develop leadership skills, follow their passion, and make a difference in local communities and on a global level.
Acting as a citizen statesperson puts demands on finances, time, and relationships. Passion and drive make the tradeoff worthwhile.
A citizen statesperson is uniquely positioned to adopt a multifaceted viewpoint that helps develop unlikely solutions to advance a cause.
BEING A CITIZEN statesperson is issue‐ and geographically agnostic. That's not to say that citizen statespeople aren't passionate about specific issues or focused on specific places; to the contrary, a deep interest in an issue can be essential to progress, and a sense of place—a commitment to a local community or population—can help a citizen statesperson build social capital and create an effective movement. Instead, what it means is that passion around any issue offers the opportunity for citizen statespersonship, and any location or community can be a hub and launching pad for change. In that way, citizen statespersonship has the ability to cut through the greatest challenges of our time, providing a universal mentality and approach capable of solving problems at scale.
The ability to look beyond a specific place or a specific issue area is a useful asset. Today, the world is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. As a result, most major challenges transcend geographic boundaries. At the same time, few problems can be placed into clear‐cut subject or topical boxes; from economic hardship to climate change, from violent conflicts to social justice, individual challenges often have cross‐cutting roots and expansive impacts. The ability to work across disciplines and issue areas proves immensely helpful.
That mentality—understanding the value of context and connections—is key, because being a citizen statesperson requires the skill to connect meaningfully with others. The citizen statesperson thinks about how to convene people, how to gain knowledge through dialogue, and, ultimately, how to use the power of one‐on‐one interactions to move issues forward. Whether you are acting as a citizen statesperson locally or working abroad—and whether your work is narrowly focused or more expansive—openness to these connections allows you to have greater impact in your community and in the causes most important to you.
The Benefits of Becoming a Citizen Statesperson
Being a citizen statesperson comes with tangible benefits. It spurs leadership development, harnesses passion to drive impact, and can lead to extraordinary and fascinating careers that set the stage for global progress. In fact, the process of becoming a citizen statesperson—interacting with others, finding learning opportunities, and building social capital—provides incredible value, because it offers an up‐close, high‐resolution view of leaders of different stripes. In a way, interacting with a variety of leaders is the best way to learn leadership. It's like an apprenticeship program: it allows you to observe the traits and behaviors of other leaders to bring some of those qualities into your own toolkit.
Having to be a connector, a bridge, and a negotiator also requires a citizen statesperson to navigate complex situations and play a diplomatic role. That process can teach you to tap into your empathy, train you to envision better outcomes, and build your patience and resolve for creating systemic change. Those are not easy qualities to learn. These days, we often find ourselves confined to echo chambers of people who emphasize similar beliefs. In a world of sound bites and social media, we are frequently presented with simplified arguments and us‐versus‐them approaches that do more to inflame tensions than solve problems. The citizen statesperson experience is an antidote because it requires you to see other people's perspectives, consider nuances and new angles, and play an intermediary role to find collaborative solutions.
Citizen statespeople come to learn that leadership skills are developed, not innate, and it's only through doing—through watching leaders, interacting with leaders, and collaborating with leaders on challenging issues—that you truly enhance your own toolkit. Public speaking skills, moderating and facilitation skills, thinking through how ideas and people could benefit from one another or the cause, convening, conveying ideas clearly through the written word, and choosing causes that unite diverse people—these are all skills that a citizen statesperson comes to embrace.
Of course, taking on the role of a citizen statesperson doesn't only provide you with a chance to hone important skills; it also opens the door to incredible opportunities and experiences. Every time you open one door, another door opens. When you engage with opportunities for citizen statespersonship, you are likely to interact with other citizen statespeople—that experience can present you with fresh contacts and new chances to make an impact.
The Challenges of Being a Citizen Statesperson
Here's the truth: there are aspects of being a citizen statesperson you may not like. You may not like the time investment required to forge meaningful relationships, especially with people with whom you don't see eye‐to‐eye. You may not like the attention you garner for being a citizen statesperson, especially if you have an introverted personality or feel uncomfortable in social situations. You may not like the potential controversy being a citizen statesperson stirs up when you take a position out of principle.
These are trade‐offs that we understand. In 2016, we were both offered the opportunity to participate in the Eisenhower Fellowship—a program designed to connect and inspire leaders around the world and create a global network of change agents who are committed to a society that is more peaceful, more prosperous, and more just. It was an opportunity to travel abroad to other communities, to see change in context, and to join with other people passionate about making a positive difference.
Sounds great, right?
It also meant spending a full month away from home and family. At the time, we each had young children. We each had partners who needed to shoulder a greater share of responsibilities on the home front in our prolonged absence. We each had ongoing professional responsibilities and social networks that we would need to leave behind.
We also had individual considerations. Carrie had a one‐year‐old child and was helming a three‐year‐old organization. She had been on her version of maternity leave the year before, and was now considering the prospect of absence for a month, with no ability to check in regularly with the remaining leadership team. Two weeks before Carrie was supposed to depart for China, the person tasked with helping care for her child pulled out, leaving Carrie and her husband scrambling for additional support.
Yet even with these challenges, Carrie was committed to the project, because to Carrie, the opportunity costs of the fellowship outweighed its benefits. The fellowship offered the chance to see the world differently, to learn about a different culture, and to understand policy and business in a completely new context. The fellowship also presented Carrie with new contacts and connections; as one of the younger people selected for the fellowship, she was able to learn from a wide variety of accomplished individuals.
In fact, in Carrie's thinking, even the costs themselves had benefits. After her hired help pulled out, she was in a privileged position to ask her parents to help—and so while she had to spend a month away from her family, in exchange, her parents were able to spend time with their grandson uninterrupted. While she was absent from her organization, she was able to give her support team—and especially her chief operating officer—the experience of leading an expansive and growing nonprofit. While she was out of contact with her supporters and allies, donors were able to connect with other people on her team in new ways. Her husband—who had been supportive of her decision from the beginning—engaged in new ways on the home front in her absence.
Dean was likewise facing his own constellation of challenges. He had a three‐year‐old child at home with his wife, and so he required the same kind of family support. He had a very busy day job as a partner at a global law firm, which meant
