Change Your World Workbook Look Inside by ChurchSource

JOHN C. MAXWELL A N D RO B

HOSKINS

CHANGE YOUR

WOR L D WO R K B O O K h o W A N Yo N e , A N Y W h e r e c A N m A K e A d i f f e r e N c e

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Change Your World Workbook © 2021 by Maxwell Motivation, Inc., and AnimoCorvem, LLC All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by HarperCollins Leadership, an imprint of HarperCollins Focus LLC. Published in association with Yates & Yates, www.yates2.com. Scripture quotations marked niv are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ Scripture quotations marked nlt are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Any internet addresses, phone numbers, or company or product information printed in this book are offered as a resource and are not intended in any way to be or to imply an endorsement by HarperCollins Leadership, nor does HarperCollins Leadership vouch for the existence, content, or services of these sites, phone numbers, companies, or products beyond the life of this book. ISBN 978-0-310-13998-0 (softcover) ISBN 978-0-310-13999-7 (ebook) First Printing February 2021 / Printed in the United States of America

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CONTENTS Acknowledgments �� 5 Author’s Note �� 7 Lesson 1: We Can’t Wait for Change �� 9 Lesson 2: Become a Catalyst for Change �� 33 Lesson 3: We All Need One Another �� 55 Lesson 4: Let’s All Get on the Same Page �� 79 Lesson 5: Experience the Value of Values �� 101 Lesson 6: Transformation Happens One Table at a Time �� 121 Lesson 7: What Gets Done Gets Measured �� 139 Lesson 8: Let’s Keep Talking �� 165 Lesson 9: It’s Your Turn to Change Your World �� 189

About the Author �� 201 Endnotes �� 203

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS JOHN: I want to say thank you to all the members of my team who helped to make this workbook possible: Jason Brooks, Mark Cole, Linda Eggers, Carolyn Kokinda, Erin Miller, Charlie Wetzel, and Stephanie Wetzel. You all added incredible value to me and to this book. Thank you for helping me change our world!

RO B : This workbook couldn’t have been written without the thirty-plus year transformation journey that all my colleagues and OneHope team have been on; learning and discovering together. Particularly for this book, thank you David Branker, Chad Causey, Nicole Johansson, and Tena Stone for your extensive review, readings, and fantastic contributions. Jenna Scott, you are a champion and master writer, editor, researcher, and advisor. You are all as elite in your fields as you are humble; your contributions to this book are an investment in others to begin their journeys to change the world.

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Author’s Note

he workbook you’re reading was written by two people. Sometimes for readers that can be awkward. Or confusing. When you read a sentence or paragraph, who is the person communicating to you? Is it John Maxwell or Rob Hoskins? Whenever two or more people collaborate in writing a book, they have to decide how they will communicate. Should we say that I (John) do this and I (Rob) do that? We’ve seen this kind of approach before in a cowritten book, where both people use “I” and put which is which in parentheses. We think that’s really awkward. Should we use two different fonts and ask you to keep track of who is who? We bet that would get old fast. You’d have to keep going back to the beginning of the book to keep track, assuming you could tell one font from the other. Another option would be to put our names before each paragraph in the book, such as in an interview. But we believe that would make for choppy reading. If we were on stage, it would be easy. We both do a lot of speaking. If we were on a platform at a live event, you’d see our faces and hear our voices and know instantly who was saying what. We wish we could speak to you personally, but you know books don’t work that way. We want to make this reading and working experience enjoyable for you and as easy as possible, because this workbook is really about you and how you can change your world. So here’s what you can expect. The voice you’re hearing as you read this is John’s. Rob has graciously allowed me to take the role of the older brother, doing the primary speaking. So, as you read, we hope it will feel like you are sitting with Rob and me conversing, but I’m doing most of the talking. You’ll see a lot of “we,” “Rob and I,” and “Rob and me” in this book. But please know that Rob and I are equal partners in the thinking and writing. What we share comes from our hearts, our dedication to changing our world to make it a better place, and our decades of experience of investing in others. Rob and I really want to help you. This workbook is designed to take you through the entire process of taking action to change your world. Ideally, as you make your way through a lesson, if we gave you an assignment to take action, you would do it immediately so that you could build upon it as you go forward. If possible, please do that. However, you’ll

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Change Your World Workbook

be glad to know that when you get to the end of the last lesson, we’ll also offer you a way to take immediate steps for making a difference, if you’re not already doing it on your own. So settle in and enjoy the journey. We hope this Change Your World Workbook will open your eyes, help you see your environment in a different way, change the way you live, and transform the world around you.

