a resource. Practice is instruction. Focus online learning programs on practice rather than knowledge acquisition. Create a risk-free tryout environment, contextualized to performance needs. Enable learners to sip from the fountains of knowledge, rather than to drown by a fire-hose of information. Knowledge is readily accessed. But experience is earned.

great infographic on risks of having your work become automated--suggests retooling might be in order for many workers

wonderful article on differences between networking, coordinating, cooperating, and collaborating drawn from work of Arthur Himmelman.  They add up:  exchange information, alter activities, share resources, enhance capacity for each player. 

blog by Dan Diamond, Managing Editor, Daily Briefing, June 9, 2013, on data mining using meta data.