Hello social leaders! Welcome to my blog on all things social leadership. I am excited to share tools, resources, how-to’s, perspectives and inspirational stories from the field with all of you.
Let me tell you how this blog was born, since I remember the moment quite clearly and it has a lot to do with this blog’s mission.
The Birth of this Blog
A week after experiencing the bone-rattling wrath of Hurricane María within the confines of my flooded apartment building, I attended a meeting at a local philanthropist’s office to discuss Puerto Rico’s path to recovery. Everyone around the table looked a bit dazed. None of us had electricity and we could see people queuing in the blazing sun outside our window for basic supplies.
As we brainstormed on how to help the island get back on its feet, we all agreed Puerto Rico must change, do things differently. Yet, every idea for recovery seemed to get shot down because of one technicality or another.
“That’s not how we do things”, “that will never get approved”, “that’s not possible”. Finally, I spoke up: “How can we ask millions of people to change, when we won’t change ourselves? If we are not willing to do anything differently, how can we expect others to be?”.
My ‘Aha’ Moment
Talk about an Oprah-esque ‘aha’ moment! I walked out of there committed to changing my own life, my own professional practice, my own way of doing things.
For many years, I have coached entrepreneurs and non-profit leaders who transform communities and lives. My work has been gratifying and meaningful. I have been in the zone…my comfort zone.
Many clients and colleagues have spurred me to share my methodologies and experiences with the world. My answer was always “Yes…later.”. Well, later is finally here!
This blog is my first step outside that comfort zone into a brave new world of sharing to inspire beyond my immediate client base.
What You Can Expect from this Blog
It exemplifies the change I committed to walking out of that post-hurricane meeting. This blog is geared towards anyone working to change the world for the better. That includes organizations, big and small, as well as individuals, young and old.
Topics include:
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- Social leadership
- Who a social leader needs to be
- What a social leader needs to know
- What a social leader needs to do
- Tools and exercises for social leaders
- Coaching
- Nonprofit tools
- Design thinking
- Collaboration
- Organizational culture
- Trends in social impact
- Social innovation
- Social entrepreneurship
- Courses and fellowship opportunities
- Applications
- Inspirational stories
- Opportunities for under-served youth
- Latino communities
I plan to post on a monthly basis. Please comment, share links with other social leaders and subscribe here to get updates.
Thank you,
Cristina
The Social Leadership Coach
0 thoughts on “Welcome To My World, Social Leaders!”
Grande Cristina! Thank you for stepping out of your comfort zone to share your knowledge and inspire others. Looking forward to read and engage with your blog!
Gracias, Yvonne! I’m excited for this new adventure. You are a social leader in your defense and care for dogs. If you have any suggestions on topics that intrigue you and would like me to tackle, let me know.
As a teacher, I try to do good in the world every day. I look forward to getting some tools to help me become a good instructional coach for other teachers too.
Thank you! I am definitely going to broach the subject of coaching skills in this site.
Hi Cristina,
For over three years I have been part of a community service proyect called Sinergía Los Naranjos. We want to empower this community to become self sustainable and be a model to replicate in our island. I’m aware this is a challenge, specially living in a commonwealth, but I am determined to find a formula that works.
Gracias, Marisa, for your comment! I commend you for your Sinergia Los Naranjos initiative. What would you say your biggest challenges are? Is there a skill that especially interests you?
Our biggest challenge is to get the adults of the community involved and gaining their trust.
Gaining the trust of people who are used to getting disappointed is a big challenge. Authenticity and consistency are very important. Providing space for community led efforts is also key. Engagement is better than perfection.
One thing I could recommend is having one-on-one informal conversations with opinion leaders in the community and ask them “how can I gain your trust? How would you recommend I gain the trust of others?”.
Good luck, Marisa!