In 1932 Coca-Cola was extolling consumers to taste its “ice-cold sunshine.” After 129 years of selling carbonated soft-drink, one of the world’s largest companies has realized that consumers downing 1.8 billion of their beverages daily in 200 country’s comes with a wider responsibility. When that same sunshine becomes more associated with drought and global warming, it’s time to rethink your marketing slogan… and your business model.

The Chief Sustainability Officer of Coca-Cola, Be a Perez (pictured above), attended the COP21 Climate conference in Paris recently, and joined 150 world leaders in negotiating our shared fate. The mood was far from the feel-good you get from cracking open a cold beverage on a hot day and there was a sense that no individual, company or government alone had the solution. As Perez explained, all companies and individuals have a duty to examine more closely how we produce and consume if we are to have a brighter future. Part of her passion for sustainability is closer to home – raising her own children and realizing that she must be mindful of what kind of world she will leave for them one day.

“It’s critical that business comes together with governments, civil society and NGOs to discuss solutions for climate change,” she says. “This issue is about future generations and we should be thinking seriously about how we protect the air and the water for them.”

Yet, as we’ve seen at the COP21 conference in Paris and others, part of the problem is that many people express good intentions, but without clear guidelines it’s hard to create detailed plans and put them into action. For all the goodwill that exists among consumers, who are more willing than ever to embrace change, how do we turn these words into global action?

“It’s important that this discussion is happening in the first place,” says Perez. “But you need goals that can be measured and tracked,” says Perez. “In 2013 we set a goal of reducing the carbon in our products by 25 percent. This affected our carbon footprint across the entire distribution chain.”

Coca-Cola has gone beyond the fizzy content in their trademarked red and white cans and developed plant-based packaging, eliminating the need for fossil fuels. At last count, this affected 35 billion packages around the world. “In addition, we have thought about our supply chains, and installed hybrid engines in our trucks,” says Perez. “On an even broader level, we want to examine the point where agriculture, water and energy efficiency meet – to examine how best we manage sustainability.”

Perez intents to monitor and track these goals annually for Coca Cola and then see how they stack up against an even bigger goal – the Sustainable Development Goals – adopted in September 2015 with the aim of ending poverty and protecting the planet over the next 15 years. Recognizing that the fate of all people and nations are linked, the United Nations has called for everyone to do their part: governments, the private sector, civil society, and yes, even people like us.

Despite all the talk and pledges, it all comes down to money at the end of the day. Many business leaders question how they can find the extra cash to change supply chains and introduce new ways of thinking – that sometimes involve the painful process of letting your less visionary employees go. The good news is that most major companies have now realized that going green actually saves money. And there’s no greater motivator than money.

“It does require an investment in people’s time and energy, and some funding, to put sustainable practices in place,” says Perez. “We’ve changed much of our equipment because we know we can save money. We now have 1.8 million HFC-free cooling machines and 5.6 million energy management systems in place.” The damaging affects of CFC coolant gases on our ozone layer was well-known in the 1980s, with it’s replacement, HFC, being added to the list of harmful gases at the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The energy management systems Coca-Cola developed has improved energy efficiencies by 35 percent. Coca-Cola has not just saved money for themselves, but also millions of dollars for their customers too. With a can of Coca-Cola officially available in every country in the world, except for North Korea and Cuba, that’s a lot of refrigeration – and a lot of electricity saved. The benefits of research and development in new technologies has paid off.

Perez never sought the title of Chief Sustainability Officer, the opportunity arose when CEO Muhtar Kent told her about it being available. “This is not work for me,” she states. “It’s a fortunate combination of passion and purpose, and I truly believe we can make a difference in the world.”

The company’s campaign slogan for 2016 is “Always real.” It’s a multi-edged slogan that plays on early campaigns that position the permanence of the brand and its global appeal. With Perez at the helm, it takes on a more meaningful interpretation. While some may think it alludes to the closely guarded Coca-Cola recipe that is never altered, we can now assume that it means keeping a reality check on where we’re all headed as a species.

