The S in Strangers

Have you ever heard of that guy who has changed the fate of a nation and a whole organization on his own? The one who single-handedly brought about change and aspiration that impacted the future of years to come? The one we all aspire to be like? I bet you did not because, simply, he doesn’t exist. The last one is true, though; we do aspire to be like him, but we rarely realize that it doesn’t work that way.

The saying goes: “Standing on the shoulders of giants.” There you have it. To make a difference in a population (be it a company, a population, a whole nation, or even the world), it needs a leader and an inspiration, but only when it reaches the masses does change happen. Without that, you have a leader or a difference maker who only makes the difference in his own mind, or at most, his difference is limited to himself.

Difference only happens when you reach the critical mass of difference makers. It takes individual actions at first, inspiring individuals to initiate the change. But if this individuality does not inspire, motivate, and uplift others, it will always remain that individual action with an individual scope. And individual scope rarely makes a dent.