Proven Strategies to Catalyze Positive Impact from Alex Budak “Becoming a Changemaker”

An Actionable, Inclusive Guide to Leading Positive Change at Any Level. In “Becoming a Changemaker,” renowned social entrepreneur and UC Berkeley professor Alex Budak delivers a powerful, actionable blueprint for anyone yearning to make a positive difference. Through captivating stories and hard-won insights, Budak illuminates the path to transforming your passion for change into real-world impact. Dive into this extraordinary book to ignite your inner changemaker and learn how to effectively tackle the issues you care about most.

Discover the changemaker within you – keep reading to learn Budak’s proven framework for turning your vision for a better world into reality.

Genres

Self-help, personal development, social entrepreneurship, leadership, activism, business, changemaking, inspiration, social change, making a difference

In “Becoming a Changemaker,” Alex Budak draws on his extensive experience as a social entrepreneur and educator to provide a step-by-step guide for aspiring changemakers. The book is divided into three parts:

1. Believing in yourself as a changemaker
2. Mastering the key skills of changemaking
3. Sustaining yourself on the changemaker journey

Budak begins by helping readers overcome self-limiting beliefs and build confidence in their ability to effect change. He then delves into the essential skills of changemaking, including empathy, storytelling, collaboration, resilience, and leadership. The book is packed with practical exercises, tools, and frameworks readers can immediately apply.

Budak shares inspiring case studies of everyday people who became extraordinary changemakers, from a teenager who started a global movement to a middle-aged woman who saved her local library from shutting down. He distills the patterns and principles that enable regular people to achieve remarkable impact.

The book also addresses often-overlooked aspects of the changemaking journey, like dealing with failure, preventing burnout, and persevering for the long haul. Budak provides strategies for integrating changemaking into different areas of life, from career to community.

Filled with wisdom, optimism, and actionable advice, “Becoming a Changemaker” is an empowering guide for anyone ready to take action and build a better world. Whether you’re a student, entrepreneur, mid-career professional, or retiree, this book will equip you with the mindset and skills needed to turn your vision for change into reality.

Review

“Becoming a Changemaker” is an exceptionally inspiring and practical guide for making a positive impact. Alex Budak’s writing is clear, engaging, and infused with contagious optimism grounded in real-world experience. The book brilliantly demystifies the process of changemaking, providing an actionable roadmap accessible to anyone.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is Budak’s ability to blend compelling storytelling with evidence-based strategies. The case studies he shares are diverse, relatable, and powerfully illustrate his teachings. Readers will find it easy to see themselves in these stories and feel empowered to take similar action.

Another highlight is the wealth of practical tools, exercises, and frameworks Budak provides. From identifying your changemaking mission to designing your theory of change to building a sustainable team, he breaks down the process into clear, manageable steps. Readers will come away with a robust toolkit they can apply to tackle any issue.

Budak also excels at addressing the emotional side of changemaking. He normalizes the self-doubt, fear, and obstacles changemakers face, offering both reassurance and strategies to overcome these challenges. His emphasis on self-care, resilience, and long-term perseverance is refreshing in a world that often glamorizes overnight success.

“Becoming a Changemaker” is a must-read for anyone who wishes they could make a difference but doesn’t know where to start. It’s also an invaluable resource for existing changemakers seeking to amplify their impact. Budak’s wisdom and passion make this book a powerhouse of inspiration and empowerment.

While the book is excellent overall, one minor critique is that some readers may find certain sections less relevant depending on their specific changemaking goals. However, the book’s modular format makes it easy to focus on the most pertinent sections.

In conclusion, “Becoming a Changemaker” is an outstanding guide that delivers on its promise to equip readers with the mindset and skills needed to effect positive change. Budak’s book is a gift to anyone yearning to make a difference, providing the tools and inspiration to turn that desire into meaningful action.

Recommendation

Given the rapid pace of change, succeeding requires becoming a “changemaker,” writes social entrepreneur Alex Budak. Changemakers look optimistically toward the positive possibilities of the future, explains Budak, empowering themselves to spearhead progress. Anyone can learn to be a changemaker by committing to developing the skills and strengths required and by embracing agency with courage. Stop waiting for permission to enact change and embark on your journey as a changemaker today.

