Acumen Presents: Sarah Robb O'Hagan on Competitive Advantage

People all around the world are anxious to make a dent in some of our toughest problems like poverty, climate change, homelessness, and world hunger. Yet, they often struggle to figure out what they can distinctively contribute to these seemingly huge and intractable issues. They don’t always know how to ‘get out of line’ to identify the right opportunities to engage or “change the game” to find the solutions they need. Even when social entrepreneurs have successfully started a new venture, they grapple with how to stay focused on their ‘extreme’ specialization when there are so many needs and opportunities they could pursue.

This +Acumen course will translate the lessons from Sarah Robb O’Hagan’s Extreme You to the social entrepreneurs tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. It will help change-makers “check themselves out” to get a sense for their personal strengths and weakness and learn what ignites their “magic drive.” Then they’ll learn to “get over themselves” and embrace “pain training” so that they can be ready for the inevitable risk-taking and failure that entrepreneurship involves. Finally, they’ll learn from key case studies from Sarah’s own experiences at some of the world’s leading companies to understand how they can leverage their extreme strengths and achieve outsized social impact.

Executive, activist and entrepreneur, Sarah Robb O’Hagan has been described by the media as everything from “Superwoman undercover” to the “Pied Piper of Potential.” She is a high-energy combination of disruptive business leader, fitness fanatic, and cheerleading mom, and has been named one of Forbes' “Most Powerful Women in Sports” and one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business.” Sarah’s career journey has led her through some of the world’s most iconic brands including Virgin Atlantic Airways, Atari, Nike, and Gatorade.