Making a Difference

Everyday Americans are waking up wondering how they can make a difference, and leave behind a legacy in this world. Who doesn’t want to have an everlasting positive impact?

When the opportunity arises to make a small commitment to a charity or purchase a green product, it sparks a feeling of self-actualization. This feeling invokes an automatic response of wanting to give more.

Typically, an individual begins visualizing contributions he or she could make on a grander scale. This process is highlighted in the Commitment Consistency Theory that states, "persuading people to comply with a small and seemingly harmless request greatly increases their likelihood of complying a with subsequent, larger request" (Vaidyanathan & Aggarwal, 2005, p. 232).

Have you ever joined a professional committee? While working on a small project for the committee you become inspired and begin redesigning the project, in order to make a larger impact on the community. This is the perfect example of starting off small with a harmless project that provokes thoughts and ideas on how to make the project bigger, better, different. In every community project I've worked on I have noticed that I always get back much more than what I put into it.

Are you a part of a professional committee? Which one? Have you been persuaded to take on more of a leadership role within that committee?

Are you interested in joining a professional organization, but not sure which one to join? Check out my team's myspace page! We have links to lots of professional organizations in Central Ohio.

http://www.myspace.com/networkcolumbus

If you like what you see add us to your friend list and post a comment while you are there. Feel free to forward this link to anyone looking to get Connected in Columbus!


Vaidyanathan, R. & Aggarwal, P. (2005). Using commitments to drive consistency: Enhancing the effectiveness of cause-related marketing communications. Journal of Marketing Communications, 11(4), 231-246.