Welcome to the impact collective–A place for innovative people interested in scaling the scope of their contribution, a purpose that includes but is beyond just making money and developing a growth mindset to improve business and personal life.
Some history...
During the first ninety days of the pandemic, social media was completey hijacked. My once somewhat significant blog readership fell off a cliff. No one wanted to read about anything other than the hysteria of a new threat to lives and livelihoods. I was shouting in a hurricane and my throat got painfully sore over my unheard screams. Everyone was shutting down over the uncertainty and we all went into survival mode. I attempted to adapt my content to the times but ultimately stopped blogging.
Writing is a healthy form of self-expression for me, even if no one reads it, but I am ultimately here to serve people in the impact community, or the innovation community or the scale-up community depending how you wanted to be accounted for. Like many writers I sometimes make the mistake of equating likes and opens and comments as some sort of vindication for the space I am taking up on this planet, but as COVID is receding into collective memory, I am coming back out into the light on what I think is a more mature platform.
Rather than getting caught up in the ego gratifying enterprise of building a massive email list, I've decided to follow Seth Godin's lead and focus on a "minimal viable audience". So I did a massive purge of people on my email distribution list. If I can't remember who someone is, I cut them. If I have not connected with them in a long time, they're now gone. If they're not a part of the community I am a part of, they are no longer part of this blog. They probably weren't reading it anyway.
The future...
I am keeping my list to the people I care most about. If you are getting this, that means I picked you. I know who your are (which is why I put you on the list). I'll continue to add new people I meet and drop the least engaged "readers" to keep the list to a more vibrant core. If you have enjoyed what I've done in the past, please make a point of clicking on the articles and reading them, at least sometimes. I put a lot of work into writing these posts and you can do your part by taking a chance on them. This is a good time to opt out if you are not up for that. I know you are busy and that you have a lot of stuff in your inbox. Nothing personal. You have to maintain good hygiene on the sources of your reading material.
On that note, here's my promise. It won't look or feel like any other blog. It will be personal and practical. I'm both a social liberal and a fiscal conservative, like you I suspect. I respect everyone's religious faith. I'm writing on the idea of purpose and contribution in a way that supports the best parts of the ESG movement, separating the bullshit and fantasies of the demagogues and panderers from the real goods of the truly inspired.
The impact collective is our attempt to do something not just to enrich ourselves but to take much better care of the people who work for and with us, the communities we work in and the world we inhabit. I am writing about innovation, the challenges facing scale-ups and the need for entrepreneurs to rise up and do what they can to improve the sustainability, competitveness and well-being of the citizens of Canada. I am writing on personal growth and growth mindset and the human capital that is the source of all business value. I am writing about change and transition and the challenges of building on past successes, expanding on the base of proven results and going to next level of contribution, meaning, fulfillment and joy.
So if that sounds good to you, stay on and stay tuned. There is much more to come as we all learn to navigate the "interesting" times to come. See you next time.
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...and if you have a few extra minutes, drop in on Johnny and...let your heart say fire it up, and let your soul say fire it up and let your mind say fire it up...