These mantras can help you get started on a new path forward, stay focused on how you can make a difference, and remind you that change is possible.
TURN OUTWARD
Turning Outward is first and foremost an orientation—a mindset, a posture—of using the community, not our conference rooms, as our reference point for creating change. Keeping the community in your line of sight and focusing on people will help your work be relevant, significant and impactful.
GET IN MOTION
When trying to create change, it’s easy to get stuck in planning mode. Often the best way to create momentum is to get in motion—it doesn’t matter where you start, it just matters that you start. Once you get in motion, you make new discoveries, find new possibilities and new partners. Getting in motion will help you feel a sense of agency and confidence that change is possible.
START SMALL TO GO BIG
Comprehensive plans often stall and fail, deepening frustration and cynicism and causing people to give up and retreat. Start small. Step forward and declare your intentions to make something happen—then choose something actionable and doable to tackle first. These small actions will cause ripple effects that can catalyze a chain reaction.
CREATE A NEW TRAJECTORY OF HOPE
The fourth mantra builds on and grows out of the first three mantras. By Turning Outward, getting in motion and starting small to go big, you can get things moving in a positive, constructive direction to create a sense that tomorrow can be better than today. When people see productive actions being taken and a track record of progress emerging over time, it will foster hope in a community.
Download and print the Key Mantras poster and post it by your desk—or anywhere you’ll see it often—to use as a touchstone.