#504 pet causes

Time magazine ran its cover story this week about Michael Bloomberg, the retiring billionaire mayor of New York City. The article explored Bloomberg's plans now that his tenure in public service is nearing an end.

"I want to do things that nobody else is doing," he said.  His "things" revolve mostly around philanthropy and advancing pet causes.  He has invested $100 million to genetically engineer a better mosquito in the hopes of eliminating malaria.  He has personally spent $109+ million against smoking.  He gave another $100 million to fight against polio in Nigeria.

This year, he plans to spend about $400 million on projects of interest, including innovation in European governance, climate change, Planned Parenthood and gun control.

If you were fortunate enough to be able to do things nobody else is doing, what causes would warrant your donations?  How would you use both your wealth and influence to shape the debate and draw attention to issues that were important to you?

Given that most of our bank accounts have considerably fewer zeros in them than Mr. Bloomberg's it is hard to fashion thoughts that are grand in stature.  But he isn't doing any of these projects himself; he is partnering with individuals, organizations and governments to achieve his goals.  

Maybe you can start something today that, even if it never becomes worthy of a billionaire's attention, can make an impact for the better on the world where that billionaire and you both live.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Source:  Bloomberg Unbound by Michael Scherer, Time magazine, October 21, 2013.