How to Become a Hero

Penguins on land and sea

2008-06-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a trip to the amazing Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, best known as the place where Charles Darwin first developed the theory of evolution by natural selection. Today, 98% of the Galapagos is protected as a national park, preserving the unique species of animals and birds that exist nowhere else on earth.

Because humans are not a threat, and there are no large predators on land, the wildlife has no fear of people. You can walk right up to nesting birds, sunning lizards, or nursing sea lions, and observe them at close range. Among the many animals I got to know this way were the penguins, who swam alongside us as we snorkeled.

If you watch a group of penguins for a while, you'll discover something quite interesting. On land, penguins waddle or hop, sometimes spreading their wing-flippers to maintain balance on their narrow webbed feet. Their lack of grace is frequently comical, and the only way they can travel quickly is to flop on their bellies and slide.

In the water, however, penguins are agile and fast. A diving penguin can travel up to 17 miles per hour. They zipped past us like little torpedoes, leaving streams of bubbles in their wake. Penguins in the water are masters of their environment, while penguins on land are awkward and slow.

The behavior of penguins demonstrates a phenomenon I've often observed in people. Some environments feel natural to us, and when we are in them, we are graceful and adept. But in strange surroundings, we can be clumsy and unskilled. Sometimes we can adapt to new environments, and over time become more capable in them. But not always. Penguins have been spending half their time on land for millennia, and after all that time, they are still more at home in the water.

There's a lesson here for those setting out on their own hero's journey. Your journey may lead you to unfamiliar new environments. By all means, try them out to see if they are a fit for you. You may be pleasantly surprised at how well you adapt. But you may also discover that there are some surroundings where you naturally do well, and others where you constantly struggle.

When I first decided I was going to change my profession to one that allowed me to do more good in the world, I was led to give many talks and workshops in far-away cities. On a typical trip, I would get on an airplane, spend one night at my destination, give my presentation, and fly home again, all within 48 hours. These whirlwind business trips were a challenge for me, but I struggled to adapt. "I should be able to do this," I told myself. After several years of business travel where I got sick, came home exhausted, or suffered from stress and anxiety, I finally realized my mistake. Natural selection was at work, telling me I was not adapted for this environment!

I do infinitely better when I can either sleep in my own bed at night, or spend several days at a destination, becoming acclimated to it. So now when I give presentations to far-away audiences, I either deliver a teleclass or webinar from home, or combine my visit with a vacation where I spend at least three or four days in the area where I am speaking. What a difference! Instead of being an awkward, uncomfortable penguin on land, I become a graceful, at-ease penguin in the water.

Each of us is naturally well-suited to certain environments. But in other surroundings, while we can certainly survive, we will never be at our best. So if you should discover that at heart you are really a penguin, start swimming.

Going the long way around

2008-05-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

Many years ago, at a challenging time in my life, I had a dream of accomplishing an important goal in San Francisco. At the time I envisioned that goal, I was stranded in Indianapolis with no job and no money. I eventually got to San Francisco, and accomplished my goal. But I had to get there by way of Toronto.

Now a quick glance at any map will tell you that Toronto is not on the way from Indianapolis to San Francisco. Since this chain of events took place in the middle of winter, going to Toronto was certainly not going to bring me any better weather. I didn't have a permit to work in Canada at the time I went there, so it wasn't going to be any easier to find a job, either.

But what did exist in Toronto was one person who I believed cared about me, and another person who I thought would give me some money. It turned out I was right on both counts. I got enough money to rent a room; with a place to stay, I found an under-the-table job; with someone nearby who cared about me, I stuck out the lousy job for six weeks and saved up enough money for a bus ticket to San Francisco.

Sometimes the only way to accomplish what you think is important is by going the long way around.

A friend of mine is stuck in his own personal Indianapolis right now. He has an important goal, one that could possibly impact the lives of many people for the better. And he's determined to reach his own version of San Francisco to get it done. But the problem is that he's afraid to leave his Indianapolis until he has the entire journey mapped out, paid for, and planned every step of the way. You see, he doesn't want to end up in Toronto by mistake.