Quit your job and embrace your calling. I don’t mean you have to stop your current employment. Rather, quit looking at your work as a job. Here’s why.

Human beings have a distinct need that separates us from other life forms.  It is the need for meaning.  There are two primary ways we can fill this need…work and love.

Understanding how we experience deep meaning from loving our loved ones or even more profoundly, loving everyone is easy to understand.  But turning our work into something sacred seems much more challenging. (It is especially challenging to women for some very distinct reasons. This topic is so hot that I’ve had several clients ask me to present a women-focused webinar on the subject which I will be presenting on December 15.  There’s no cost, and you can register here.)

It is easy to make a logical error by thinking our primary choices about work and life come down to either ‘living to work’ as in becoming a work-aholic or ‘working to live’ as in becoming a European.  I must admit for most of my adult life I have been such a champion of work-life harmony that I strongly favored the relaxed approach to work I found in Italy as a young student.  Yet, ultimately I found that making life- enjoyment one’s primary aim is too empty.

After spending the better part of eight years surveying and interviewing nearly 30,000 people about what made life worthwhile I came to some simple truths.

1. There are 7 billion people on earth and no two people are exactly the same. Each of us is different for a reason. That reason is to make our difference.
2. When we change our world for the better, the world   changes for the better.
3. Our choices of what we do for work and how we do it

These three ideas deeply influenced me in my career and in the career training I do for corporations and universities.

Consistently doing really satisfying, meaningful work really comes down to one big choice. Do you want a job? Do you want a career?  Do you want to calling?

A job is simply a way to make money so you can live the rest of your life. The primary demand of a job is to be responsible.  Show up and do your work faithfully. At times we all must do jobs.  The financial stresses and practical demands of life simply require it. There are bad consequences to not having enough money to take care of your own needs and fulfill your genuine responsibilities. However if you work in a job too long it is likely to become a prison.

You may think you have no choice. But it’s a trap to think that you ever reach an age where you cannot learn what you need to learn to escape the grind of the job and find the joy of your calling…a calling that will make you all the money you need to live a life you love.

Many successful people choose a career over a job.  The primary demand of a career is mastery.  People who are exceptionally competent in a high demand field can make a lot of money and acquire the trappings of modern-day success.  However this is no guarantee that you will be doing meaningful work.  That is, work that is meaningful to you.  It is widely known that professionals who have the deepest regret about their career choice are lawyers. By age 40 surveys show that 52% of lawyers wish they had made another career choice.

Lawyers are not alone however in the simmering stew of regret.  Careers that demand expensive education can also be traps. It is easy to make a logical error thinking that you have invested so much time and money in a career that you would be crazy to change. That’s simply not true. Some of the most successful and happy people I interviewed in my research are people that made massive and surprising career changes. I met a lawyer who became high school teacher, and a fashion executive who became a spiritual life coach. I met many others with similar stories. What they have in common was that they are great at their work and are happy to do it. What they found is nothing that they had learned was wasted. They are satisfied because they had found their calling.

Finding your calling requires two primary things. Courage to face your truth and deeper than average self-awareness. The primary demand for calling is to do work that reflects your purpose, personality and values.

You’ll notice that it does not require you do work that is directly aimed at saving the world.  Once you become intentional about transforming your work into your calling you will see your work in a new light and pursue your work in a new way. As I said, the world needs all of us in our many varieties and interests.

Surveys of all job categories find that about 30% of working people find their job both purposeful and a way to express their values through their personality. In this way work gives them energy rather than drains it.

So how about you?  What are you doing for work right now? Is it a job? A career? Or a calling?

Let me encourage you. Don’t settle for a job.  Don’t degrade your life for a career.  What you do matters. You are designed perfectly to succeed at your true calling. And please believe me, with all the research I’ve conducted and all the coaching that I’ve done I can assure you what I am saying is not goofy, pie-in-the-sky.  Many, many, many people have it all and so can you.

If you want to know more about my approach to transforming work into a calling then register here for my webinar on December 15.  It’s designed especially for women and the stressful, conflicting commitments that are so common on their life path.