Take-Aways

• “Changemakers” are hopeful disrupters who upset the status quo and identify opportunities at the intersection of disciplines.
• Assess your strengths and weaknesses as a changemaker.
• To foster a changemaker’s mindset, become a humble, flexible servant leader who is not afraid to fail.
• Changemakers fuel collaboration, building virtuous cycles of trust.
• Don’t wait for permission to embrace bottom-up “microleadership.”
• Be the leader you wish you’d had by building a culture of psychological safety and inclusivity.
• Muster the courage to take action, even when you feel vulnerable.
• Successful changemakers combat the anxiety that accompanies achieving something great by breaking down their goals into small, manageable blocks.

Summary

“Changemakers” are hopeful disrupters who upset the status quo and identify opportunities at the intersection of disciplines.

A changemaker is someone who drives positive change from wherever they are. This simple, all-encompassing definition includes those who instigate small, incremental change as well as those who pioneer paradigm-shifting change. Changemakers don’t just conceive of ideas but take action to create a more positive future. To become a changemaker, tap into your inner agency and learn to drive, shape, and lead change. Change is a formidable juggernaut that can be tricky to navigate, so learn to get comfortable with it. You’ll learn to spot opportunities amid the flux if you adopt the mentality of a changemaker, which boasts three fundamental characteristics: First, changemakers aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. They are curious nonconformists, and they take smart, measured risks. Second, they discover opportunities at the intersection of diverse fields, combining multiple perspectives and outlooks to find the best possible solutions. And third, changemakers embrace hope, combining optimism with action.

“Changemakers take action, believing that a brighter future, a better path forward, is possible and giving themselves permission to go create it.”

Changemakers cultivate “learned optimism,” a concept coined by Martin Seligman, the pioneer of positive psychology. Learned optimism means navigating challenges with the hope that you can create a brighter future. But such hope isn’t passive wishful thinking; it’s the confidence in knowing you have the agency to make improvements when situations go awry. Learned optimists realize that adversity is temporary. They are able to compartmentalize setbacks, preventing obstacles from leaking into other areas of their life, and they recognize that they are not to blame for uncontrollable setbacks.

To amplify your impact and open up a wealth of career opportunities, take three steps on your changemaking journey: First, commit to becoming a changemaker yourself. Second, seek out and collaborate with other changemakers. And third, assist others on their journeys to becoming changemakers.

Assess your strengths and weaknesses as a changemaker.

Anyone can become a changemaker. While changemaking may seem like a flimsy soft skill, by taking the Changemaker Index self-assessment annually, you can measure your progress toward becoming a changemaker along five dimensions:

• “Changemaker awareness” — Do you perceive yourself as a changemaker? Do you have an accurate perception of your own strengths, opportunities, and growth areas? Do you have friends, colleagues, or mentors who are changemakers?
• “Changemaker mindset” — Can you identify opportunities while navigating rapidly changing contexts? How often do you step outside your comfort zone? Are you adept at viewing disappointments as learning moments?
• “Changemaker leadership” — Can you develop a compelling vision for change, inspiring others to join forces with you? Do you create an environment in which other people feel safe trying new tasks and being themselves? Do you sway others, even when you lack formal authority?
• “Changemaker action” — Do you take initial action steps to execute your grand ideas? Can you connect your small actions with bigger, systemic change? Are you confident that you have what it takes to bring your ideas to life?
• “Changemaker effectiveness” — Can you build momentum, persevere in the face of adversity, and support sustainable change? Are you leading any projects that aim to realize positive change? Do you help others on their changemaking journeys?

To foster a changemaker’s mindset, become a humble, flexible servant leader who is not afraid to fail.

Humility is one of the greatest strengths a leader can possess. One study found that humble leaders are responsible for less employee turnover, greater employee satisfaction, more diverse managers, and larger profit margins. Another study found that humble leaders are less inclined to believe fake news, are better equipped to deal with uncertainty, and are less afraid to admit mistakes. A lack of humility is often a “fatal flaw” for changemakers. Consider Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, a fraudster who attracted millions in start-up capital while falsely claiming to have developed huge advances in blood testing. A study by Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great, found that leaders of “great” companies shared the qualities of “fierce resolve and humility.” Demonstrate humility by sharing praise with your team when you experience wins and taking the blame when problems arise.