I understand my friend's fear. None of us wants to make a mistake. It seems like it would be so much safer to plan and prepare for every little contingency before setting out. That way you can avoid making any mistakes, right? Ah, if only that were true!

In reality, leaving Indianapolis before he is completely ready might not be such a bad idea for my friend at all. At least he'll be on the road and moving. He'll learn some things; he'll meet some people; he'll find out what it's like to begin pursuing his goal instead of just dreaming about it. He'll work the bugs out of his plan with some road testing in the real world. He might even discover that some of his goal can be achieved before he ever gets to San Francisco.

When the only way you can figure out how to get from Indianapolis to San Francisco is by way of Toronto, then I say, go that way. If you go the long way around, you are still going. If you insist on staying put until you've planned every detail, you're not going anywhere.

The distance from Indianapolis to San Francisco is 2,272 miles. The distance traveled if you have to go by way of Toronto would be 3,193 miles instead. But the distance traveled if you don't go at all is zero. That doesn't sound like a journey worth planning to me.

Being the change

2008-03-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

March 24-30, 2008 has been designated as Conversation Week by Conversation Café and Global MindShift. This annual event is an opportunity for people around the world to gather in small groups and have meaningful conversations.

I love having deep, purposeful conversations and enjoy being in environments where they can be had. I used to think I was shy because I felt so uncomfortable in many social situations, but then I realized that it was simply because I had never learned to enjoy small talk. What interests me is large talk.

The most important questions for Conversation Week dialogues this year were voted on by 1500 people in 39 countries. Here they are:

How can we best prepare our children for the future?
What does sustainability look like to you? How do we get there?
How do humans need to adapt to survive the changes predicted for this century?
How do we shift from "Me" to "We" on both the local and global levels?
How can you, as Gandhi said, be the change that you want to see in the world?
What kind of economic structures can best support a shift to sustainable living?
How should we re-invent the political process so that people feel that they have a voice?
What kind of leadership does the world need now?
How can we balance our personal needs with the most pressing needs of our community and the larger world?
What can we do to reduce or eliminate violence in the world?

It's a compelling list of topics. I was most taken by #5, "How can you, as Gandhi said, be the change that you want to see in the world?" Conversation Week organizers provided some additional conversational doorways into each topic, and for this one they asked: "What gaps do you notice between your 'walk' and 'talk' and what steps can you take towards 'being the change'?"

"What steps can you take?" What a crucial element this question is for a dialogue about change. Perhaps it is my training and experience as a coach (or perhaps this is what drew me to coaching in the first place), but I often feel driven to end conversations by asking, "And what is your next step?" To me, this is how conversations can be not only meaningful, but impactful.

Being in dialogue with others is an essential tool for raising our awareness. Sometimes it is the only way we ever find out what we really think. We make a declaration aloud in response to a question or challenge, and find ourselves thinking, "Yes, of course! That's what I believe to be true."

But as significant as that awareness may be, what often happens is that the moment of enlightenment passes, and we go on with our lives as before. We have a momentous realization, but then don't connect any action to it. And then we forget about it until the next time something or someone prods us into awareness again.

Perhaps one move we can all make toward "being the change" is to add this one simple question to our conversations about how the world should be different: "And what is your next step?" Perhaps if we keep asking this of others, they will also start asking it of us.

So many causes, so little time

2008-02-12T10:24:00.000-08:00

Preparing for the Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship class I'm giving this month, I've been researching successful social entrepreneurs. What are the qualities that enable people like Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus to build an enterprise that benefits millions of people?

One essential quality that all these world-changers share is the ability to persist at solving a specific problem, regardless of roadblocks and distractions. Muhammad Yunus began his Grameen Bank with only $27 of his own money, and a staff of student volunteers. He persisted with his idea of providing microcredit to help families out of poverty despite opposition from the banking industry, political leaders who opposed his "capitalist" approach to helping the poor, and religious leaders who disapproved of his lending to women. Today the Grameen Bank has loaned money to 7 million people, reaching 80% of the poor families in Bangladesh. But what that took for Yunus was dedication to the same cause for over 30 years.