A new global study of more than 3,700 students at 29 top business schools found that corporations unwilling to act on environmental issues are increasingly punished by the men and women they would like to recruit. The study, conducted by Yale University in collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Global Network for Advanced Management, shows that 44 percent of students are willing to accept a lower salary to work for a company with better environmental practices. Conversely, about one-fifth of respondents expressed an unwillingness to work for companies with bad environmental practices regardless of salary considerations. Students also overwhelmingly consider environmental action a profitable stance, noting that environmental protection will improve economic growth and provide new jobs.

“We often talk about a transformational change of our society, when we speak about climate action. And that transformation will affect both business as well as the institutions that educate the leaders in business” said Peter Bakker, President and CEO of the WBCSD. “The role of business in society is changing. Business leaders need to understand the complex nature of sustainability issues and integrate solutions for social and environmental challenges, with the need for good financial results. Today’s summary of survey results brings a clear call for change, demanding action on environmental sustainability. If business schools and business can deliver against this call for change, the necessary transformation toward a sustainable future will clearly be much more impactful.”

These next generation leaders expect business leaders, and in particular the C-Suite, to prioritize and responsibly lead in the search for environmental sustainability solutions, and they are willing to assume leadership roles themselves. More than two-thirds of participants said that they want to incorporate environmental sustainability into their careers, regardless of their role or industry. All else being equal, 84 percent of students would choose to work for a company with good environmental practices.

While voicing a need for future employers to act on the environment, business students also demanded action from the schools they attend; students want a more thorough integration of environmental issues into the core operations and curricula of business schools. Sixty-one percent of survey respondents thought that business schools need to hire more faculty and staff with expertise in sustainability; 64 percent also wanted more career services and counseling on sustainability-related jobs.

“Worldwide, today’s business schools are being called to act from the very people we’re training as leaders,” according to Edward Snyder, Dean of the Yale School of Management. “It’s incumbent upon us to prepare our students for the world not of last generation, but the next.”

As the climate change negotiations at COP21 in Paris build steam, these results highlight the rising priority of solving climate change among future leaders. For a full copy of the report visit: https://cbey.yale.edu/risingleaders.

 

World leaders will meet in Paris next week and hopefully forge a historic agreement to fight climate change. We will need every tool at our disposal, including sensible policies and new technologies for clean energy and transportation. But we also have to go back to our roots. Forests, which cover a third of the land on earth, are an often under-appreciated resource for helping to address climate change, ease poverty and secure a sustainable future.

Forests play a central role in the carbon cycle. When trees are cut down, not only do they cease to absorb carbon, but they release greenhouse gases as their biomass decomposes and underlying soil organic matter oxidizes. Deforestation accounts for at least 12 percent of human-caused CO2 emissions, the second-greatest source after burning fossil fuels. For many developing nations in the tropics, deforestation is the largest source of emissions. This is especially true when forests or carbon-rich peat soils are burned. In Indonesia recently, fires set to clear land for agriculture have generated emissions exceeding the average daily emissions from all U.S. economic activity.

However, forests don’t always figure into climate negotiations as prominently as they should. Many countries have included forest management in their proposed climate commitments, but several (like Russia) lack specifics or a proven track record of good forest carbon management. Other countries, like Indonesia, have ambitious goals to reduce deforestation, but may struggle to do so without financial support from richer countries.

But hope springs eternal, and there are reasons to be optimistic about forests at Paris.

First, bold countries and their leaders have proven that it is possible to turn the corner on deforestation. Brazil has reduced forest loss by a stunning 70 percent in the Amazon since 2004 through a combination of improved sustainability policies for soy and beef production, better land rights for indigenous communities, and robust law enforcement supported by satellite monitoring. Tools like Global Forest Watch are now bringing the same satellite-based technology to all the world’s forests on a free, online, interactive platform. The Paris conference will see the launch of GFW Climate, which will link data on tropical forest deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, showing how and where we should invest to keep carbon in forests and how well we’re all doing.

