| Social
entrepreneurs are helping to create a more peaceful, just and sustainable world.
-- Robert Alan
|  |
| "Founded on the
principles of private initiative, entrepreneurship and self-employment, underpinned
by the values of democracy, equality and solidarity, the co-operative movement
can help pave the way to a more just and inclusive economic order"
-- Kofi
Annan |  |
- "What business
entrepreneurs are to the economy, social entrepreneurs are to social change. They
are the driven, creative individuals who question the status quo, exploit new
opportunities, refuse to give up, and remake the world for the better."
--
David Bornstein
According
to the management expert Peter F. Drucker, the term "entrepreneur" (from the French,
meaning "one who takes into hand") was introduced two centuries ago by the French
economist Jean-Baptiste Say to characterize a special economic actor--not someone
who simply opens a business, but someone who "shifts economic resources out of
an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield." The
twentieth-century growth economist Joseph A. Schumpeter characterized the entrepreneur
as the source of the "creative destruction" necessary for major economic advances.
-- David Bornstein
Social
entrepreneurs have existed throughout history. St. Francis of Assisi, the founder
of the Franciscan Order, would qualify as a social entrepreneur -- having built
multiple organizations that advanced pattern changes in his "field." Similarly,
Florence Nightingale created the first professional school for nurses and established
standards for hygiene and hospital care that have shaped norms worldwide. What
is different today is that social entrepreneurship is developing into a mainstream
vocation, not only in the United States, Canada, and Europe, but increasingly
in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In fact, the rise of social entrepreneurship
represents the leading edge of a remarkable development that has occurred across
the world over the past three decades: the emergence of millions of new citizen
organizations.
-- David Bornstein
"Entrepreneurs
have a mind-set that sees the possibilities rather than the problems created by
change."
-- J Gregory Dees
"Social
entrepreneurship describes a set of behaviors that are exceptional. These behaviors
should be encouraged and rewarded in those who have the capabilities and temperament
for this kind of work. We could use many more of them. Should everyone aspire
to be a social entrepreneur? No. Not every social sector leader is well suited
to being entrepreneurial. The same is true in business. Not every business leader
is an entrepreneur in the sense that Say, Schumpeter, Drucker, and Stevenson had
in mind. While we might wish for more entrepreneurial behavior in both sectors,
society has a need for different leadership types and styles. Social entrepreneurs
are one special breed of leader, and they should be recognized as such. This definition
preserves their distinctive status and assures that social entrepreneurship is
not treated lightly. We need social entrepreneurs to help us find new avenues
toward social improvement as we enter the next century."
-- J Gregory Dees
 |
"Change starts
when someone sees the next step."
-- William
Drayton *
"Social
entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will
not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry."
-- Bill
Drayton |
The core psychology of a social entrepreneur is someone who cannot come to rest,
in a very deep sense, until he or she has changed the pattern in an area of social
concern all across society. Social entrepreneurs are married to a vision of, for
example, a better way of helping young people grow up or of delivering global
healthcare. They simply will not stop because they cannot be happy until their
vision becomes the new pattern. They will persist for decades. And they are as
realistic as they are visionary. As a result, they are very good listeners. They
have to hear if something isn’t working; and, whenever they do, they just keep
changing the idea and/or the environment until their idea works. They are intensely
concerned with the how-to’s: How do I get from here to there? How do I solve this
problem? How do these pieces fit together?
-- Bill
Drayton
The
biggest problem is getting beyond the “you can’t” syndrome. The moment you figure
that out, you’re on your way to flying. Anyone who cannot see problems around
him or herself is utterly blind. All the problems sitting there are an invitation
for you to be creative, make use of your skills and resources and find a solution.
Of course you can do it. It doesn’t require brilliance. It’s just giving yourself
permission and then being persistent. Persistent in seeing the problem or opportunity
and persistent in thinking about it until you have come up with some interesting
ideas that might change the pattern. It’s really a mindset, not anything in the
objective world — that is the problem.
-- Bill
Drayton
What
is the most powerful lever you can imagine? A big idea, but only if it’s in the
hands of a truly outstanding entrepreneur. It starts with the person and the idea,
and then grows to the institution. All three are intertwined.
-- Bill
Drayton
| |
*
"What
we need is an entrepreneurial society in which innovation and entrepreneurship
are normal, steady and continuous."
--
Peter F. Drucker "the
entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an
opportunity."
-- Peter
F. Drucker |
| If
they [companies] believe they are in business to serve people, to help solve problems,
to use and employ the ingenuity of their workers to improve the lives of people
around them by learning from the nature that gives us life, we have a chance.
~ Paul Hawken |  |
SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEUR QUOTES
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What's
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