Changing the World: Life Choices of Influential Leaders
Description
This project studies the life choices made by a variety of people who have left a lasting legacy. Using biographical data, we are examining the choices that high-impact individuals faced in their lives and the paths they chose to follow. The leaders we study come from business, science, the arts, government, humanitarian organizations, education, sports, and entertainment. Their personal lives and values are wide-ranging—and, at times, controversial. However, they all have one thing in common: they are famous because they changed the world in significant ways.
The goal of the project is to uncover commonalities among these high-impact individuals: What skills did they choose to invest in early in their careers? How did they allocate their time? What did they choose not to do? How did they balance the pressures of career and family? What critical goals did they set for themselves? How did they leverage their energy and creativity? How did they discover new opportunities and new ways of seeing the world?
The search for patterns in choices among these prominent historical figures will challenge students or anyone interested in making a difference to think through the choices that they may want to make (or not make) in their own lives and careers.