These are:
SHARE: change-makers are sharers; they are collaborative, team players who see abundance and understand that by sharing access and resources, everyone benefits.
BRAVE: change-makers reinvent the rules; they do things differently and are prepared to travel upstream.
ADAPTABLE: change-makers understand that to lead change, they need to be willing to change and adapt, that true innovation happens through learning what works and what doesn’t, adapting and iterating accordingly.
LOVE: change-makers put love at the heart of everything they do; they consider their impact, embed love for people and planet in their lives and in their work. They lead change with love and care.
POSITIVE: change-makers are inherently positive; they see challenges as opportunities to make a difference and recognise that change requires a solution-focused approach.
FUTURE: change-makers are future-conscious, they see the bigger picture, take a systemic approach, always consider the long-run.
These traits can also be applied to businesses and organisations, what I call 'change-maker companies'. I work with people, businesses and organisations to enable them to apply and adopt these all-important change-maker traits in order to build for the future by creating economic, social and environmental value for themselves, their organisations, companies, society and the planet at large.
So what can we learn from these changemakers who are not only reimagining our world and building the Social Economy but who have a history of putting people and planet first by creating resilient, sustainable, purposeful businesses and initiatives that know the benefit of sharing and collaboration?
Generation Share contains over 200 examples of changemakers who are transforming our society and our economy. Here are just a few stories of trailblazers building the new Social Economy.