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1 LESSON 1

We Can’t Wa i t f o r C h a n g e Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are. Augustine

o f

Hippo

ob and I are excited that you’re reading these words, and we want to tell you something right off the top:

This book is written for you IF You want to change your world.

Going through the pages of this book, you will read about . . . Missy, a volunteer at a school who was asked to share her apple, discovered hungry children, packed food into backpacks in her garage, and started a program that today feeds eighty-seven thousand kids. Missy changed her world.

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Bryan, who took his childhood trauma and pain and used it to build a safe place for sexually abused children so they could live with hope, dignity, and unconditional love. Bryan is changing his world. Ethan, a third-grader who put his hand over his heart and asked, “Do you ever feel deep down here that you want to help make a difference?” Ethan is only just beginning to change his world. This book is written for you IF You want to change yourself. You will be changed as you read about . . . Charlee, a high school dropout with no sense of purpose in her life, who spent five months working with children in the slums of Africa and said, “I came home a totally, radically changed person.” Charlee was changed and now she is changing her world. Rene, a man in Mexico who searched for his brother’s murderer for ten years so he could exact revenge, but learned the value of forgiveness at transformation tables, chose to forgive the man, and changed his family’s history. Rene was changed and his life is getting better. Yomila, a timid young woman from Guatemala who gained the courage and confidence to take a better job when she adopted a more positive attitude and now helps others in the villages surrounding her home. Yomila has changed and is now helping others. This book is written for you IF You want to be part of a transformational movement. You will be inspired as you learn about . . . Sam, the owner of a company that manufactures outdoor furniture who started making plastic face shields for medical workers braving the COVID-19 pandemic and brought together the people in his small community while making a difference. Sam helped others create a movement in his town.

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Cerro Porteño, one of Paraguay’s most popular professional soccer teams, joined hands with rival Club Olimpia to teach good values to players at every level of their organization, and it’s spreading to other teams and changing players’ lives. One team helped another and started a movement in their community. Roy, who learned his son wanted to take his life because he was being bullied. While helping his son, Roy realized other parents and kids needed help, so he started an organization that now helps millions of kids in forty-two states. Roy is part of a movement that is changing the country. You have the potential to make a difference by joining with us as we help others or by starting a movement of your own. You can change your world. Rob and I have invested our lives in bringing positive change into the lives of people. This workbook has been written to encourage and equip you to be a catalyst for transformation in your world: your family, your workplace, your community. If you are already changing your world, we hope to help you become even better at it. If you are not yet involved in making a positive difference in the lives of others, we hope to encourage you to get started, and we want to teach you how to intentionally add value to people, because anyone, anywhere can make a difference.

ASSESS How do you answer these questions? Yes q q q q

No q q q q

Do you want to change your world? Do you want to change yourself? Do you want to be part of a transformational movement? Are you ready to make a difference?

What do your answers say about you? __________________________________________________________________ ��

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What Needs to Change? Looking at our world, it’s pretty easy to see that things could change for the better. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have better schools? Better neighborhoods? More positive workplaces? Would you like to have a more connected family? Communities where people get along and work together for everyone’s good? Wouldn’t the world be better if people were more respectful, unified, and positive? You probably know intuitively much of what can be read in newspaper headlines. We have reasons to believe our world needs to become better:

• Families are breaking down in the United States, where 9 percent of households in 1960 were led by single parents; in 2014 that number grew to 26 percent.1 • In 2014 about 2.5 million children experienced homelessness in the United States.2 • Civic engagement and volunteerism, two characteristics that were once identified as America’s strengths, have fallen drastically in the last fifty years.3 • In 2015, 3.3 million people were victims of violent crime in the United States.4 • An estimate by the Institute for Economics and Peace recently concluded that violence costs the global economy $13.6 trillion a year.5 • Mental health issues are on the rise6 and getting worse.7 • Corruption is a problem around the globe.8 • It’s estimated that 40 million people worldwide are victims of modern slavery.9 We could go on, but we don’t need to. Problems that could use our help are everywhere.

P roblems that could use our help are everywhere .

