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How to Use Your Message to Cultivate Change

  • by Gail
  • 3 Years ago
  • Comments Off
Use Your Message to Cultivate Change

An Interview of Anita D. Russell by Women Speakers Association

Q: What change do you want to influence in the world?

I have two grandsons: Zane, a 13-year-old, and Cairo, born in March of 2020, shortly before Derek Chauvin took a knee and killed George Floyd. As my daughters prepared for a Black Lives Matter protest in June, the mood in the family was a mixture of sadness and exasperation. We talked about three generations of family members protesting for the same exact thing—the birthright to freely and peacefully exist in the skin in which we were born. A burning question emerged from that discussion: Will Cairo have to protest in his lifetime?

The Cairo Question set the tone for my book, Cultivating Change from the Inside Out: The Power of Being Human. I created Activism through a Coaching model, which includes the Social Impact Mastermind: A Transformational Journey Towards Antiracism

The central message of the book and the mastermind is this: Dismantling racism goes beyond laws and legislation or politics and economics. It’s also an inside job where personal transformation and accountability impact social change in multiple dimensions: individual, interpersonal, systemic, and structural. My role is to inform, influence, and empower; to dive deeply into the thoughts, ideas, and beliefs that flow into the world through words, actions, and behaviors—especially towards people who look like Zane and Cairo.

Q: How has your role as a Global Business Connector helped to support your mission to cultivate change.

Leverage. Access. Visibility. Influence. These simple yet powerful words describe a collaborative flow defined by the Global Business Connector role within Women Speakers Association’s platform. The flow provides the space for my message of personal transformation towards antiracism to be seen and heard around the world. Yet the flow is synergistic and multidirectional. I also see the faces and hear the voices of so many others. It’s a dynamic business and social exchange that nurtures relationships, fosters influence, and fuels win-win dialogue.

Q: What advice do you have for women who want to use their message to inspire change?

Personalize and visualize your own definition of success. Make it meaningful to your message and the change you wish to inspire.

Consider the following as you create your success story.

Significance: Make a difference in the lives of others.

Uniqueness: Embrace the uniqueness within yourself and others.

Connection: Recognize the human connection in all people.

Change: Cultivate change from the inside out.

Empower: Break barriers and disrupt limiting beliefs.

Share: Recognize that someone needs to hear your message.

Seize opportunity: Act with urgency, expectation, and faith.

Above all, be the change you want to see.

 

 

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