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redouane soualmi

IPSF AfRO Chairperson, International Pharmaceutical Students Federation

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Can we transform ordinary people into extraordinary people to achieve extraordinary things ?

We have a big deal today ! How to challenge people in our community to be active, more involved everywhere in professional work, volunteer work and with family?
If you are leader of group (work, association, family) how you can transform ordinary people to extraordinary people ?

Topics: education leadership
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  • Charan Singh

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    Mar 18 2013: Yes we can ! Provided - teachers accept their powerful role as learners , that seems currently missing from the system. This will encourage fearless questioning and dialogical interactions amongst leaners that will trigger creativity - thus empowerment of ordinary into xtra-ordinary.
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    Colleen Steen 500+

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    Mar 18 2013: Hello Redouane,
    It has already been said on this thread, and it is worth repeating. WE cannot transform other people. WE can, however, transform ourselves with mindful awareness. We can support others in their life adventures, and everyone has skills, talents and qualities we can all share with each other. "BE" what we want to "SEE", and in my humble perception and experience, that is the greatest motivator
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    Feyisayo Anjorin 50+

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    Mar 18 2013: Leaders should lead by example. Leaders should have a clear vision, which could be communicated without ambiguity; and the team should be encouraged and motivated to work towards the vision.
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    Kevin Dhondt

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    Mar 18 2013: There is no person in the world who is just ordinary in my opinion. Everyone has some sort of talent and it's true that there are too much persons staying in their ordinary environment. I do believe that you can transform these people into people who do extraordinary things.

    I think that if you would really like to make a change in a person's mind, the key word should be listening. There's no one extraordinary in everything and as a leader you have to find out in which perticular thing your person is special. It's a search to someone's talent and this search should be your task if you want to improve these persons. It's searching with them to the flame that is burning deep inside them and if you're able to find that, you will be able to encourage him/her to develop it.

    Off course as said before by some others in this conversation, self-awareness is the most important thing but if you're a good listener and interpreter you can find out what is driving people, you can find out what their passion is and most of the time I think is their talent to be found close to their passion. If you discover this, you will be close to pushing these persons over the edge to do extrordinary things. I think that it's the task of the leader to help his people to find their self-awareness.

    Show these people what they are capaple of, let them believe that they can make a difference when they really can and they will probably be ready to do extraordinary things I guess.

  • Karim Hassan

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    Mar 18 2013: I doubt a single person is ordinary. I believe that people are made ordinary by the stress and restrictions of society. Each person lives life only once, and i find it very doubtful that someone would be unwilling to spend it actively pursuing what they love to do, and excelling in it. With the correct motivation, and opportunities, each individual can become extraordinary.

  • Barry Hillman

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    Mar 17 2013: Haven't heard this, but it might be interesting:
    Live Lecture DVD:
    The Importance of Being Extraordinary
    by DR. WAYNE W. DYER, ECKHART TOLLE
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    redouane soualmi

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    Mar 17 2013: greg dahlen@ I don't want to be ! I want to do.... and the question that i asked it's very important in our life, because all of us want to make changes but most of us are on my talking !! and when you start doing things you can see that to make changes it's not easy, so to be a leader it's not easy, how to make people active, how to challenge your employee..... so I believe that if we can make transform ordinary people to extraordinary people to do extraordinary things you will change you family, your coworkers, employee, community after you city, region, country and in the end the world !
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    Scott Bell

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    Mar 17 2013: The greatest contribution we can make to the world is to cultivate our own self-awareness. We are not able to do this when we are continually concerned with how OTHERS should improve themselves.....Only the ego has the power to convince itself that it has topped out with respect to life potential. :-) The ego is a tricky bastard......we are not your egos.

    • Barry Hillman

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      Mar 17 2013: I agree, self-awareness is important...the best we can do is to improve our own understanding of what we do or why we don't do what we'd like to do. I don't want to convince people who they are or what they should do, but I like exploring human potential with others....I think we learn through the sharing of each others personal life experiences....if something I've done might strike a chord for you, then it might be something to try for yourself....not concerned how anyone does things, but I try to be there for them if they need encouragement doing it.I don't agree with anyone that tells me there's only one right way to do things. We have to find what's of value to us and in the process maybe find out more about ourselves.

  • greg dahlen 30+

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    Mar 17 2013: I don't know. Some will say that it's more important to accept people the way they are. Maybe you transform people just by being a model of what you want to see and talking about yourself.

    redouane, who are you trying to be? Are you succeeding at some of the things you mention above? Why or why not?
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    Gail . 50+

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    Mar 17 2013: We can't transform others, but we CAN transform ourselves and realize the extraordinaryness of our own existences. Then, if what we have transformed ourselves into is seen as having value, we will be role models that inspire and soon everyone will be extraordinary, so the word will have no meaning any more.

  • Barry Hillman

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    Mar 17 2013: We have to convince people that there are capable of doing much more than they think they can. So many people simply think about doing sometime meaningful with their lives and never actually do anything. Remember the Nike ad: "Just Do It"
    Don't wait until the "perfect" time to start whatever it is you what to do or achieve...start before you think you are ready. My advice is try doing sometime you've always wanted to do. Extraordinary things can happen can happen to anyone...the only difference between "ordinary" and "extraordinary" people is that extraordinary people do what ordinary people are not willing to do....they are just as capable of doing it, but not willing to do it.
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    Fritzie Reisner 100+

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    Host
    Mar 16 2013: I am not sure what defines someone as "ordinary." I don't think it is a constructive label. People bring different strengths to the table, but there are so many valuable things anyone can do. We can't all do everything well, but we can all do lots of useful stuff well.

    The Drew Dudley TED talk addresses this point.

    If you lead a group, you might convey to people the idea that anyone can improve the quality of life for those around them. You don't have to be particularly smart or anything else. You just have to care.

  • Robert Galway 30+

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    Mar 16 2013: Sincere and well timed encouragement, well crafted mentoring, demonstrating through personal example all that one person can do, helping people find their gifts.

  • Eric Hazelle

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    Mar 16 2013: It is said the average person uses only 10% of his / her brain. If we could find ways to get people to use more of their brain power, perhaps that transformation to "extraordinary" could come about. What keeps us from using more of our brains? I think emotions play a part. When we hear something we disagree with, we get angry. Endorphins flood our brain, and we get a feeling similar to taking drugs. All this short-circuits calm and studious reflection. Emotions are an important part of the human makeup, but unrestrained and unexamined, I think they can do more harm than good. Consider also laziness, conformity, fear, the desire for quick and easy solutions; maybe a school class in "how to think" could become part of the standard elementary education curriculum, and set the rising generation on a more productive path.
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