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We Can’t Wait for Change

REFLECT What problems do you see around you every day that you wish were better than they are? ��

Don’t let the needs you see discourage or intimidate you. Did you know that positive changes are possible? Even huge ones? While we were working on this workbook, Rob shared some information with me that really surprised me. In 2013, a survey asking about extreme poverty—living on less than $1.90 a day— posed this question: “In the last 30 years, has the proportion of the world population living in extreme poverty increased, stayed the same, or decreased?” Here are the answers people gave to the question:

• 55 percent said extreme poverty had increased. • 33 percent said it had stayed the same. • 12 percent said it had decreased.10 What’s your guess? I was shocked and pleased to learn that extreme poverty rates worldwide have actually decreased. Dramatically! Look at this graph to see how extreme poverty rates have steadily gone down since 1800 and notice how they have plunged since the 1950s.

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EXTREME POVERTY RATE FROM 1800 TO TODAY 100%

1800

85%

1966 50%

50%

Share of humanity living on Level 1 on less than $2/day.

Dollars adjusted for inflation and price differences.

2017 0% 1800

Source: Gapminder based on Bourguignon and Morrison, World Bank & OurWorldInData

1850

1900

1950

2000

And the extreme poverty rate continues to go down. That’s great news, yet we rarely hear anything about it. In 2018 the Brookings Institute reported: Something of enormous global significance is happening almost without notice. For the first time since agriculture-based civilization began 10,000 years ago, the majority of humankind is no longer poor or vulnerable to falling into poverty. By our calculations, as of this month, just over 50 percent of the world’s population, or some 3.8 billion people, live in households with enough discretionary expenditure to be considered “middle class” or “rich.” About the same number of people are living in households that are poor or vulnerable to poverty. So September 2018 marks a global tipping point. After this, for the first time ever, the poor and vulnerable will no longer be a majority in the world. Barring some unfortunate global economic setback, this marks the start of a new era of a middle-class majority.11 This is great news that should give us great hope. We believe if extreme poverty can be changed—something that has been a problem for all of human history—so can other problems, great and small. The world can change for the better. People like you and like us can be difference makers.

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Somebody Do Something! If change is possible, why aren’t we doing more to change our world? The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, “If we don’t change the direction we’re going, we are likely to end up where we are headed.” The reality is that most of us are waiting for somebody else to do something about the problems we see. We want change, but we hope that someone somewhere will do something to bring it about.

• We wait for the government to do something. • We want the health care system to do something. • We believe education will do something. • We look to business to do something. • We imagine media will do something. • We wish arts and entertainment would do something. • We think sports will do something. • We hope religious institutions will do something.

CO N SI D E R Who have you been expecting to make the changes you desire to see in your world? ��

The fact is that we can’t wait for change. While the influencers and institutions we listed above are all beneficial, the rest of us can’t be passive bystanders. If we want the world to be a better place and we hope for conditions of need in the world to improve, then we need to change. We need to take action. Rob and I have spent our lives helping people and leading organizations whose purpose is to add value to people. We’ve traveled the world and interacted with people from every continent and from more cultures than we can count. And

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we are convinced of one thing: transformation is possible for anyone willing to learn and live good values, value people, and collaborate with others to create a positive-values culture. That means you can change your world. You don’t have to be rich. You don’t have to be famous. You don’t have to move to another country. You don’t need an education. You don’t need an organization. And you certainly don’t need someone else’s permission. You need to give yourself permission. You can transform yourself and the world around you. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “In a gentle way you can shake the world.” But for that to happen, you need to change.

First, Change Your Thinking I recently read The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. They referred to an old puzzle I was familiar with, the nine dots on a page. In fact, I used it as an illustration in my book Developing the Leader Within You. But they examined it in a new way, which I believe is helpful here for illustrating the importance of changing how we think.

CO N SI D E R Here’s the challenge: find a way to connect all nine dots below using four straight lines without lifting your pen or pencil from the paper. If you’ve never seen this before, give it a try. (The solution can be found at the end of this lesson.)