“No meaningful change has ever happened without many failures along the way. To lead change is to fail, and to be a changemaker is to embrace failure.”

Adopt an ethos of servant leadership. Imbue all your actions with a strong sense of ethics. Prioritize the interests of those you serve above your own. If you manage a team, reflect on whether you do everything you can to help your direct reports achieve their maximum potential. Identify hurdles that might impede workers as they attempt to execute tasks while seeking ways you can help by intervening. Servant leaders listen to others and give them space to communicate their needs. Rather than serve your agenda, develop a broad vision you can share with others. Be patient in your pursuit to realize change. Think beyond the next five years and articulate a compelling picture of the change you hope to serve over the next few decades.

Changemakers must be able to pivot and adapt in uncertain, dynamic environments. Psychology professor Steve Zaccaro suggests cultivating three types of flexibility — “cognitive, emotional and dispositional flexibility” — to thrive in shifting circumstances. Cognitive flexibility is the ability to consider two or more different, even conflicting, ideas at the same time. Emotional flexibility is the ability to interact with others, with empathy, on the emotional spectrum where they reside. Dispositional flexibility is the ability to be simultaneously hopeful and pragmatic — an essential characteristic for pioneering change. Changemakers must cultivate resilience and be prepared to fail repeatedly before achieving their goals.

Changemakers fuel collaboration, building virtuous cycles of trust.

To pioneer change, changemakers must give and receive trust — a difficult task considering the recent decline in trust. Research shows that 71% of Americans’ trust in one another is diminishing. Oxford University lecturer Rachel Botsman suggests that trust isn’t entirely rational. Rather, being trusting requires taking a “trust leap,” despite uncertainty. To secure the trust of others, changemakers must first demonstrate their trust in themselves and in others. Accumulate self-trust by adopting “trust-inducing habits.” For instance, tackling small tasks fosters the confidence you need to believe you are capable of accomplishing greater feats. If you suffer from imposter syndrome, consider that the condition is pervasive and strikes most people at some point or other.

“Trust can, indeed, become your superpower — as long as you are willing to take the trust leap yourself.”

Many people struggle to trust others. Consider a student assigned to a group project who is wary of others not pulling their weight. In collaborative environments, all participants must trust one another. If you struggle to extend trust, start by taking small, smart risks, and delegate projects with clear goals and realistic deadlines, which ensures you have sufficient time to correct any potential mistakes. Prepare a backup plan in case your faith in others proves unwarranted. The peace of mind that accompanies having a plan B will help you become more comfortable trusting others. When you extend trust, you are more likely to receive trust in return, which creates a virtuous cycle. Inspire trust by demonstrating vulnerability and transparency. Be “hard on ideas but soft on people” — that is, critique ideas, but never the person or team who suggests the idea, to show respect for those who disagree with you. Remember that changemaking is a “team sport,” so your ability to collaborate will determine the extent of your success.

Don’t wait for permission to act. Embrace bottom-up “microleadership.”

You don’t need permission or a title to assume the mantle of a leader. Leadership is not a privilege. It is available to all. Becoming a leader is merely a decision. Do you choose to serve others? Start acting like a leader by strengthening your ability to collaborate, inspire, direct, make decisions, and influence others.

In the past, leadership operated from the top down. Today’s changemakers view leadership as a lateral, networked activity. Meaningful social change occurs when a group of people collaborate toward achieving a common goal, not when a single person controls and overpowers others.

“Acting like a leader, not merely thinking like one, happens when we stop waiting for permission and instead give ourselves permission to be changemakers and leaders.”

If you don’t lead a team, you can still demonstrate “microleadership” by engaging in everyday acts of leadership when the right moment arises. Believe in your leadership capability, and permit yourself to lead from where you are. Seize leadership opportunities by adopting a bottom-up approach. Focus on serving others. Take action when the moment calls for it, consistently and with courage. Develop your influence by investing in your relationships, practicing empathy, and building your networks.

Be the leader you wish you’d had by building a culture of psychological safety and inclusivity.