There are so many causes that one could choose to work for, and they all seem to need us. On any given day, I find myself drawn to acting on behalf of causes as varied as girls' education, global warming, Barack Obama's candidacy for president, and supporting entrepreneurship in the developing world. Working for the same cause for 30 years seems to me an unreachable ideal. Does that mean I'm not a candidate for social entrepreneurship?

In Tim Ferriss' book The 4-Hour Workweek, he has a powerful chapter on the topic "Filling the Void: Adding Life After Subtracting Work," in which he says, "Everything out there needs help... If you're improving the world -- however you define that -- consider your job well done... Find the cause or vehicle that interests you most and make no apologies."

I'd like to change one word of Tim's advice. Instead of "the cause," make it "a cause." If I, or you, or anyone can be a serial entrepreneur, we can also be serial social entrepreneurs.

For David Bornstein's book How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, he interviewed Fabio Rosa, who has been working tirelessly to bring electricity to rural Brazil since the early 1980's. He asked Rosa why he continues to do this work, and Rosa responded, "I am trying to build a little part of the world in which I would like to live."

Yes, there are many causes to serve and limited time to serve them, but for each of us there is a little part of the world that we can help, sometimes by contributing five minutes and sometimes five years. Dedicated people like Yunus and Rosa can inspire us, but their shining example shouldn't deter us from casting a little light of our own.

Got hope?

2008-01-27T10:02:00.000-08:00

During Barack Obama's victory speech after winning the South Carolina primary last night, among the signs waving in the audience was one that read: "Got hope?" Hope has been a strong theme in the Obama campaign: "choosing hope over fear" and "the power of hope to imagine, and then work for, what had seemed impossible before." Obama's focus on hope as a catalyst for action is what first drew me to him as a candidate.

I've been thinking a lot about hope lately as a result of reading Martin Seligman's Learned Optimism. One of the book's self-assessments allows you to determine your personal "hope score." Not too surprising to me, my own hope score was fairly high.

According to Dr. Seligman, no other single score is as important as your hope score in determining your level of achievement and happiness in life. Simply put, people with a high level of hopefulness believe that their actions can make a difference, and therefore, they act. But people who feel hopeless also feel helpless. Since they believe that nothing they do matters, they choose to do nothing.

Seligman has been studying hopefulness and helplessness in the laboratory since 1964, and what his experiments indicate is that both are learned behaviors. Whether the lab subjects are rats, dogs, or humans, if they experience too much powerlessness in a particular area, they become hopeless and stop trying. But the good news is that the reverse is also true. When people or animals believe that their actions do make a difference, they become more hopeful, and try even harder.

Seligman's experiments also suggest that hopelessness and helplessness coincide with severe depression. Hopeless, helpless people become depressed. Depressed people become hopeless and helpless. And again, the reverse is true. People who regain hope are no longer depressed. If Seligman is right (and he has many years of statistical studies backing up his theories), hope is not only an antidote for depression, it's a vaccination that can prevent it from occurring.

The key to developing hope, according to Seligman, is changing your "explanatory style." Finding temporary and specific causes for adversity and disappointment is the art of hope; believing in permanent and universal causes is the practice of despair. His experiments show that if you can learn to change the way you explain negative events and conditions, you can become more hopeful.

A hopeless person says, "my candidate never wins" (permanent), so he stays away from the polls. A hopeful person says, "my candidate lost the last election" (temporary), but campaigns for his candidate this time. A hopeless person tells herself, "the whole country is a mess" (universal), so she thinks there is nothing she can do to change it. A hopeful person tells herself, "our health care system is a mess" (specific), so she advocates for health care reform.

People become hopeful because they tell themselves they can make a difference. And hopeful people take action. Hope is the stuff that positive change is made of.

