Rough Sailing on the Seven C's

Implementing social change is not easy. If it was, we would all be living in the perfect utopia of a world. However, I find that the effort you put in to overcome obstacles is usually worth it in the long run. As the saying goes, "Nothing worth having in life comes easy." This is caused by the fact that the problems that need to be affected by social change are usually deep-rooted and take more than one person scratching at the surface to have any long lasting, positive effect. The book, "Leadership for a Better World" describes the Social Change Model of Leadership and the Seven C's: Consciousness of Self, Congruence, Commitment, Collaboration, Common Purpose, Controversy with Civility, and Citizenship. These seven individual, group, and community values must work together to cause social change.

Take Acacia Fraternity as an example. Acacia holds ties to the Masons, a distinguished organization that is now viewed as an extremely secretive cult whose purpose is shrouded in mystery. Through history, Acacia has struggled to keep these ties intact. At first, only Masons were admitted to the fraternity. Subsequently, Acacia voted to accept members who simply pledged that they would become a Mason and in 1933 the Masonic prerequisite was done away with altogether. This change was necessary to enable the fraternity and its motto, "Human Service" to stay intact, thus bringing about greater social change.

On a small scale, one may think of a member of Acacia Fraternity at Ohio State affecting the fraternity and affecting the Greek Community at Ohio State. On a larger scale, one can see this same member affecting the Acacia International Fraternity and thus affecting the world. A member of Acacia Fraternity must have Consciousness of Self, Congruence between his words and actions, and Commitment to his passion to become a successful leader. Then through Collaboration with his brothers and Controversy with Civility, which breeds new ideas and changes, the group can share the same Common Purpose of Human Service. This ideal can be seen through the Citizenship that Acacia Fraternity members exhibit in their community. Through Seven Days of Service, Acacia Claus, and local philanthropy events and community service projects, members of Acacia strive to help the patients of Shriners Hospitals for child burn victims and other noteworthy causes.

It comes down to a numbers game. One person can have an effect on dozens of individuals who form a group and that group can affect hundreds of people in a community. However, it does not stop there. These hundreds of people motivate the individual, thus refueling and shaping his or her life so that even greater social change can occur. In this way, one person can make a difference in the close to seven billion people that inhabit the world.