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“I f we don ’ t change the direction we ’ re going , we are likely to end up where we are headed .” Lao Tzu

Most people have a hard time figuring out how to make it work. Why? Because they think inside the box. But the only way to solve the problem is to change the way you think and get outside of a self-imposed way of thinking. The Zanders wrote: The frames our minds create define—and confine—what we perceive to be possible. Every problem, every dilemma, every dead end we find ourselves facing in life, only appears unsolvable inside a particular frame or point of view. Enlarge the box, or create another frame around the data, and the problems vanish, while new opportunities appear. If you think you can’t change the world, your assumptions are putting you in a box. Gandhi said, “For things to change, first I must change.” Changing your world requires a similar shift in thinking. You need to challenge your assumptions—from assuming you can’t or shouldn’t try to change your world to someone who can and should. You need to believe you can do something about the problems you see. You need to believe you can make a difference no matter who you are, where you are, and with whatever you have. You need to have hope.

“F or things to change , first I must change .” M a h a tm a G a n d h i

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Change Your World Workbook

Then, Harness Your Hope You cannot overestimate the importance of real, active hope for changing the world. Jonathan Sacks, in The Dignity of Difference, wrote, “One of the most important distinctions I have learned in the course of reflection on Jewish history is the difference between optimism and hope. Optimism is the belief that things will be better. Hope is the faith that, together, we can make things better. Optimism is a passive virtue; hope, an active one. It takes no courage to be an optimist, but it takes a great deal of courage to have hope.”12 Most people would agree that optimism is greater than pessimism, but it’s a fantastic thought that hope is greater than optimism.

“O ptimism is the belief that things will be better . H ope is the faith that , together , we can make things better .” Jonathan Sacks

We want to invite you to move up to that higher level of thinking, more elevated than pessimism or optimism. We invite you to become a person of hope. We want to help you become someone who possesses a healthy amount of positive discontent, believes the world can change, and knows you can be an important part of that change. We encourage you to . . .

Have Hope for Yourself Belief in yourself is a powerful thing. We want you to adopt a change-my-world mindset. You have much greater control over your ability to accomplish difficult things than you might believe, but you must have hope and believe in yourself. People can change. Over the years I’ve discovered that people change when one or more things happen:

People Change When They Hurt Enough That They Have To The most basic impetus for change is pain. From the time we are first able to make choices as a child, we instinctively avoid pain. But a better response to pain is to

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change so we are no longer hurt by it. Our hope is this workbook will give you a positive pathway forward and provide hope if you’re hurting.

People Change When They See Enough That They Are Inspired To Early in my career I was inspired when I saw that developing people as leaders has such a positive impact. The discovery that everything rises and falls on leadership changed the way I thought, worked, and interacted with others. Perhaps you’ve been affected by something that has inspired you. If so, that’s fantastic. If not, as you go through this workbook, you will become acquainted with the stories of people who saw a better life or more excellent future for those around them and who took action to catalyze change. Please allow their example to move you and open your eyes to the need that maybe only you can address.

People Change When They Learn Enough That They Want To When you believe there’s nothing you can do about a problem, it’s disheartening and demotivating. But when you begin to learn how you can take steps to start making a difference, it will propel you to take action. Rob and I believe you already have the desire and ability to be an agent for change. Maybe you’re already making a difference and want to expand your impact. Whether that’s true or you have yet to get started, this book will give you a simple, straightforward game plan to take the steps needed to incite positive change.

People Change When They Receive Enough That They Are Able To The world is not looking for more dreamers. It is looking for dream makers. Brad Montague, the creator of the Kid President videos and television show, stated it clearly: Dare to Dream, but please also Do. For Dreamers are many, but Doers are few.13 As you go through this workbook and put what you learn into practice by taking action, you will start to see changes in yourself and the people whose lives you touch, and you will help others to make their dreams come true.

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Change Your World Workbook

“D are to D ream , but please also D o . F or D reamers are many , but D oers are few .” Br ad Montague

That’s what Bryan Jarrett has done—helped others’ dreams come true by giving them what they need to change. Jarrett grew up in an unstable home situation in a small, rural farming community in the South. His father would often disappear for days or weeks at a time, until one day he never returned. Without the protection of his father’s presence, Jarrett became a victim of repeated sexual abuse from an extended family member. He started drinking in his teens to cope with the abuse and to numb the sense of abandonment he felt.14 Eventually Jarrett became a person of faith and began to heal. He immediately wanted to help others, particularly the overlooked, the less fortunate, and the underdog. “As I shared my story, I realized that thousands of kids across this country were connecting with my story, and then I started looking into the numbers of people who admit to being sexually abused,” Jarrett said.15 His heart stirred, and he decided he needed to do something about it. Jarrett and his wife established Lonesome Dove Ranch to help children who had suffered abuse begin to heal. Most of the kids they serve are in foster care. Each week the ranch hosts fifty children who are served by 150 adults, nearly all of whom are volunteers. “The needs—emotionally, mentally, sometimes physically—are extreme.”16 Volunteers at the ranch help the kids and serve them freely. “We give the kids dignity and love without wanting anything back,” said Jarrett. “ Most of these kids have only been shown love because there was an agenda. We have no agenda.”17 Giving each child individual time and attention enables healing to begin within a week. The ranch’s success with children has made it possible for them to open additional camps, so they now have five different locations. Jarrett took the hurt he felt, the vision he saw, and the lessons he learned to have hope in himself to make a difference. He is changing his world one child at

