Over recent weeks, I’ve been involved in several chats about change makers and how you work out if you are one.  

As well as being a coach, I’m a campaigner. For me, it means that I identify a specific change that needs to happen and then take action to influence someone to make that change – so it could be getting a policy change or changing social norms so that people do something different.  

The word campaigner has a particular image attached to it – I reckon a few of you are already imagining people out on the street with a banner, shouting loudly. Protests are an important part of campaigning but it’s not the only story.   

So, what about the word change maker? There doesn’t seem to be a strong image or story attached to it. When I think of a change maker I thing of someone whose primary driver is making a positive change in this world . So this could include campaigners as well as many others. It could be people striving to improve their local community, perhaps by championing a community garden so that everyone has a green space to enjoy. It could be a social entrepreneur who has set up a company to tackle a problem they’ve noticed. It’s the individuals who write notes to their local councillor or to the supermarket to ask them to tackle extra packaging or to help feed the homeless.  

Suddenly, when we think about change makers this way, we begin to recongise that may of our friends, neighbours and work colleagues are change makers.   

Through my work coaching change makers I often see some commonalities ; They often hold a value around prioritising others and it is their passion that keeps them going and fuels their determination to not give up until they achieve what they’ve set out to do. While this helps them to keep going it could also lead to feeling a huge amount of pressure which shows as stress, over working or deproritising their own needs.   

As a campaigner I know exactly what it is like to feel this way. And as a coach I can help change makers find a way to let go so that they can continue to do what they love – making this world better, more just and more beautiful. If this feels like you, book a free conversation today.