Second, WRI analysis shows that local and indigenous communities are effective managers of forest carbon, and securing local land and resource rights can bring substantial economic benefits. In Brazil, it costs only US$1.57 per hectare (ha) annually to provide communities with secure rights to their forests, while the resulting carbon-mitigation benefits are worth $38/ha to $230/ha per year. For the Brazilian Amazon, that adds up to $162 billion to $194 billion in benefits over 20 years. The scale is also significant globally, communities have legal rights to about one-eighth of the world’s forests.

Third, the money is starting to fall into place. Brazil’s success was helped along by billion-dollar partnerships with Norway, Germany and other donor countries. Similar partnerships are underway in Indonesia, Guyana, Peru, Colombia, Liberia, as well as many provinces and local projects. Some of these deals are on a country-to-country basis, others are tied into carbon markets through REDD+ (a scheme for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation). Far more money is needed though, to start having impact at the scale we need.

Finally, and most inspiring, countries and communities are starting to bring forests back. Forest restoration in Tigray, Ethiopia, has turned a once famine-prone region into a breadbasket, generating significant benefits for agriculture through soil improvement and water retention. WRI analysis shows approximately 2 billion hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded lands, an area twice the size of China, show potential for some form of restoration. Restoring a mere 150 million hectares by 2020 could help feed 200 million people, raise as much as $40 billion annually, and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions (though it should be noted that restoration is not a substitution for avoiding deforestation). Nine Latin American countries and organizations pledged a collective 20 million hectares for restoration at the last climate conference; this year we could see even more, supported by additional financial investment. We will also see the emergence of a major restoration initiative in Africa, the continent with the greatest area of restoration opportunity and greatest need to address food and water security as well as poverty.

The Paris climate conference is a key moment. Countries should consider land use, agriculture, and forest management in their climate commitments—with robust targets for improved management, conservation and restoration—and not simply rely on existing forests as a carbon sink to offset emissions in other sectors. Companies that impact forests with agriculture and commodity supply chains should join the wave of zero-deforestation commitments, or showcase their progress and share lessons learned. Investors should do the same, and also consider putting their money into landscape restoration, which can deliver substantial long-term returns. The climate community should also acknowledge and account for the wider benefits of forests beyond sequestering carbon, for example livelihoods, water and soil health, support for agriculture, biodiversity, and much more.

Whatever the final agreement in Paris, it is guaranteed to be a stepping stone on a much longer road to a secure and sustainable future. With an eye on forests, we can make sure that path is a green and prosperous one as well.

By Nigel Sizer and James Anderson. This story first appeared at World Resources Institute

 

I am grateful to be grateful.  I wasn’t always this way. In fact I went through major periods of my life when the repeating song on my inner soundtrack was “Why me?” My life logic was self-defeating…guaranteed to make me unhappy.
 
Life logic is a simple concept. It is how we consistently explain to ourselves why life is the way it is. It’s our inner story of cause and effect. We use it constantly. It is the super-structure of life logic that is constantly giving us strategic instructions about how we might make our life better or at least less worse.
 
My life logic for nearly 50 years is a framework called “bargaining with universe.”  It is based on the belief that if you are a good person you can prevent bad things from happening to you. Now I know… that’s a very foolish belief. Yet it is very common. A famous book was written by a Rabbi titled “Why Bad Things Happen to Good People.”  The up shot of the book is… bad things happen… don’t take it personally.
 
Unfortunately that’s not a very satisfying answer. Human beings are very uncomfortable with randomness. So we naturally seek control strategies. The things that really scare us in life are the things we don’t control. Major religions have caught onto this human longing and reinforced our misbelief that if we are good enough God will protect us from bad things. So this becomes the desperate bargain we make. Yet we can’t help but notice that too often the good die young and for some reason Mick Jagger seems both happy and healthy. What’s up with that?
 
That was my question when I was soaking in a bath of frustration surrounded by candles of self-pity after spending nearly a decade with daily bouts of emotional agony over the condition of my life. And no matter how good I tried to be, nothing got better. Then my coach said to me. “Man, you are so lucky. Everything that you have feared the most has already happened to you. And look at you, you’re still standing, still fighting. It’s awesome, you have nothing to fear now.”  For some reason those were the right words at the right time. I even wrote them down.
 