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a time. “When your past, your pain, and your passion overlap,” said Jarrett, “you find the sweet spot of your purpose in life.”18 You can find your sweet spot too. It all starts with changing yourself. As our friend Tony Evans said, “If you want a better world, composed of better nations, inhabited by better states, filled with better counties, made up of better cities, comprised of better neighborhoods, illuminated by better churches, populated by better families, then you have to start by becoming a better person.” The first step in that process is having hope that you can.

REFLECT Think about your past experiences that helped you to change and that can continue to fuel your internal fire. Where have you been hurt enough that you’ve had to change? �� When have you seen enough that you were inspired to change? �� How have you learned enough that you wanted to change? �� When have you received enough that you were able to change? ��

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Have Hope for Others The changes you make within yourself will give you the confidence and credibility and hope to help others. You can become what we call a “hope helper.” It requires you to be positive and to focus on the positive change you can create, not the negative situation you want to eliminate. Hope can move us toward something better and bring others with us. The negatives in life may attract our attention and open our eyes to the need for change, but only by being positive and by helping to create and offer a better way can we positively change our world. Creating positive change in communities is similar to developing people. Good leaders focus on people’s strengths and help them to develop those strengths. They don’t focus on their weaknesses. Similarly, to help others live a better life, you don’t focus on their problems. You focus on positive solutions that provide a better way for them to live.

CO N SI D E R Describe a positive solution to one of the problems that you see around you and that you identified earlier in this lesson. ��

Have Hope for a Better Future Journalist Linda Ellerbee said, “What I like most about change is that it can be a synonym for ‘hope.’ If you are taking a risk, what you are really saying is, ‘I believe in tomorrow, and I will be part of it.’ ”19

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CO N SI D E R How much hope are you willing to invest in the future? How much are you willing to risk? ��

Hope Fuels Urgency When you’ve harnessed a strong sense of hope, what should you do with it? Too often, even if we believe we should do something, we don’t. And it’s not that we tell ourselves, “I’ll never do that.” Instead, we say to ourselves, “I’ll do it tomorrow.” But then we get too busy or too distracted to follow through. And if we do remember, we think, “Oh, I don’t have enough time today. I’ll do it tomorrow.” And we miss the opportunity again. How can we fix that? By infusing our hope with a sense of urgency. If you think about it, the phrase we can’t wait for change can be read two ways. The first meaning is that we shouldn’t hold back, expecting someone else to start making the changes we want to see. But there’s a second way to read that phrase, the way a child would say, “I can’t wait for Christmas!” It’s a sense of anticipation, excitement, and urgency. That second meaning is what we need to adopt. And each of us needs to make it personal, from “We can’t wait for change” to “I can’t wait for change.” That sense of urgency can propel us to action. Here are some of our observations about how urgency works and what it does for us.

Urgency Starts Within Business consultant Rob Llewellyn observed: Have you noticed that the people who make things happen in this world value and share a similar sense of urgency?

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Regardless of what people aim to achieve, whether in sport, business or otherwise, those who set themselves apart from the rest maintain a sense of urgency in order to be the best they can be. They choose not to disconnect from what they are aiming to achieve, and they pursue it—regardless of what anyone else thinks or says—because their sense of urgency is an integral part of who they are.20 Change begins on the inside. We need to tap into our desire to see change happen and enable it to strengthen into a sense of urgency. Then we need to sustain that sense of urgency.

Urgency Feeds Desire When you harness your hope and tap into a sense of urgency for change, it only increases your desire to see that change come about. You could call it a kind of positive, healthy discontent. But without that urgency, you lose momentum and energy. We agree with motivational speaker Jim Rohn, who said, “Without a sense of urgency, a desire loses its value.” The people who change the world are those who want to and don’t wait to. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not because the nature of the thing itself has changed, but that our power to do is increased.”

