Introduction Copyright IMPACTS 2010 Is it possible that there is a SUPER Group in economies and societies around the world that makes everything work? Could it be possible that this SUPER Group includes perhaps the world’s most important customer AND the key business people AND artists-art lovers AND scientific innovators AND inventors AND explorers-discoverers AND teachers AND many who produce significant social change? Can one group, and a relatively small one at that, be the fuel and the glue for human society around which everything revolves? It doesn’t seem possible but it appears that it may be true. And it also appears that this group is not the Movers and Shakers crowd most would expect. This is actually a mostly behind-the-scenes, female-oriented group though it consists of males and females. These are the real Movers and Shakers—the other group often grabs the headlines and the credit for the creative-production of the “make-things-happen” group. I call these people the IMPACTS. An IMPACTS person is not a better person than someone else. Yes—there are some great IMPACTS people and some not-so-great IMPACTS—it runs the gamut. IMPACTS just have a different mind-set. They make things happen. They often enjoy art and culture. They generally volunteer more often in the community. They try to answer CRITICAL needs that they perceive to be very important. They are usually people-oriented, and animal-oriented. They will often have a ‘fire-in-the-belly’ for doing good stuff. IMPACTS are detail-oriented and precise. They try to make sure that everything gets done—correctly. Therefore they are determined and persistent, and often tenacious in the pursuit of their goals. And they are very often off-the-beaten-path. If you are going to create and produce what is needed, and often it will be something totally new, then there must be a certain detachment from the predominant energy field, or an ability to detach oneself from it. As noted, the IMPACTS may be the world’s most important customer. While they are not the most prolific purchasers, it is what they purchase that is so important. Their purchases revolve mostly around the home and family. In those areas, they purchase what they feel is needed by the family, often with little regard to price. In other areas they are quite frugal. The IMPACTS are regular people. They are not the jet-setters as a general rule. Yes, they travel frequently and often enjoy the good life, but they are usually authentic and real. They are also the Millionaire Next Door which was identified by Dr. Thomas Stanley. These IMPACTS may be millionaires but you would never know it by their frugal lifestyle. Many IMPACTS are also a part of the creative class identified by various authors. IMPACTS are spread throughout, but they reside mostly in society where a hands-on, hardworking attitude is required. Part of the value of IMPACTS lies in their social connections to others, especially to other IMPACTS. In that way they are like honey bees, pollinating far and wide as they go about their normal routine. The IMPACTS are the hubs and nodes of society where valuable connections are made and from where the results of those connections are proliferated. IMPACTS love to spread the word about valuable things that they encounter in their lives. In many ways, IMPACTS are like white blood cells that rush to the injured area and work to stave off infection. Their actions, whether they know it or not, are intended to create and strengthen bonds that aid and support human beings. The IMPACTS also try to reach out to others who are being left behind, and that includes animals as well. It is all part of making everything and everyone well and healthy—being inclusive and creating the proper balance, preventing people and things from coming apart. Everyone in business, and any other field for that matter, should understand who the IMPACTS are and what motivates their behavior. In some areas the population density of IMPACTS will be greater than in others, but IMPACTS will be found wherever human beings are found. The IMPACTS are not an elitist group and I do not mean to infer that they are. Most would strenuously object to being characterized as special in any way. Some have a highly developed conscience while others have little. Some want to help the world; some don’t. But overall, they are a very positive group that wants to help others, and one that contributes mightily to human civilization. Someone asked if IMPACTS weren’t just those near the top of the class. Some are; some aren’t. Being an IMPACTS-person has nothing to do with rank in class, SAT scores, or college graduation. Rather it is a drive to make things better which can be housed in any person anywhere in the world, from the poorest peasant to the richest entrepreneur. Sometimes IMPACTS create, form, and produce a product, service, or structure based upon a need in the environment. Other times, they position themselves within a structure at a critical point, which will often be the most vulnerable position where things can go very right or terribly wrong, such as in a delivery room or an emergency room or at a trauma center. Other IMPACTS reside on the periphery from where they try to effect change. If you have ever watched water filling up an aquarium, searching out and covering every little crack and crevice, wrapping itself around all the rocks and stones, that is a good picture of the attitude of the IMPACTS, making sure nothing is missed and everything is covered. You can see why it is essential to understand these people. The IMPACTS do the “little extras” in life, and those little extras make a HUGE difference in the community, the economy, and the world. The world could not function without the IMPACTS just as we cannot function without blood or a car cannot function without fuel. The IMPACTS are the glue that holds human society together and the world society together as much as is possible at the moment. IMPACTS are the innovators, the caregivers, the peacemakers, the searchers for the truth, those who are not satisfied with the status quo. In other words, IMPACTS will try to reorient the energy field when they sense that it is not working optimally, which it never is as far as they are concerned. The IMPACTS value IMPROVEMENT of every kind—themselves, others, home, educational for themselves and children (theirs and others), the company, physical environment--everything. That’s why they are always scanning the environment to see what needs to be done. If their child is having trouble in school, they will look for help. If the house needs a “little something”, they will purchase art, or redesign the interior, or remodel. If an animal is homeless, they will often adopt it or find a good home for it. Many IMPACTS also adopt children. They also plan for the future. If they feel the need for personal growth, they will attend a workshop or a yoga class or go back to school. They won’t let a need slide. They will improve the situation. But I want to be clear—all IMPACTS do not have the same ideas about improvement. Some think solutions come from inside the lines while others do not. IMPACTS are very often facilitators wherever they are—home, work, church, community—bridging what is and what needs to be. They are also the bridge between the past and the present, between sickness and health, between a design on paper and a product, between hungry members of the church and hot meals delivered to them. Some might call them “missionaries of good will”. The IMPACTS make it happen, usually trying to attain the best possible outcome, and very often being the ones to personally deliver that outcome. The goods and services and information will be delivered—period. I believe there is a strong thread running through the development of human civilization that asks, “What are the critical needs in the environment at this particular time and what results can be delivered that will optimize the potential?” In other words, what is out of balance and what can be done to bring it into balance, making it better? The IMPACTS are that thread.  Handout/Report supplied by Corey's Referrals, Wake Forest, NC (919) 562-8873 for educational & marketing purposes only with express permission from Author, Dickey Eason, Cary NC