For individuals to excel, organizations must adopt a culture of inclusivity. That means building diverse teams and encouraging people to share their authentic ideas and perspectives. Inclusive leaders never exhibit favoritism, ignore opposing views, or force people to adopt their ideas. On the contrary, inclusive leaders ensure that everyone feels safe to share their views. They demonstrate humility, curiosity, cultural intelligence, an ability to collaborate, and an awareness of their own biases. Teams with greater diversity and inclusion perform and innovate better, as team members benefit from a wider range of knowledge and experiences.

“Just like changemaking is not one-size-fits-all, neither is our leadership style. We can all lead in a way that is true to ourselves. And if we decide to be the leader we wish we had, we can ensure that we bring out the very best in those around us while we do so.”

Harvard professor Amy Edmondson defines psychological safety as “a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking.” On psychologically safe teams, people feel confident that verbalizing their thoughts and ideas won’t result in social rejection, punishment, or embarrassment. Mutual respect and trust permeate psychologically safe teams, making people feel comfortable revealing their authentic selves.

Psychologically safe teams boost learning, employee retention and engagement, drive innovation, and innovate. Nurture psychological safety by giving everyone a chance to make suggestions before making a decision. Celebrate failure that results in progress. Be alert for an idea that gets widespread acceptance, especially if you have proposed it. Opponents may not feel psychologically safe enough to dissent. Focus on what you learn from challenges, rather than demanding perfect execution.

Muster the courage to take action, even when you feel vulnerable.

Apply the “changemaker impact equation”: Determine your impact by multiplying your actions by the sum of your leadership and your mindset. This equation helps you consider the necessity of action. If you take no action, and multiply it by zero, you see no impact. Develop “the art of agency” — that is, the capacity to feel frustration and hopelessness, while knowing that you have the power to manifest change. Remind yourself that you always have agency and that even inaction is an action. Take small steps to get your project rolling and to give you the confidence you need to take big, bold actions when you must. View obstacles with a fresh perspective, reflecting on whether you could leverage resources differently.

“Can you find that courage calling out from inside you? The courage to stop thinking of changemaking as something that other people do, and tell yourself that it’s now something you do.”

Instigating change may trigger feelings of vulnerability. That’s perfectly normal. Take a cue from best-selling author Brené Brown and channel your courage into action. Gain momentum by finding people who believe in your message and who will act as early champions, sharing your vision with enthusiasm. Yet welcome input from cynics and detractors. Engage them with small requests when appropriate. Be persuasive when sharing your message by asking questions, rather than telling people what to do. Help people feel empowered to decide whether to adopt your mission.

Successful changemakers combat the anxiety that accompanies achieving something great by breaking down their goals into small, manageable blocks.

Pioneering change can be daunting, yet most successful changemakers share a common set of tools to achieve their goals. They break down their large, overarching goals into smaller, more attainable bite-size pieces. Overcome your inhibitions about becoming a changemaker by deploying the Changemaker Canvas to give you the clarity and confidence you need to become a leader of change:

1. “Vision” — If your changemaking journey overwhelms you, contemplate why you are dedicating your time to enact your desired change. Write a single sentence describing a concise, clear, and compelling vision for your desired change.
2. “Opportunity” — Identify your core problem in one sentence, the short- and long-term consequences of not addressing it, and the problems underpinning it.
3. “The Four S’s of Change” — Gain clarity on how to create lasting change by considering the “substantive impact, scalability, sustainability, and systems change” — such as policy change — that solving your core problem requires.
4. “Action” — Test your ideas using the lean start-up model. Build a minimum viable product to create the simplest, smallest tests possible. Plan your strategies to ensure resilience. Describe how you might deal with likely obstacles.
5. “Community” — Identify collaborators who can help you on your path to change. These should include “doers” — core team members — and “evangelists” — those representing the broader community, such as a diverse advisory board or a coalition of organizations working toward similar goals that are willing to join forces.
6. “Approach” — Changemaking starts with embracing the appropriate mindset and leadership approach, and putting everything you learned into action by leveraging the strengths you developed, such as learned optimism and the desire to serve.

About the Author

Social entrepreneur Alex Budak is a co-founder of StartSomeGood, a community that aims to support fledgling social entrepreneurs. He teaches the course “Becoming a Changemaker” at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.