Ever think: “What can I do?”

I almost didn’t do it.

Who would listen to me? I hardly knew anyone. I wasn’t an officer or in any leadership position.

But I saw the problems. I felt the tension. And I couldn’t just do nothing.

Over 10 years ago, my family joined a new church after we moved. We loved the children’s programs for our growing family.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later that I started to notice:

• the hushed conversations

• the finger pointing

• the negativity.

I knew these were all good people, but something was going on. It turned out there was conflict between the pastor and associate pastor, ultimately

dividing everyone.

And then I had an idea.

I offered to lead a project to re-ground the church in a new mission statement.

To allow people to come together to create vs. tear down. To unify.

Since no one had any better ideas, they said sure – let’s do it. We called it Project Butterfly so we could transform and fly.

Through the turmoil (both pastors ended up leaving), I led us to create something we were all proud to be a part of.

Usually giving would take a serious hit through this much uncertainty. But donations actually INCREASED ($$) because Project Butterfly gave people a

shared vision and hope.

This is how leadership happens:

Observe → See a problem.

Have an Idea → See a solution.

Make it Happen → Have the courage to see it through.

I help diverse professionals to lead and make a difference, even if they don’t have ‘the title’ for it.

If you’re shutting down your ideas because you don’t think anyone will listen to you, you’ll never know the difference you can make.

Speak up.

Share ideas.

Make a difference.

“When you need to innovate, you need collaboration.”

Marissa Mayer

American business executive and investor