In Obama's words: "...hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it."

How about you? Got hope?

One hero's report card

2008-01-13T08:58:00.000-08:00

Last January, I issued a challenge to readers of this blog and myself to commit one heroic act in 2007. And I made a commitment to my own heroic act: to launch or join a project in support of educating girls in the developing world, and contribute enough of my time and energy to send 30 girls -- a classroom full -- to school. I'm proud to say that I achieved this goal.

In June, I founded the Send Girls to School Project to spread the word about the amazing impact girls' education has on global poverty, supporting five different nonprofits that help girls attend school around the world. As a result of this project, enough donations were made to Educate Girls Globally, Room to Grow Girls' Scholarships, and Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) to send approximately 40 girls to school for one year in India, Southeast Asia, and Africa. (If you made a contribution after hearing about this project, please stop by the Report Card page to let me know.)

A totally unexpected result of this project is that it inspired a song! Singer-songwriter Lisa Safran wrote They Just Need School after learning about the project, and you can listen to it on the Send Girls to School website.

If you made your own resolution to be more heroic last year, how did you do? In my steps to becoming a hero, "take action" is #3, so it's okay if you didn't get quite that far. Perhaps you made progress on step #1, "develop your heroic qualities." That, too, is a heroic act.

The hero's holiday shopping guide for 2007

2007-11-24T15:20:00.000-08:00

This holiday season, consider using your gift-shopping dollars to help make the world a better place. By purchasing gifts from fair trade organizations, social enterprises, nonprofit cooperatives, and other worthy causes, you can give a gift to the people on your list and to the global community at the same time. In what has become an annual feature in this blog, here are some suggested ways you can make a difference with your holiday shopping.

Ten Thousand Villages - Purchase fair trade housewares, jewelry, accessories, and other gifts from artisans in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. For the women on your list, check out the Vintage Appeal collection. For men, see the ideas on their Gifts for Him page.

Handmade Expressions - Choose from socially and environmentally responsible products from artisan cooperatives, including eco-friendly journals, shopping bags, tote bags, and purses from recycled materials, cloth dolls made from scraps, and jewelry created from locally sourced materials.

BuyChange - Select gifts from four different social enterprises that sustain worthy causes: Arghand Hand-milled Soap from Afghanistan, Food from the Hood Salad Dressing from South Central Los Angeles, Mr. Elliepooh Elephant Pooh Paper Products from Sri Lanka, and Hagar Handbags and Accessories from Cambodia.

A Greater Gift - This program of SERRV International provides development assistance to low-income micropreneurs and helps them market their products. In their online store, you can purchase jams and jellies from Swaziland, olive oil from Palestine, wild rice from the Native American Ojibwe tribe, tea from Nepal packaged in a satin brocade bag, and much more.

Palestine Children's Welfare Fund - You can purchase beautiful handmade embroidery crafted by Palestinian women in refugee camps. Your purchases help to support these women and their families, who have very few options for earning a living. Stop by the ConnectHer project to find out how your shopping dollars will help more women micro-entrepreneurs get started.

Heavenly Treasures - Help people break the cycle of poverty by purchasing handicrafts from livelihood projects in 11 countries around the world. Check out the banana bark holiday ornaments from Kenya, wool slippers from Kyrgyzstan, and silk scarves from Laos. If you're in the Los Angeles area, visit their retail store in Glendora.

Aid to Artisans - Buy jewelry, accessories, home decor, and crafts from this project to help artisans in the developing world learn business skills and find markets for their products. You can also find some ATA products at stores like Crate & Barrel and Pier 1 Imports.

iGive - If the wish lists of your loved ones include items from name brand merchants like Apple, Best Buy, Gap, or Harry & David, you can make these purchases and still make a contribution by shopping through iGive. Participating merchants will donate an average of 1-5% of your purchase to the cause of your choice. Since 1997, iGive has raised almost $3 million for charity.