For months he’d been trying to explain to me that it is futile to try to protect yourself from all the things you cannot control. He also explained that the only viable life logic is to develop the bone-deep belief that you are stronger than all of life’s tragic disappointments. If you choose to believe that no matter what happens you can be stronger, wiser and even happier because of what your difficulties have taught you… you will be. He asked me to think of people who live by that life logic. I thought of Nelson Mandela and my Mom.
 
Since that epiphany I have become a student of the power of gratitude. With the explosion of research in positive psychology and the effects of gratitude meditation we now know that science clearly confirms that gratitude is health food for our mind, emotions and even our bodies. (Controlled studies show people who do daily gratitude meditation can lower their blood pressure!)
 
Perhaps the most powerful research on the effects of gratitude is from Richard Wiseman, who has performed numerous studies linking gratitude meditation to behavior change. This is what he found.
 
Most people who simply write down one thing they are genuinely grateful for each day and focus on their positive feelings for 60 seconds get three beneficial effects over time.

1. They become more open minded and willing to try new experiences.
2. They become more optimistic and opportunity oriented.
3. They project a positive–constructive personality which expands their circle of supportive friends.

It’s simple. The grand effect on the lives of people who live life through the lens of gratitude is they become happier. Wiseman also discovered that gratitude sets up an eco-system of behavior that makes you luckier… that is, you will have more positive opportunities than average.
 
That’s why I love Thanksgiving. It’s a national holiday with a much deeper practical message than just turkey and football. It’s time to take stock of both the good things that we take for granted as well as what we have learned from the tough things that we’ve experienced.
 
Just think about this. Many experts believe that about 70 billion people have lived their lives on planet Earth. Until about a century ago most parents buried two to three of their children before they reached adulthood. A winter cold routinely turned into lethal pneumonia. Starvation and violence were everyday fears.  These and countless other hardships were accepted unchangeable conditions.
 
How most of us live today would be a fairy tale for nearly everyone who has lived before us. Truly, of all the people that have ever lived, we have the most to be grateful for.
 
And even if you have gone through a very tough time just remember what my coach said. “You’re still standing, still fighting. You’re awesome. You have nothing to fear now.”
 
Happy Thanksgiving!

 

We, the Nobel Peace Laureates and Peace Organisations, in the presence of youth from all over the world, gathered together in Barcelona from 12 – 15 November 2015, have considered issues affecting world peace – with special emphasis on the current refugee and migration crisis.

We are profoundly shocked and outraged by the barbaric killing of more than 150 innocent people in Paris on the evening of 13 November. We express our deepest sympathy and solidarity with the families of the victims and with the people of France. 

This outrageous attack stresses the urgent need to address the root causes of the current refugee crisis and insecurity in the world. This situation should not be abused to demonise refugees and the Muslim community.

As Nobel Peace Laureates and Laureate organisations we join with millions of individuals, organisations, communities and cities who every day make a difference by working for a better and more peaceful world. 

We collectively raise our voices in compassion for the millions of refugees who have been forced to leave their homes. We affirm that the manner in which we honour and protect their inherent dignity and human rights is a measure of our own humanity.

We are particularly concerned about the plight of women and children whose lives have been devastated by conflict, repression and deprivation. We must and can eliminate the conditions that compel people to leave from their homes.

The refugee and migration crisis does not exist in isolation. It is a symptom of the broader problems that confront humanity that include

• continuing conflict in many countries;
• the consequences of militarism, extreme nationalism and the use of force and proxy wars by global powers in pursuit of strategic, financial and ideological interests;
• distorted religious beliefs that lead to horrific acts of violence;
• the failure of governance characterised by rampant corruption, persecution and the absence of democracy, basic human rights and the rule of law;
• the gross inequalities in opportunities and in economic and social wellbeing between and within the so-called developed and developing countries;
• the failure to accommodate, tolerate and appreciate the value of religious, cultural and ethnic diversity;
• the growing impact of climate change that will increasingly threaten food security and disrupt the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the most vulnerable societies; and
• the criminal exploitation of refugees by human smugglers.

