Change the World

At work today, the Vice President of B&H Publishing Group told me to change the world.

But what was so powerful wasn't the fact that she told me to change the world: it's that every time she sees me she tells me to change the world.

B&H Video Shoot on 1/18/2012

You see, Selma knows me. My boss's boss isn't some mysterious figure, pulling puppet strings from on high. She knows her employees, she knows their passions, and she knows what gets them going. And she knows exactly what she expects from me: to change the world.

You see, when you work for a company like B&H where the day to day business of what we do is so intrinsically tied to who each individual is... you can't help but be passionate about your work. You can't help but strive for the biggest possible goals. And when a leader sees that in you... when your leader tells you over and over again to change the world...

Not only does it communicate that she believes that you CAN change the world, it communicates that you aren't just permitted to do so - no, that would not be enough. It communicates that she isn't joking.

The first time she said it, I smiled. I was happy - she understood how I viewed the world and our place in it. The second time she said it, I smiled. I was all like... she remembered our last conversation! Awesome! This is going to be "our thing" - my VP knows me as a world changer! The third time she said it... maybe, just maybe, she was serious.

Every time I see her and have any kind of meaningful conversation... she tells me to change the world.

I don't know that there is anything any boss could say to me that would encourage me more.

You see, at B&H, it's not about selling books or making cool widgets. It's about discipling the church. Being a foundation for people that are seeking truth. It's about letting the world know that there is still Good News to be heard.

There are a thousand and one opportunities to change people's worlds through our content. A hundred new ways each day to distribute our wares through physical, digital, experiential or undiscovered means. When I sit down to a meeting, when I turn on the iPad, when I sip my coffee... I never know what the next moment might bring.

And I know, because my boss said so, that I should never settle for less than changing the world.