Recently, I was meeting with city leaders to discuss some of the tougher social issues in our community—homelessness, mental health, public safety, addiction, domestic violence, and the like. These are all issues intimately connected to people who have experienced incarceration or are at risk of doing so. They are also issues that many cities have poured significant resources into, only to see modest results at best.
The question is: how do we crack the code? Is there a new solution out there that could yield the results we want?
No. Not a new one—but perhaps an old one that’s simpler than we think.
As educators, we learn that others retain about 10% of what is said, 30% of what is said and seen, 60–70% of what is experienced, and 90% of what is taught to someone else.
At PEP, when participants graduate from the program, they become “servant-leaders,” helping facilitate the program for the group immediately behind them. The goal is not just for them to learn the material, but to have it become integrated within them. In the process of serving as leaders to the next class, these men truly “get it.” They also experience the power of contribution—recognizing that they are not just consumers receiving something offered by others, but contributors to a shared mission. This creates a sense of ownership, accountability, and responsibility to others through a program to which they have an emotional connection.
If you’ve been reading this blog, you know I often emphasize the importance of belonging. But there’s something even more nuanced here: ownership through servant-leadership.
Now, apply this principle to the broader social issues mentioned above. Instead of caseworkers merely helping clients navigate systems, imagine those who have recently stabilized accompanying the people just behind them as part of the program. They would likely be better received—and achieve better outcomes—because they have just walked that same path. This approach reduces costs while improving results.
If the goal of addressing these issues is to help people belong more fully to the community, then we must also help them contribute to it. There is no ownership, accountability, or responsibility in being a consumer—but as a contributor, everything changes. Transformation is not something passively received; it is something earned and understood.
If we want to see real change, we must give people the chance to share what they’ve learned—to make a contribution—to lead, even if it’s just one other person.