We believe that many of these problems can be solved if the international community fulfils its commitment to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that nations have already adopted as the framework for a comprehensive, practical and achievable path to a secure and peaceful future.

We also call on the international community to

• address the root causes of the refugee and migration crisis while assuring access to asylum;
• redouble efforts to bring peace to Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Ukraine, Palestine/Israel, Somalia, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and other societies in conflict in a process that includes the peoples involved – especially women – and concerned nations;
• denounce and reject the use of distorted religious doctrines and ideologies to justify violence by placing perverted beliefs above compassion and other universal values;
• ensure that refugee children have adequate access to education and health care;
• promote good governance based on respect for fundamental human rights and the rule of law;
• prevent ethnic conflict and repression by recognising the value of diversity and by protecting the rights of minorities;
• achieve and implement international agreements to combat climate change that bind all elements of society including government, business, finance and the military – with special focus on the forthcoming conference in Paris;
• identify and prosecute those responsible for human smuggling; and
• provide much greater support to countries bordering conflict areas which are hosting refugees – and underfunded humanitarian organisations aiding refugees.

True security will never be achieved by military force or by the possession and threat of nuclear weapons. It requires adherence to international humanitarian law and global cooperation in meeting the authentic needs of humanity. We call on the nations of the world to

• redirect each year at least 10% of annual military expenditure of over 1.8 trillion dollars to implement the programs required for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals;
• implement fully the Arms Trade Treaty and end illicit arms trading;
• put an immediate end to any new arms race – especially the modernisation of nuclear arsenals and the pursuit of fully autonomous weapons systems; and
• fulfil the legal obligation to commence negotiations now to eliminate nuclear weapons.

True personal, national and global security is found in the practical application of compassion.

Since World War II, researchers have been asking: “What makes great leadership?” “How do successful leaders become who they are?” and “What are the skills and capacities that make them successful?”

Until the middle of the 20th century, centralization of power and control were the primary themes in the leadership literature. As a result, many answers to these questions initially centred on the military, and many of the great leaders written about in the United States were famous generals such as Patton and Eisenhower. Based on principles of scientific management and the rational man, modern leadership theory began to emerge in the middle part of the 20th century.

Personality traits, intelligence and leadership styles became a primary focus for describing great leadership. Transactional and transformational theories of leadership that focused on the ability of leaders to motivate their workers also emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. Collectively, these theories became known as “great man” theories of leadership. Over the second half of the 20th century, leadership scholars have conducted more than a thousand studies in an attempt to determine the definitive styles, characteristics or personality traits of “great man” leaders.

The major assumption underlying these “great man” theories is that leaders are born and not developed. Further, that these great leaders possess extraordinary capacities including charisma, intelligence and confidence.

Significant alternatives to the “great man” theories emerged in the late 20th century that focuses more on self-awareness and broader purpose. Terms including “servant leadership,” “primal leadership,” “authentic leadership” and “enlightened leadership” began to appear.

Based on my experience in the corporate world and in higher education, the most important capacity for leaders to develop involves their psychological and emotional development. This includes a greater awareness of values, motivations, and deeper purpose. For this reason, I use Servant Leadership, Primal (emotionally intelligent) Leadership, and The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook as my primary course texts.

When my awareness of the ecological crisis deepened, I discovered how servant leadership and emotionally intelligent leadership lead to serving not only the people around us, but also the natural environment around us. I discovered new ways that these leadership philosophies can contribute to a psychology for sustainability leadership.

Read more in Steve Schein’s new book A New Psychology For Sustainability Leadership, available here:

Steve Schein is a sustainability leadership educator, researcher, and executive coach. After 25 years in the corporate world and 10 in academia, he sees the evolution of business leadership and education towards ecological sustainability a global imperative. To that end, his research focuses on the development of ecological and post-conventional worldviews in the setting of multinational corporate leadership.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Net Impact and the GEOS Institute. He can be reached through his website at www.steveschein.net.

