And The Good News Is...

In my last post (April 27) Rodrigo Baggio shared the defining moments in his childhood that shaped his vision and values. In his post Rodrigo takes us on his quest to find purpose in his life.  Finding Purpose Soon after my experience with the indigenous people that lived in the village of Céu do Mapiá in the Amazon, I decided to drop out of college. My motivation to go to college had been to improve my practice in the field of social work.  However, I soon discovered that I did not have even one professor who had any practical experience in the field of social work or social anthropology. So I dropped out and I went to work for a company called Accenture working in technology. After two years I left Accenture to create my own company – Baggio Information Technology – BIT. At a time when all my friends were still living at home, I owned a successful company; I was living alone; I had a car, a small boat and was making a lot of money. I was a successful entrepreneur, bu...

I introduced you to The Center for Digital Inclusion (CDI) in my March 31 blog, The Center for Digital Inclusion (CDI) is a phenomenal story about the impact a small group of people is having on thousands of people living in abject poverty in the shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro and in 13 countries around the world. They teach people technology skills, social action, civic education, community building and entrepreneurial skills. Based on the principles of self-sustainability and self-management, people become change-makers transforming their lives and uplifting their communities. These stories were published in my book DreamMakers: Agents of Transformation , in Brazil in June 2010 (Qualitymark Publishing). These stories you are about to read are very personal compelling testimonials of the people at CDI and the people whose lives have been transformed through their partnership with CDI. These DreamMakers found the courage to overcome unimaginable obstacles to transform their lives. T...

          “It is our light not our darkness             that most frightens us… ”.                    Marianne Williamson,    A Return To Love In June 1995, I launched my own business, serving as a catalyst helping leadership teams engage their people in shared vision & values to achieve higher levels of participation, teamwork and performance. Reminiscent of working at the prison years ago, I thought if I stayed in the Federal Government mush longer I might become prisoner of the same systems I came to help change. I decided to leave. My dilemma was where to go. I had already worked in state and federal government, and the private sector. I had always wanted to experience the freedom of following my own path, yet that path seemed ominous. I was a single mother with a daughter in private school and no outside financial help. I had a mortgage, a...

                          “Rather than moan and groan about my government,                                      I choose to participate in making it better.” I left Herman Miller in 1993 when I was appointed by President Bill Clinton to join his administration as the Director of the Federal Quality Institute. The institute served as the key learning resource for the Reinventing Government initiative lead by Vice President Al Gore. It was very difficult to leave Herman Miller and I vacillated a great deal whether to go. However, I was taught that when your country calls you to serve, you proudly step up to the challenge. It was also time for me to help tackle more of those systems I believed needed changing. Rather than moan and groan about my government; I choose to participate in making it better. I en...

Several months into the renewal process, change was happening everywhere. People and teams felt liberated to align their work with the vision and values. This was a little frightening because they were not asking for permission and many in leadership felt we were losing control - I was one of those leaders. One day I was reading a national newspaper where we regularly placed employment ads and was surprised when I read several very unusual titles of the ads. They read:    “ My CEO believes that trust begins  at the top –   does  yours?”          “Does the Chairman of the Board of your company             believe that Leaders don’t inflict pain, they bear it?              Ours does”           “ Our goal is to be a Place of Realized Potential” I was taken aback at first. I was the VP for People, responsible for “...

Today when we think of corporations more than often we only see darkness. It is important to know  that there have been and still are companies that understand the power of tapping into the collective genius of their people to create greatness. These leaders have the intelligence, insight and foresight to understand that it is possible to do good and do well. They know the great potential that lies within people and they know how to unleash that potential to create win/win/win results – win for the shareholder, win for the employees and win for the communities and environment. Herman Miller was one of those companies. I was blessed to have worked for Herman Miller for 13 years, most of which were under the leadership of Max De Pree – a phenomenal leader. I believe that the leadership philosophy and the core values and principles practiced by Herman Miller, transcends time and circumstances. I also believe that in this era of chaos and confusion, people everywhere ...

We baby-boomers believed we could change the world; and we changed a lot. The status quo was pushed aside by this huge wave of change-makers. Although we were young and oftentimes foolish, we ushered in a new spirit that was rooted in positive values: love, peace, humanity, justice and inclusiveness. Being the person I was (and still am), I was very active in this movement.  Upon graduation I was hit with the hard reality that there were very few jobs. We boomers were so large in numbers we flooded the job market. It took me six months to find a job. When I finally found a job, I chose a very unlikely path. I became the first of two female probation officers to supervise adult male felons on probation, in Detroit, Michigan. I thought the way to make a difference in the world was to influence people’s lives person, by person. I still believe this is one of the most powerful ways to make a difference. However, I quickly realized that even if you offer hope, skills and new perspec...