Scott Johnson had no grand plan for switching careers. He was sitting in an airport lounge, on a day like any other, when his eyes fell on the smallest news item. "It was something really tiny, I mean, two paragraphs, that talked about MS and myelin repair." But that brief article was enough to launch him on a life-changing journey.
While it began as a personal quest -- diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his twenties, he was interested in finding out more about this particular research -- it soon became a mission. What really got him hooked was when he started talking to people in medical research and realized that the current system wasn't working (if your eyebrows shoot up at this, read on).
In response, he founded the Myelin Repair Foundation, which is both making huge strides in MS research and revolutionizing the way disease research is done. The model MRF has developed has been so successful that, "we're cutting the time to drug discovery in half" and other medical charities -- including the American Cancer Society -- have inquired about their brilliant new approach. (Don't take my word for it -- visit their website to find out more.)
Scott Johnson, 51, is a New Radical. That is, someone who has leveraged his career expertise to take on some of the world's toughest problems. He's part of a movement that is taking place all around us -- you've undoubtedly seen examples of this trend yourself. I've simply connected the dots and given it a name.
The movement was started by the baby boom generation. What is triggering their desire to do good? Unlike Scott, most New Radicals get some kind of wake-up call -- such as a growing sense of their own mortality, job loss, illness, or divorce. Call it a midlife crisis; new research shows that a decline in satisfaction really does happen in our 40s. As Shannon Proudfoot (CanWest News Service) writes, "Researchers examined the life satisfaction of two million people in 72 countries through several decades and found that happiness universally dips when people hit midlife." (Just imagine the world-changing impact of millions of boomers responding to this unhappiness not by buying red sports cars but by becoming New Radicals!)
Yet all of this doesn't explain what inspired the rest of the movement. I know hundreds of people in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s who have become New Radicals. And then there are the Next New Radicals -- men and women in their 20s and 30s who are very clear that they want a career that is about doing good from the get go.
In the coming months, I'll write about the themes I explore in my book -- the paths New Radicals follow as they transform what they do for a living -- and will tell new stories with each post to help show that people of all ages, in each field, every sector, and around the world are becoming New Radicals. I hope to inspire you to find your own path of positive service.