Seventeen-year old Abraham M. Keita from Liberia is the 2015 winner of the International Children’s Peace Prize. He was presented with the prestigious award for demanding justice for children who are victims of physical or sexual violence, and for successfully campaigning for the Liberian parliament to adopt the Children’s Law. The award was given to him at a ceremony at The Hague in the Netherlands on 9 October.

In the presence of the world press Keita received the Prize from Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee who in 2011 was the first Liberian to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in Liberia’s peace-building process. Gbowee said: “It is a great honour to award the Prize. It is very special and inspiring that Keita, already at such a young age, demands that perpetrators and would be perpetrators be held accountable. I recognise in him a true changemaker: fighting to end the extreme violence against children!”

In September, Keita was nominated by Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu, patron of KidsRights and the International Children’s Peace Prize, together with Aziza Rahim Zada from Afghanistan and Jeanesha Bou from Puerto Rico. Keita’s tireless work as a campaigner, bringing attention to crimes against children and campaigning until the perpetrators are locked away, stood out and convinced the jury. Keita also played a leading role in the Liberian Children’s Parliament where he successfully lobbied the Liberian Parliament to adopt the Children’s Law to protect children’s rights.

The KidsRights Youngsters, the group of winners of the International Children’s Peace Prize, which includes Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai, congratulated Keita wholeheartedly: “We are happy to welcome Abraham to the Youngsters. Together we will continue the fight to improve children’s rights and advocate for an immediate end to violence against children.”

Upon receiving the Prize today, Keita confirmed that their work will continue: “Together with my peers I have successfully lobbied for children’s rights laws, but they now need to be put into practice. Children worldwide are still exposed to violence and injustice while thugs often go unpunished. I want people across the globe to acknowledge that this is unacceptable and that every world citizen, whether young or old, can be an agent of change.”

The International Children’s Peace Prize is an initiative of KidsRights, the foundation committed to defending children’s rights worldwide. The award ceremony is held annually in The Hague, the Netherlands, the international city of peace and justice. The prize is awarded annually to a child who fights courageously for children’s rights. Every year, the message of the new young winner has enormous impact and demonstrates to millions of people globally that change is possible.

Some clients tell me they consider me an expert in helping people discover their purpose in life. Of course, that’s very affirming. so I like it. And I really hope it’s true. After all, I’ve been helping people find their life’s mission since 1983, when I started working with Stephen Covey. That’s over three decades of nearly daily engagement linking the deep questions of life with the challenges of work, business and leadership.

I also have been the beneficiary of life’s rough stuff. I became well acquainted with many of life’s I-never-thought-this could-happen-to-me-catastrophes and persistent gut wrenching stress. I have swum in the stormy ocean of life’s great disappointments.

I find that the juxtaposition of my idealism and my life’s reality has pushed me hard on issues of faith, purpose and reconciling the existence of evil… all the big gnarly questions. I spent the better part of a decade submerged in introspection and angry meditation. Okay… I know real meditation doesn’t allow for anger yet I found that anger, frustration and despair are powerful motives to drive deep persistent meditation on the purpose of life.

Over the years I’ve also found the time to study the big thinkers from Plato to Whitehead as well as the world’s most persistent religions. Through workshops I have helped thousands of people draft inspiring mission statements and designed and conducted research with over 30,000 people to discover what they find most satisfying as well as what’s most difficult about modern life.

Well, a few days ago gave a TED-length talk to group of 50 leaders who direct ecology based nonprofits. I was told they wanted something inspirational.

As I thought about my work with nonprofit leaders, I consistently found that many are chronically stressed and upset.  Their frustration stems from being overmatched by the wealth and power of people who care so little for the environment that they take no responsibility for polluting, eroding and destroying our living spaces in the name of commerce.

I empathize with that anger, yet living life as a permanent underdog or even worse, a victim, is self-defeating. Shaking your fist at a mad world is initially good to awaken you but over time it will make you weaker.

I also find some nonprofit leaders burdened by their noble cause. It’s as if they’re doing what they think they should even though they would rather be doing something else. I found that people who try to use their personal guilt or even sense of duty as a primary motive will soon lose their good judgment and creativity as well as their zest for life.

