From Boy Scout to Microcredit Pioneer_ Five Skills for Changemakers - Virgin

8/10/2019 From Boy Scout to Microcredit Pioneer_ Five Skills for Changemakers - Virgin

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10/16/2014 From Boy Scout to microcredit pioneer: five skills for changemakers - Virgin.com

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From Boy Scout to microcredit

pioneer: five skills forchangemakers

By Ashoka

@ashoka

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It is unlikely that the 15-year-old MohammadYunus, who visited North America on

a Boy Scout trip a half century ago, ever imagined returning 57 years later

to receivethe United States Congressional Gold Medal.

He was awarded such an accolade earlier this year because hes had a profound

influence on the way the world does business. So what can we learn from him?

Here are five things that social entrepreneurs and changemakers can take from his

life and work

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The importance of empathy:

Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings and perspectives of others, and to

use that understanding to guide ones actions. This skill is even more important in

our modern world where were exposed to so much new information, people and

places every day.

Yet, despite this, as Yunus found through his life we humans are the same more

than we are different. Empathy is key to making these human connections and

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Connect with where you are:

A deep understanding of a particular place or culture gives a social entrepreneur

an almost spiritual association to their work.

Yunus spent his early childhood in the village of one of the poorest nations in the


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Step up to leadership:

Perhaps this is an obvious point, but what makes Yunus a truly exceptional social

entrepreneur is that he is a true leadera master craftsman whose work shifts

mindsets about the global fight against poverty. Not only has he carved out a path

for social business, but he offers guidance to those hoping to follow in his

footsteps. He is able to help us vision a positive future and help us find a path to

get there.

- Muhammad Yunus is an Ashoka Global Academy member.

- Thumnail image from One Young World facebook page.

world, but always remained loyal and rooted in his concern for the Bangladeshi

people.

For example, during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1972, he founded a citizens

committee, ran the Bangladesh Information Center, and published the Bangladesh

Newsletter alongside his role as assistant professor of economics at the Middle

Tennessee State University.

Think big:

Bill Drayton (Founder and CEO of Ashoka) famously said, Social Entrepreneurs are

not content to teach a man to fish.

They will not rest until they have revolutionised the fishing industry. Yunus desire

to alleviate poverty was and is on a structural level, through the development of

microcredit and microfinance. Poverty is not created by poor people; it is created

by failure of institutions. He convinced local banks to make loans to underserved

populations a systemic shake-up which could have a transformative impact on a

poor persons life. The Grameen Bank [LINK] he founded has now gone on to work

in areas from agriculture to communications.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151645070003053.1073741862.56777943052&type=3https://www.ashoka.org/academy


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What other skills or beliefs do you think are important for social

entrepreneurs?

Comments

Tagsentrepreneur, ashoka, business tips & advice, business videos.

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Muntasir Rashid Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) 247 followers

When we 160 million Bangladeshi people are grateful to Dr Yunus and proud of him, currentillegal govt. of Bangladesh is trying to destroy Grameen Bank by forcing it into adopting a new

shareholder rule. They have forcefully removed Dr Yunus from the management post anddisgracing him frequently. You might want to cover that part in your next article and put somelight on this issue. It will help grow awareness and save Grameen Bank as well as millions ofpoor people whose only option is micro credit.

Reply Like 18 November 2013 at 12:474

Surjasikha Ganguli Works at Dean

I don't have anything more to add to the skill set of the social entrepreneur just want to share thisinformation, that is minimal I can do. To me the must skill is learn from your failures and nevergive up as there will be obstructions from all sides.


Beth J Boeing Licensed Realtor Brokerat Beth Boeing Realtor Broker

Excellent...Yunus' award and the importance of empathy in social entrepreneurship!!


Beth J Boeing Licensed Realtor Brokerat Beth Boeing Realtor Broker

Outstanding interview clip embedded in this! ;-)


Moitree Rahman

Correction: The Liberation War was held in 1971 in Bangladesh, not in 1972.


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