T he people who change the world are those who want to and don ’ t wait to .

Urgency Inspires Courage Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose. It takes courage to believe the best is yet to come. That courageous faith will help us to win tomorrow. But we find it when we allow ourselves to feel the urgency of today. In Dare to Lead, Brené Brown shares an interesting discovery she made after talking to a large, diverse group of top leaders:

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We started our interviews with senior leaders with one question: What, if anything, about the way people are leading today needs to change in order for leaders to be successful in a complex, rapidly changing environment where we’re faced with seemingly intractable challenges and an insatiable demand for innovation? There was one answer across the interviews: We need braver leaders and more courageous cultures.21 Leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less. So if you influence just one other person, you are a leader. When you add courage to your leadership, then you create opportunities for change, which in turn changes culture.

Urgency Calls for Action Malcolm Gladwell said in a presentation on his book David and Goliath, “The most successful entrepreneurs not only have courage and imagination, they also have a sense of urgency. They’re not willing to wait. They have a burning desire to get something done.”22 What he says of business entrepreneurs can be said of people who create transformation. They don’t want to wait. They want to get something done. The feeling of urgency moves them to take action. Right now! Recently I visited a school that my friend, entrepreneur Casey Crawford, founded in an at-risk community. While I was there, I visited a group of third-graders, and a boy named Ethan asked, “Do you ever feel, deep down here [pointing to his heart], that you want to help people and make a difference?” I couldn’t believe it. I looked to see if anyone on my team had prompted him to ask this question, but it was clear the question was genuine. “Ethan, that’s exactly the way I feel,” I answered. “Every day, deep down in my heart, I want to make a difference.” Then I gave Ethan a hug and said, “You are going to change your world.” You can feel like Ethan. You can choose to feel the desire deep down in your heart to make a positive difference in the lives of others. It doesn’t matter how old you are. It doesn’t matter what you have or haven’t done yet. It’s never too late to do something to change your world. A Turkish proverb says, “No matter how far you have gone on a wrong road, turn back.” You can turn in a new direction right now and do something to change your world.

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ASSESS How strong is your sense of urgency? On a scale of one (no urgency) to ten (intense urgency), how would you rate yourself?

What could you do to increase your sense of urgency to raise it at least two points? ��

I t doesn ’ t matter how old you are . I t doesn ’ t matter what you have or haven ’ t done yet . I t ’ s never too late to do something to change your world .

A Right Wrong Turn Rob was recently turned in a new direction and developed a strong sense of urgency for changing part of his world as he was driving to his office in Pompano Beach, Florida. He waited as usual at a red light just a few blocks from work. He normally turned left to go into his office park, but for some reason, on this day, he felt compelled to make a right turn onto a road he’d never traveled before. It took him into a small urban community called Avondale. As Rob drove around, what he saw arrested his attention. He witnessed a drug deal, prostitutes soliciting customers in the middle of the day, gang members holding court with school-aged boys who should have been in class, and moms clearly under the influence watching passively as bunches of children ran around on their lawns. What he viewed in that two-block radius—practically across the

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street from his office—mirrored conditions he had seen in some of the most at-risk slums he had visited in places like Dharavi in Mumbai, India; Comas in Lima, Peru; and Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya. “I felt angry,” Rob said. “I was angry at the condition of my community. Right across the street from my work were people suffering, trapped by their circumstances. I felt the pain of those fathers, unable to provide for their kids. I was angry at the waste of human potential. Angry because I knew these children, through no fault of their own, were trapped in a societal prison of poverty, abuse, and neglect. But I was also angry at myself, angry that I hadn’t seen what was happening right in front of me. It deeply convicted me that although I was helping kids around the world, I had failed to see that hopelessness lived next door to me.” Rob pulled to the side of the road and cried. “Tears were flowing down my cheeks, but from deep in my heart, courage began to rise out of my anger,” he said. “I began to see possibilities, how tangible, substantive, and lasting changes could come to my neighbors in Avondale.” Rob was determined to do something. How could he, the leader of OneHope, not help his actual neighbors when he leads an organization that impacts children in nearly every country around the world? He had brought together people to help alleviate poverty, stop injustice, and prevent teenage pregnancy, suicide, and addiction around the globe. He knew he could do something to help with the problems he had just seen, and his sense of anger and conviction stoked his sense of urgency. Rob drove out of Avondale, and as soon as he stepped foot in his office, he started telling his team what he’d seen that morning. Because serving children and youth is what OneHope does, these tremendous needs immediately resonated with everyone. They got to work researching Avondale, calling people who could help, and building a plan to help make positive changes. Their research revealed the community consisted of about three thousand people in nine hundred residences. The area would be termed “struggling urban diversity,” according to the U.S. Census. The people who lived in Avondale were mostly from broken families with a single parent, and they were living in poverty. The public schools in the area had earned a grade of F. Crime was beyond high. In fact, Avondale ranked in the bottom 1 percent of U.S. neighborhoods for safety. Gang rivalries were also creating a lot of the conflict in the area. Despite the danger, Rob’s team learned more by going door-to-door and talking to Avondale’s residents, asking them about their lives, listening to their

