Stop Asking “How Can I Help?” | Laura Gassner Otting | TEDxCambridge

When faced with a problem, we ask ourselves: “How can I help?” But, what if it is precisely this question that is keeping us from making real progress towards solutions? Laura Gassner Otting offers a better question, one that solves the problem because it serves the solution and not just our own egos.

Laura Gassner Otting has spent the last 20 years working to strengthen organizations that weave our social and civic fabric. Through Limitless Possibility, Laura collaborates with entrepreneurs and investors to push past the doubt and indecision that consign great ideas to limbo. She delivers strategic thinking, well-honed wisdom, and catalytic perspective informed by decades of navigating change across the start-up, nonprofit, political, and philanthropic landscapes.

Laura’s 25-year resume is defined by her entrepreneurial edge. She served as a Presidential Appointee in Bill Clinton’s White House, helping shape AmeriCorps; left a leadership role at respected nonprofit search firm, Isaacson, Miller, to expand the startup ExecSearches.com; and founded and ran the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group, which partnered with the full gamut of mission driven nonprofit executives, from start-up dreamers to scaling social entrepreneurs to global philanthropists.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx