There are many ways to encourage people. One approach is to do positive work that helps people or the planet. Different people follow this approach in different ways.
Some focus on encouraging people, being effective and delivering excellence. Some aim to build on their strengths, do superb work and help people to achieve success.
Some people do practical work that encourages both present and future generations. Some aim to pass on knowledge that helps people to shape a positive future.
Everybody is different and follows this approach in their own way. The follow section describes people who have aimed to do positive work that helps people or the planet. Let’s explore these themes.
Positive Work
That Helps People
Some people build on their strengths when taking this approach. They then aim to do superb work that helps people to shape a positive future. Different people do this in different ways.
Mary Gordon chose to help people to build positive relationships. She founded the organisation and programme called Roots of Empathy.
This aims to build caring, peaceful and civil societies through the development of empathy in children and adults. Here are excerpts from the organisation’s website.
In the programme a parent and baby (who is two to four months old at the start of the program) from the community visit a classroom nine times over the course of a school year.
A trained Roots of Empathy instructor visits with the family to guide children as they observe the relationship between the baby and its parent.
The instructor also visits before and after each family visit to reinforce teachings. There are 27 classroom visits in total in a Roots of Empathy program.
In the program, the baby is the “Teacher.” With each family visit, the instructor leads the children in noticing how the baby is growing and changing over the course of his or her first year of life.
The children also watch the loving relationship between the parent and baby and see how the parent responds to the baby’s emotions and meets the baby’s needs. The attachment relationship between a baby and a parent is an ideal model of empathy.
Children learn to understand the perspective of the baby and label the baby’s feelings. They are then guided in extending this learning outwards so they have a better understanding of their own feelings and the feelings of others.
Mary chose this path to pursue a compelling purpose. This has helped many young people to develop skills they can use to build positive relationships in their future lives.
Some people like to serve something greater than themselves. They choose to take this approach rather than focusing on their own self-promotion.
The service approach was one I learned from Alec Dickson, one of my mentors. He founded Voluntary Service Overseas and Community Service Volunteers.
It was Alec who gave me my first opportunity to work with people. Travelling to CSV’s office in London in 1967, I had no idea how my life would change. Several years had been spent trying to get a full-time voluntary job helping others, but this had proved difficult.
During the visit to Toynbee Hall, I had a promising meeting with Elisabeth Hoodless, who was later to lead CSV. Alec then introduced himself. The things he said struck an immediate chord. My lack of education did not matter, he said. I had something to give.
Treating me as if I was extremely intelligent, he explained the philosophy behind VSO and CSV. Here is a summary of some things he said.
Alec believed that the giver often receives as much as the receiver. Why? Our self fades into the background when we are giving and yet we often feel more real afterwards.
Leaving the meeting, I floated along the pavement. Elisabeth and Alec had promised me they would find a place for me to serve. They gave me the opportunity to become a housefather for mentally handicapped children. Since that day I have always had the opportunity to do fulfilling work.
Many people reported similar meetings that changed their lives. Here is an extract from an obituary written about Alec after his death in 1994. It was written by Martin Stephen for The Independent.
A Meeting Multiplied Many Times
I met Dickson on many occasions but the abiding memory is of the first: being summoned by him to a meeting at 11.30pm at Sheffield Midland station (he was, as usual, in transit), to discuss my recently announced placing as a volunteer at a northern remand home.
I was barely 17 years old. Though there were clear similarities between my recent experience in a public school boarding-house and life with 50 delinquents in a secure unit, my sense of panic was held at bay only by my sense of shock.
I do not remember his exact words, but he said he trusted me, as he trusted all his volunteers, to do the job, to help someone along the way and to end up just a little wiser after.
It was a turning point in my life and I know from countless conversations that I was one of many who were similarly affected.
Many people do work that helps other people. Some also focus on the following theme.
Positive Work That
Helps The Planet
Jack Sim is somebody who uses his strengths to help both people and the planet. Taking a pride in being known as Mr. Toilet, he is committed to providing sustainable sanitation for people around the world.
Jack founded the World Toilet Organization. Here is some background about him and the organisation taken directly from its website.
Jack Sim, Mr. Toilet, has broken thetaboo on sanitation and brought issues about toilets and hygiene out into the open.
After attaining financial independence as a businessman in Singapore by 40, Jack decided to devote the rest of his life to development work in line with his motto:
“Live a useful life.”
In 1998, Jack established the Restroom Association of Singapore (RAS) whose mission is to raise the standards of public toilets and address the issues of poor toilet design, inadequate building codes and poorly trained cleaners.
As Jack began his work, he realized there were organizations similar to this in other countries and without any central governing body.
Soon thereafter, he founded the World Toilet Organization (WTO) in 2001. Since 2001, Jack has been involved in sustainable sanitation efforts all over the world.
The Elders is an independent group of global leaders. Founded by Nelson Mandela, they work who work together for peace and human rights. Here is an excerpt from the group’s website.
Elders no longer hold public office; they are independent of any national government or other vested interest. They should have earned international trust, demonstrated integrity and built a reputation for inclusive, progressive leadership.
The Elders share a common commitment to peace and universal human rights, but they also bring with them a wealth of diverse expertise and experience.
The peace makers with decades of experience mediating and resolving conflicts around the world. The peace builders who have helped post-conflict societies to heal wounds and rebuild.
The social revolutionaries who transformed their own countries – whether by reducing poverty, improving the status of women, or championing nonviolent struggle. The pioneering women who have governed their countries, led international institutions and spearheaded movements to empower women.
An Elder is also a changemaker – someone who can lead by example, creating positive social change and inspiring others to do the same. The Elders represent an independent voice, not bound by the interests of any nation, government or institution.
They are committed to promoting the shared interests of humanity, and the universal human rights we all share. They believe that in any conflict, it is important to listen to everyone – no matter how unpalatable or unpopular this may be.
They aim to act boldly, speaking difficult truths and tackling taboos. They don’t claim to have all the answers, and stress that every individual can make a difference and create positive change in their society.
There are many ways to encourage people. One approach is to focus on a specific activity where you want to do positive work that helps people or the planet. How could you do this in your own way?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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