DO YOU LEAVE A FOOTPRINT OR JUST MAKE NOISE? FROM TRANSFORMATION TO IMPACT.

 



In this text, I will share ideas and reflections gathered at the Plena Inclusión congress, held on November 6 and 7, in Sevilla. These focus on an organizational shift that places the people supported by the Third Sector at the center of decision-making. This means driving a transformation from a more care-based model to a person-centered model, with shared leadership, where individuals move from being recipients to becoming agents of change. But transformation alone is not enough; it is also necessary to measure impact.

Impact measurement becomes a strategic tool, not only for evaluation but for guiding action and direction, emphasizing active listening to stakeholders and defining clear indicators.

We want to measure the real impact on the people we support, and that is why we ask ourselves: “Do we truly leave a footprint or just make noise?”

 

“When power is shared, impact multiplies”

Shared leadership is one of the most powerful strategies for transformation and impact.
We learned about experiences where the people being supported and their families also became part of organizational decision-making spaces, creating a multiplier effect on projects. As one speaker explained: having people with disabilities involved in organizational decision-making was part of a strategic commitment by their entity, and specifically contributed: legitimacy in decision-making and firsthand knowledge; reference effect, both internally and externally; effectiveness in designing solutions; and ownership/sense of belonging to the project.


This sense of belonging is much lower in a program designed externally without involving the people we support. As was said, it is about moving from a model that works “for them” to one that builds “with them.”


A change of perspective

Often, the deepest transformation is not in a new program, service, or organizational chart, but in a “change of perspective.” The true driver of organizational or social change begins with asking questions and becoming aware, such as: How do I see the other? How do I see myself? From what position? We need an attentive, respectful, and humble gaze. To truly see, you need someone “who acts as a guide, takes you by the hand, and walks with you.”

In fact, the real seed of change in organizations comes from this shift in perspective toward the diversity of people who make them up. This change of outlook is, essentially, the prerequisite for genuinely sharing power, as it forces us to ask whether we are truly willing to do so by recognizing the other as they are.


"Do you leave a footprint or just make noise?"

Measuring impact is one of the sector’s greatest challenges. An interesting idea is to understand impact as a “footprint”: a real and tangible change in people’s lives because of our actions. A change that endures after projects have ended.
The critical question we must constantly ask is whether our initiatives leave this mark or merely generate noise, and to answer it, we must advance in impact measurement. To do so, we need to consider aspects such as: asking and listening to the people we support, who are the recipients of our intervention: what is truly important to them?
At the same time, to measure impact we must be clear about the purpose: who the information is for; we must listen to all stakeholder voices; it is better to collect fewer data, but ones that are truly important and useful; and we must be consistent and transparent with the results we obtain, “whatever they may be.” Thus, it will be important to recognize both positive and negative impacts.
Another interesting concept is to ask about the depth of impact: what is the intensity of the change we generate, its durability, whether it is structural or not, whether it affects different spheres of people’s lives...
And finally, ensure that data complement the human narrative, but do not replace it.


Values-based leadership

“Values are always present in all our actions, and every action can be explained by the values that underpin it.” We must ask ourselves who we report to most within the organization, to see where we focus our actions. We must dedicate time to the values that truly matter.
“Values-based leadership is grounded in faith in what you are doing, in the mission you must fulfill, and in the people you must serve.”
Thus, when we talk about values-based leadership, we mean that these values must truly guide what we do; they cannot be just rhetoric, but there must be coherence between what we say and what we do. 


“If we change the beginning of the story, we will change the story”

This quote was part of a conference on early intervention, but I believe it is applicable to different fields.
It is also an interesting reflection to focus on deeper, systemic, and proactive change: instead of seeking solutions to existing problems, focus on transforming the initial conditions and patterns. It may seem simple and obvious, but often, when faced with a problem or difficulty, we devote our energy and effort to solving it rather than transforming its origin—the pattern that generated it.
Thus, applied to the organizational level, if we truly want to generate different proposals and impacts, we must work to transform the initial conditions—therefore, the structure and organizational dynamics—from which these different proposals will be built.

 

These are just some of the ideas and reflections shared at the congress... which I would summarize with the following big idea:


Social impact begins with a change of perspective and a deep, systemic change within organizations themselves: new ways of working, sharing power, recognizing and integrating diversity... It will be necessary to measure the real impact we generate to truly ensure that our actions contribute to the mission of the entities we are part of.

 

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picture of Pixabay


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