I am often asked: Who is STRIVE’s target audience? The answer is thinkers. Those who ponder the greater possibilities and imagine the previously unimaginable. Those who are driven to seek and manifest something better than the current circumstance. Their vision can be as simple as a community garden or as grand as a solution for global hunger, an idea for a new business or a way to transform an existing industry.
I prefer the term thinker over leader because while not everybody views themselves as a leader, few will deny they have ideas. Also, the term leader is too often confused with age, seniority, title, or wealth, none of which, in and of themselves, ensure an individual will be able to deal with the change and resulting possibilities that lie ahead. Moreover, many in such positions may resist change and preserve the status quo, defending the conditions that helped build their authority and success.
This issue marks the sixth publication of STRIVE, as well as the second anniversary of the magazine and its digital platform. Envisioned as a one-time marketing tool, STRIVE and its mission to share first-person stories of positive leadership and innovative solutions has grown well beyond the original idea.
That’s the magic of ideas. Rather than being diminished when shared, their power and potential expand exponentially when embraced by the enthusiasm of those who ultimately become their cocreators. This has been my experience when sharing the idea and intention of STRIVE. I have always known the enthusiastic and positive masses outweigh those with a negative view. However, I never truly appreciated to what extent until I began to share STRIVE’s vision: to create a platform that aggregates and gives voice to positive experiences and innovative ideas from thinkers of all backgrounds.
There was a time when people and their ideas were separated by geographical barriers, natural and man-made. That is no longer true. Barriers have been removed and communication time compressed. Today, our world is a smaller place. An individual can quickly and easily communicate their ideas to one person or millions through a global network at the speed of light. It is STRIVE’s mission to take advantage of this transformation and to promote a conversation that will advance ideas for positive change and connect those ideas with their cocreators.
The STRIVE platform currently engages thinkers throughout North America, as well as in 29 countries, and continues to grow. Please consider this your invitation to join the conversation.
This letter first appeared in the JUL-SEPT 2018 issue of STRIVE magazine.
Rick Thomas graduated in 1985 from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) with a degree in Finance. He spent 10 years in the banking and insurance industries, but his true passion is Sociology – fascinated by why people do what they do and how populations respond.
An entrepreneur at heart, Thomas opened The Chariot Group, Inc., in 1999, an enterprise that is globally recognized for its expertise in videoconferencing system design, installation and integration. In December 2016, he launched the STRIVE Group to address a growing market need for a variety of consulting services focusing on leadership, workforce investments and business sustainability.
Thomas is a respected industry leader and torchbearer of digital transformation, using a platform of innovation to connect people with ideas and solutions.