I felt that what I wanted to do in the short time we had together was to lift these leaders’ inner burdens, melt some of their frustrations, and help them find their inner sources of optimism and joy. So I begin my remarks by saying… “If people I love asked me on my deathbed what I have learned that was really important, this is what I would tell them.”

1. All of us long to be valued.  I believe that is our primary human motive. Some people are really good at creating honest to goodness value in this world but many are not. Many people seek to be valued in all the wrong ways. They want to be famous, or rich or powerful. Insecure and selfish people still long to be valued and when they’re not they often act in awful and even evil ways.  I have found that viewing someone’s bad behavior as either an attempt to be valued, or reaction to not feeling valued helps me to stay calm and wise. Believe me, understanding people’s universal core motive doesn’t let anyone off the hook for being a stinker. It just makes you wiser in how you respond.
2. The purpose of life is to be compassionate toward all, all the time. I believe this to be the core truth of all 17 enduring major religions.  When the great authority on world religions, Dr. Huston Smith, was asked what he learned over his lifetime of studying world religions he answered, “To be a little kinder.”  The Dalai Lama has said, “Kindness is my religion.”  Loving kindness meditation is one of the most powerful personal tools to become free of biases, past hurts, and persistent self- criticism. It is simple to do. Take a meditative position, and with deep rhythmic breathing you simply create an inner intention for yourself, your loved ones, your circle of acquaintances and coworkers, and your enemies. Thinking of each one of these groups in turn you simply use your inner voice to pronounce your positive intentions.  You can simply say to yourself, “I desire to experience love, health, wisdom, success and happiness today.” Then you express the exact same intention for each group ending with your enemies. My experience is that you won’t have some room-shaking epiphany. Rather, slowly, overtime your view of everyone will change. And you will feel a new level of connectedness and contentment that will make you more calm, resilient, and powerful.
3. Your Mission is to create value by expressing your gifts doing whatever you’re doing right now. There are 7.4 billion people on earth today. I am convinced no one is extra and no one is the same.  Furthermore, all our circumstances and opportunities are different. Our mission is to use our unique personalities and talents to create value in every situation. I’m convinced that you do not need to do something amazing to be amazing. Every honest profession needs talented people who are excited to do their work in their own best way. Consider this; Abraham Lincoln wasn’t a glamorous lawyer. He litigated over 5,000 cases most of which were land disputes in rural Illinois. What set them apart was the way he approached his profession. He was honest. I won’t make any lawyer jokes here but being honest was a very distinctive quality. He refused to represent clients who wanted to plead innocent even though they were guilty. Lincoln got so famous for his honesty that he was elected President during our country’s darkest hour. My point here is critical to understand.  Lincoln’s personal mission wasn’t to become President like so many of the politicians we see. His mission was to create value through by amplifying his values in the circumstances he found himself.

I am convinced it is not so much what we do, as it is how we do that matters. We need excellent janitors and flight attendants, and retail clerks, and doctors and nurses, and engineers and cartoonists. We also need moms and dads, and aunts and uncles, and sons and daughters, and good friends and neighbors…well, I think you get what I mean. Every honest profession and every role in life is a chance to create value for other human beings. We create value when we don’t go through the motions but when we express our highest and authentic selves to make things a little better, a little lighter a little more enjoyable.

The key is to be your best self. Use the good and virtue that’s inside you to energize your gifts.

We all have different gifts.  Some of us are analytical, some are visionary, some are optimistic, some are prudent, some are leaders, and some are supporters. Most of us are many of these things depending on the circumstances. The key to fulfilling your mission is to not wait for the right opportunity to be awesome. Just be awesome all the time.  Don’t make excuses and don’t apologize. Just give your gift to create value. That’s your mission.

What I’ve learned is this.  You’re designed to make your difference.  When you make your difference every day in a hundred little ways the future shifts.

What if the true purpose of life was not to change the world but to change yourself? And what if by doing that the world actually changed?

Please don’t wait to become a compassionate person. Please don’t wait to fulfill your mission. Just love all and give your gift.