Change: the product of quiet, steady, unremitting pressure

I’m not a fan of the French, but I remember studying abt this little guy who made a tremendous impact in Europe. I like him (and I’m sure there are other Frenchmen of equal quality). His name was Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet (November 9, 1888 – March 16, 1979). He is regarded by many as the architect of European Unity. Never elected to public office, Monnet worked behind the scenes of American and European governments as a well-connected pragmatic internationalist.

I like him, because of his ability to bring change from outside the limelight. He’s a model for the quiet, steady, unremitting pressure required for movement building. As I also think about change in Africa, I want to be the kind of social entrepreneur that he was. Part of his secret is captured in the following quotes:

In his Memiors, Jean Monnet observes that “one cannot concentrate on an objective and on oneself at the same time.” People of ambition fall into two groups, according to Monnet. There are those “who want to do something” and those “who want to be someone.” The key to lasting change is to be the former.

He writes:

“The main concern of many very remarkable people is to cut a figure and play a role. They are useful to society, where images are very important and the affirmation of character is essential to the administration of affairs. But, in general, it is the other kind of people who get things moving—those who spend their time looking for places and opportunities to influence the course of events. The places are not always the most obvious ones, nor do the opportunities occur when many people expect them. Anyone who wants to find them has to forsake the limelight.”