What does it really take to change the world? If your goal is to make a long
lasting impact - whether that's through starting a non-profit or social enterprise, a socially
responsible business, running for public office, or helping out through service or activism,
what are the characteristics and traits and skills that you should work on in order to
increase your chances of success at making an impact? That's what I'll talk about in
this video. Throughout history the people who have helped change the world share many common traits.
Ever since I was a kid i was fascinated by people and events that changed the world by leaders and
heroes who inspired others and made things just a little bit better before they left the earth
this fascination led me to travel across the country volunteering major in social change
leadership at my university start a non-profit with a mission of inspiring others to take action
and it eventually led me to you where we're here connecting on YouTube as you watch this
and if we haven't met before hey there my name is Amber Melanie Smith, I'm a non-profit founder
and executive director of the nonprofit that i started i make these videos here on youtube to
help people who want to make a difference whether that's through starting a non-profit of their own
starting a socially responsible business helping others through service or activism as i mentioned
before basically all the various ways that you could possibly change the world i'm here to share
the things that i've learned in the hopes that it will help you out too and if you are starting
a non-profit be sure to check out my website FounderToFullTime.com, i've got some trainings and
resources there for you. I also have a newsletter that i send out for non-profit leaders and change
makers of all types i'll leave the links to those things in the description below and just one more
little thing before i get into our topic of the characteristics that it takes to change the world
i just want to say thank you all of you who are watching my videos here on youtube
are change makers in your own way and i have had such an amazing time getting to know you
connecting to all of you people throughout the whole world it's just astounding to me
how interconnected you can be here on youtube so i just wanted to acknowledge the community
of change makers that we've had growing here over the past couple of years through this channel and
share my appreciation and gratitude for you all right let's get into this if you are setting out
to create massive positive change in the world good leadership and strength of character are
core things you've got to have so here are 10 characteristics of people who change the world
let's go characteristic number one is vision if you are going to change the world you
have to know what changing the world actually looks like what does the world look like once
you have helped change it not only do you have to be able to clearly envision this vision you also
have to be able to clearly articulate this vision to others it's important that you're able to
keep this vision simple enough for the masses to understand while also not being embarrassed by big
or seemingly lofty goals we all know that eventually we were able to make it to the moon
and that started with a big clearly articulated simple vision of getting to the moon that takes us
to characteristic number two and it tags along to number one and that is being a strong communicator
you might have the biggest dreams and the best vision ever but if you can't get people to
understand it it's not going to get you very far some of the people who have changed the world and
are most renowned throughout history for making an impact have all been very strong orators and
speech givers and able to really communicate their ideas very effectively and here's one
other thing i want to say about that learning how to communicate effectively is a skill if you don't
feel like you have the skill already don't be afraid don't be discouraged you can work on it
i know for example that i was terrified of public speaking several years ago but after a lot of
practice and getting comfortable with my message i now rather enjoy it so practice is definitely
key and if you're not sure whether your message is clear try it out on someone and see what feedback
they have for you the third characteristic of people who change the world is curiosity you
have to be curious enough to want to dig into the complex problems that you're trying to tackle in
the world you also have to be open minded and agile mentally enough to change directions if
you discover an assumption that you had was incorrect so curiosity is definitely a trait
that you need to have if you're going to make an impact because it will allow you to change course
and go on to in a more effective method of making an impact if you discover that one is out there
kind of going along with curiosity the fourth trait is humility in other words knowing that
large-scale positive social change does not occur because of the actions of just one single person
a 2016 article in Forbes magazine talked about the traits of inspirational leaders and found
that inspirational leaders commonly believe in collective power of people
in other words the power of the group over the power of the individual the fifth trait
is the ability to see strengths in others i just talked about how inspirational leaders are able to
believe in the collective power of the group over the individual well in order to inspire people to
take action you've got to see the strengths that they have the talents and the assets they bring to
the table and be able to help them understand how to use those talents in order to help the cause
sixth is continuous growth you've got to have a commitment to always learning and growing as an
individual looking upon all of the skills that you can expand upon the new things that you can learn
the perspectives that you can seek to understand and figuring out how you can become the better
most best version of yourself and according to entrepreneur.com this also happens to be a trait
of some of the most successful entrepreneurs out there in the world the seventh trait is
stamina stamina or determination or grit in fact is definitely a very important skill for
people who are changing the world to have and to cultivate because unfortunately a lot of
social change is very complicated and can take quite a long time you've got to be in it for
the long haul because you might not see results until years later and if you don't stick around
you might never see those results at all so stamina and the patience to understand that
it's gonna take a while to change the systems and the things that have always been a particular way
uh is going to do you a great service in your journey to change the world and
look i can tell you as a fellow impatient person that this can be one of the hardest
things to to be willing to accept but i will say something that helps me look towards the long term
is celebrating small victories having an awesome team around me who's also in it for the long haul
and just making sure that we are acknowledging when we are making progress the eighth trait of
people who change the world is vulnerability and i mean this in two different ways
the first is you've got to be brave enough and be willing to risk looking silly sometimes or
put yourself out there and speak up whether you are alone in doing so or the first to do so
the second type of vulnerability i'm talking about is an emotional vulnerability that you
would have with other people around you people are more likely to connect to a human authentic
leader than they are to someone who comes across as fake or insincere and that vulnerability is
a very impactful way of showing that you are a real person with real feelings that deeply
cares about this cause the ninth characteristic of people who change the world is trustworthiness and
i think that this goes along with a vulnerability which can help you build that trust but people
who change the world throughout history have prioritized trust and integrity and honesty people
are more likely to fulfill their obligations to one another or believe that someone has their
back if you have that mutual trust when you're trying to create social change there are a lot of
stakeholders who are involved in so many different complex social issues out there in the world and
there's a lot of mistrust that is an obstacle to solving some of these problems so someone who has
a great ability to cultivate trust in others is going to be very effective in creating positive
change and the tenth and final characteristic I'm going to mention today of people who change the
world is listening and inviting others to have a voice as i said before it takes a lot of people
and a lot of movement and momentum to create positive change and the people who've been able
to successfully do it have been those who have uplifted others and listened to their feedback
and their needs as they went along through their actions to make an impact not only does listening
help you build that trust and those relationships but it also gives you very valuable information to
let you know if you are making actual progress and if you're not this feedback can help you
change course as i mentioned earlier i would love to hear from you at this point did i leave
out traits that you were thinking of for people throughout history or maybe even in the modern day
who you know are changing the world or possibly even yourself because i truly believe that you are
all change makers and have changemaker potential within you which ones are you personally the most
interested in working on for yourselves what are the traits that you see in leaders around you who
are inspiring you today leave your thoughts in the comments below and as i mentioned before if
you are starting a non-profit or working on some of these change making efforts yourself be sure to
check out my website FounderToFullTime.com, and my newsletter the links are in the description
below. Finally if you are on Facebook i invite you to come check out my group, Change the World
or Bust. We have thousands of people in there from around the world it's really inspiring
every one of them is trying to make an impact in their own way and i just know that you would fit
right in so come check that out and join the group if you're so inclined i hope that this
video was interesting or helpful or inspiring in some way please don't forget to give it a like
and subscribe to my channel for more content like this and i hope to see you next time bye