Acronym

During a table discussion earlier today, one of my table-mates told a great story: When he was 18, he decided that his town needed a teen center. So he went out and set one up, by himself. With donated space and materials, within a few months he had the teen center open--and within a few weeks it was filled with local teenagers.

At our table, we all wondered at what point during a typical life we lose that ability to say "I want to do this!" Without joining the committee or running for the board, without waiting until you finish grad school or until the you get that promotion, just stepping up and getting it done.

Of course, there are people who never lose that ability--those are people that change the world. But for those of us who may have lost some of it, can we each individually give ourselves permission, the next time we see a problem in our work, just to go out and solve it? It doesn't have to be a huge problem, or even related to the topics we're discussing at the Global Summit--it could be the problem presented to you the next time a member calls. But if we could all recapture that fearlessness, how much better could we serve our members and our organizations?