Hope And Leadership Go Hand In Hand With Greg Zlevor’s Group The HopeMaker’s Collective
Inspiring like-minded individuals to create something interesting and powerful through hope is Greg Zlevor and his organization HopeMaker’s Collective. Continue reading to discover more.
A study conducted by Curt Richter, a scientist at John Hopkins University, in the 1950s, revealed a profound and inspiring revelation of hope with an experiment.
Dr. Richter placed rats in a bucket of water and timed how long they could swim. They lasted about 15 minutes. In a second experiment, he took the rats out of the water just before they drowned, dried them off, and let them briefly rest before putting them back in. And this time, they swam for a remarkable 60 hours.
This revealing demonstration shows just how powerful hope can be. According to an area of positive psychology called “hope theory”, hope is a way of thinking and is associated with well-being. Hope Theory consists of three types of thinking or perspective: Goal thinking, pathway thinking, and agency thinking.
With this in mind, you can see how leadership plays a vitally important role when it comes to hope because hope in this sense motivates people to take action, while leadership provides guidance for achieving goals.
This is a tall task. A recent poll by Gallup found a mere 19% of Americans said they believe the country is going in the right direction. There’s a lack of hope, and when this happens, it makes it very hard to continue moving forward in the right direction.
That’s where Greg Zlevor, President and Founder of Westwood International and Founder of HopeMaker's Collective comes in. Greg has over 25 years in executive leadership development and education and has served as a coach, consultant, and facilitator for companies across Asia, North America, South America, and Australia. And to top it all off, he’s also an Amazon 8x Best-Selling Author and TEDx Speaker.
And his overarching mission in life? To give back.
His company Westwood International supports not-for-profit organizations helping homeless children and at-risk youth across the US, Mexico, Thailand, India, and South America. But Greg’s reach doesn’t stop there. In 2020, he founded the group HopeMakers, a community connecting like-minded individuals to bring real change to the world through practical hope.
What began as a proposal Greg created for a Fortune 50 company to train 50,000 employees to deliver hope to the world while delivering their products and services evolved into a full-fledged organization of over 45 global members and counting.
Greg created “a community of community builders;” all with a shared purpose: achieving their highest dreams and hopes for themself, their clients, and the world. What politicians and big corporations are lacking in (creating change) Greg aims to correct with talented, committed, and service focused people. And on top of that, he knows how hard it can be to maintain a sense of purpose, especially in today’s day and age.
HopeMakers is here to change this.
“As soon as people lose hope, they stop. So the goal is to give people something to work towards so they can take greater and greater action,” Greg emphasizes.
But not only is his company fostering a sense of hope among the members, it’s also spreading it out to the rest of the world.
“We want to give hope to each other, so we can go further, travel faster, do more, and have a greater impact. And then from there, we want each member to go out and give hope to whoever they're touching,” Greg says.
A collective of individuals helping one another, on a volunteer basis, is the true definition of community, something this gentleman who came into connection with Greg exemplifies.
Upon receiving a call from a man looking to speak to his mastermind group, Greg went in with the belief he was looking for a paid gig. But that was far from the truth. He recalls the man clarifying, “No, I’m not looking for a paid opportunity, I’m looking to meet people who are willing to connect as peers and help each other.”
And what he shared with Greg further solidified the power of hope, connection, and leadership.
In 2008, the man lost everything and as a result, became suicidal. “It was so stressful for him,” Greg describes, so “he finally told his wife ‘Look, I made some really big mistakes, I’m in a heap of trouble, I’m falling apart, and I’m suicidal.’ And she said to him, ‘What do you mean you lost everything? I didn’t marry you for money, we still have our home and our children, and each other. As a matter of fact, we have most of what’s important, and I’m going to love you through this no matter what.’”
As instant as fire takes to fuel, the man felt inspired to work through this low point in his life and has since done very well for himself.
“That’s hope,” Greg underlines. “When we help each other reframe, rethink, and refocus in difficult times we give hope to each other.”
Sometimes all we need is a reminder of what’s important, what we've already achieved, and how so many others have made it through a similar difficult situation. And that comes with great leadership: providing guidance for people to achieve their goals which is exactly what Greg is accomplishing with HopeMakers.
All this and more is possible when you join the HopeMakers membership. And with a membership, you’ll be able to:
Achieve your highest hopes for yourself and the world
Get clarity on how to affect change for those you serve
Join a non-judgmental environment of global leaders
Connect with the experts you need to grow your impact
Have access to up to two conference calls a month
Join exclusive retreats featuring talks and world-class networking
The HopeMakers membership offers connections, participation in meetings, and the opportunity to be part of an all-teach-all-learn model.
Multiple organizations have transpired out of HopeMakers including the Hope Foundation which helps inner-city families who work in the Kolkata, India red light district, The House of Hope which helps refugees from the Ukraine war at the Polish border, and Faces which is an outdoor recreation program for youth at risk in Canada.
“In just our last HopeMakers meeting, we started reaching out to orphanages, some in Africa, to help support and raise money for them,” Greg shares.
Doing good for not just yourself but others is what this organization is all about - fueled by hope and led by a group of truly remarkable individuals.
Are you ready to join a network of people and ideas who are willing to learn and grow together?
Become a HopeMaker today to bring forth your vision for affecting change in your industry.
Visit Greg Zlevor’s company website for HopeMaker’s Collective here to learn more.