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concerns, and finding out what they needed. The number-one answer was jobs, followed by role models for their children and English classes. Rob and his team committed to serving the people of Avondale, which required some hard asks of themselves as well as enlisting the help of local organizations. “Avondale changed us dramatically as an organization,” Rob told me. “OneHope became so dedicated to helping this community that we forfeited the for-profit space we had in our building and donated it to become a charter school and private academy for families in Avondale and the surrounding communities.” All but 7 percent of the kids attending the school fall below the poverty line, but within the walls they have found a place of hope and love, and they are receiving an excellent education. In addition to founding the school and after-school reading programs, OneHope also reached out to help adults. They organized classes in English as a second language, hosted health fairs, taught interviewing skills to job seekers, helped feed families in need, and provided mentors to help people grow. Their collective efforts have made such a positive impact that crime in the area has gone down from 776 incidents per square mile to the 200s. Relationships between residents are improving, and the people of Avondale have hope for a better future. “My life turned around the day I drove through Avondale,” Rob said. “I couldn’t un-see what I had seen, and no excuse could have been compelling enough to allow me to drive along my merry way. My first thought was, I must do something to help others! Soon I began to discover that the change I wanted for them began to change me. I learned that helping others helped me!”

Make the Right Turn As you read Rob’s story, you might have said to yourself, I’m not sure I can do anything like that. It seems so overwhelming. Where would I start? What would I do? I’m just one person. Could I really change my world? Rob and I are here to wholeheartedly tell you, “Yes, you can!” You can make a positive difference. Because you want to see change happen, and you want to live in a better world, you can make an impact. Everyone has plenty of reasons not to do something about the problems they see. Those are called excuses. The solution is making a commitment to change.

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ASSESS As you complete this lesson, answer the following questions: Yes q q q q q q

No q Do you see a need for positive change somewhere around you? q Are you willing to learn and live good values? q Are you willing to value people? q Are you willing to help others? q Are you willing add value to others? q Are you willing to invite others to experience the positive impact of good values and good choices?

If you answer yes to those simple questions, then you can change your world. Hope is not far away. Change is in your hands. Don’t allow anything to deter you. You can become a catalyst for change. In the next lesson, Rob and I will show you how to do that.

Take a Tangible Step Toward Positive Change Choose one or more of these items and follow through by taking action so that you can change your world. 1. Find an expert on or activist for the issue you want to address and interview him or her to get ideas about what you can do to make a difference. 2. Discover one small action you can take today to help someone experiencing the problem you want to do something about. 3. Explore an area close to your home or workplace to find a problem that needs to be addressed, and then take action as Rob did.

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PUZZLE’S SOLUTION Here is the solution to the puzzle with the dots. You have to draw outside the lines you may have arbitrarily imposed surrounding the dots. You have to change the way you think.

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Change DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. When you encounter problems, difficulties, tragedy, or injustice, who do you instinctively expect to do something about it? 2. How do you differentiate between problems you think you can do something about and problems that are beyond your ability? Explain. 3. In today’s current climate, how hopeful are you that positive change can occur and the world can be improved? Do you agree that transformation is possible for anyone willing to learn and live good values, value people, and collaborate with others to create a positive-values culture? Explain. 4. What problem, challenge, or injustice would you regret not trying to change? How much urgency do you feel personally to get involved and do something about it? 5. What needs to change inside you to make you more likely to work at creating the changes you want to see in your world?

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NOTES �� _ ��

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