Personal and Professional Commitments

Sociology

Personal and Professional Commitments

Creating social change is not an easy thing to do. Those who devote their lives to leading social change must have certain qualities in order to successful elicit change. Dealing with societal problems can be a very burdensome load for someone to take on. I believe that in order for me to be successful at leading change I have to make sure that I focus on certain personal commitments. It will only be by focusing on these commitments that I feel I will be able to be successful in my future endeavors.

The first thing that I must commit to is that of adopting a spirit of compassion (Wronka, 2008). It is very important for anyone who wishes to lead change to completely understand the issues as hand (Toporek, Gerstein, Fouad, Roysircar-Sodowsky and Israel, 2005), so that they can have compassion for the issue and how it impacts both individuals and society as a whole. In order to bring about change, change agents must completely empathize with the issue and the problems that it brings about for people. Change agents must be able to put themselves into the position of those who they are trying to help in order to make sure that they truly understand where they are coming from. It is vital to be sensitive to the situation at hand and have the spirit that everyone is in it together and that as a team the problem can be solved (Wronka, 2008). I feel that it is very important for me to be able to completely see both sides of an issue so that I can better aid a person to improve their situation.

The next commitment that I feel that I have to make is to keep an open mind (Wronka, 2008). It is very important for change agents to make sure that they don't go into a situation with a preset mindset that gets in the way of seeing the entire situation for what it is. Being able to assess the situation for what it is and then developing a plan to deal with it is the best way to tackle a problem. If one already thinks that they know what is going on and how the best way is to solve a problem before they have even heard the entire problems then they are very likely to overlook something that might turn out to be vital to the solution. What may look like one thing in the beginning may turn out to be a completely different thing in the end and if one does not keep an open mind they are liable not to come up with the best solution possible.

The last commitment that I need to make is that of to always remain positive and keep on smiling (Wronka, 2008). The social issues that change agents often face are not always pleasant in nature. This can make this line of work very down and depressing at times. Those who undertake these issues must be able to remain positive through even the worst adversity. Continuing to be positive will portray to those who you are trying to help that they must continue to believe that things will get better if they persist on. Keeping this positive is the best way to keep everyone engaged into change and on the same page, which allows for change to be successful.