JustGive - For the person who has everything, you can make a gift in their honor with a charity gift basket that donates the amount of your choice to a selection of charities in support of a single cause. Choose from causes like Support Women of the World, Create Peace for All, Plant Trees, or Provide Shelter for Animals.

For even more suggestions, check out my 2006 guide or 2005 guide to find sources for gift baskets, baby clothes, organic cotton clothing, bath salts, pet gifts, soup mixes, chocolate, and much more. Build a better world with your purchases this holiday.

You don't have to do it alone

2007-11-18T11:21:00.000-08:00

The hero's journey can be a lonely one. But does it have to be? Or in fact, do the heroes who ultimately succeed in their quests do so because they were willing to seek out -- and accept -- a considerable amount of help?

In Joseph Campbell's writings about the hero's journey, he describes numerous helpers the hero may require along the way, including mentors, spirit guides, allies, and rescuers. In stories about heroes from mythology, fiction, and real life, the role of these helpers is significant.

King Arthur had his mentor Merlin and the aid of the Knights of the Round Table. Luke Skywalker had the guidance of Obi-Wan Kenobi and the companionship of Han Solo and Princess Leia. Lance Armstrong became a champion cyclist because he was mentored by Chris Carmichael, survived cancer with the assistance of Dr. Steven Wolff and cancer nurse Latrice Haney, and built his cancer research foundation with the help of Kristen Richard, who became his wife. Successful heroes have help.

If you are setting out on a quest of your own, you may already know that you need guidance and support, but where can you find it? One approach I always suggest to fledgling heroes pondering this question is immersion. If you stand outside the new world you want to enter, it always appears mysterious, and usually frightening. You don't know where to go or who to talk to, and because you aren't talking to anyone, you think you are alone with your goals and dreams. But once you take one small step into that world, you immediately make contact with like-minded people. The trick is to be willing to step in before you have it all figured out.

When I first decided to help entrepreneurs become more successful in 1992, I had no idea how to go about it. I didn't know anyone else who did that kind of work, I had no mentors or guides, and no one to help me. If I had stayed in that isolated state, I wouldn't have lasted 15 weeks in my new venture. Instead, it's been 15 years. The reason I've ultimately been able to help so many people with my work is because I've had a lot of help myself. And I found that help by immersing myself in the world I wanted to enter -- before I felt ready to be there.

What this means on a practical level can be any number of activities, for example, attending meetings of like-minded people, reading books about related people and projects, surfing the web to find out who is doing what, taking classes related to your goal or dream, and asking others for ideas, resources, and connections.

One of the most helpful steps to me personally turned out to be getting on mailing lists. Receiving newsletters and announcements from the people and organizations already in the world I wanted to enter introduced me to new possibilities, suggested places I could go and people I could meet, and made me feel as if I was a part of something.

If you are looking for mentors and allies for a social action or advocacy project of your own, the organization FLOW has developed some effective models for connecting people with similar ideas. In San Francisco, New York, and Austin, they've been holding regular "Activation Circle" gatherings to bring together people with a shared vision of "liberating the entrepreneurial spirit for good." And on Nov. 30 in Austin, and Dec. 7 in San Rafael, they are hosting daylong events for that purpose.

I'll be attending the San Rafael event, where the morning will be focused on a particular theme: supporting women entrepreneurs in the developing world. In the afternoon session, attendees will have a chance to interact with each other about the topic of their choice related to any social enterprise, in an open space setting. After attending a session like this in October, I walked away with a tall stack of new contacts and possibilities for my own projects.

One of the fastest ways to end your quest to make a difference before it starts is to believe that you're the only one on that particular journey. If you want to have a successful mission, start looking around for who else should be on your team.

Discovering the real world

2007-10-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've been exploring the issue of the necessary conditions for people to become entrepreneurs. For me, this is one aspect of a larger question -- what enables people to take action on the change they wish to see in the world?

At an Empowering Women Entrepreneurs event last weekend, I learned that in the developing world, one of the obstacles to successful entrepreneurship is the expense and difficulty of legally starting a business. In Honduras, for example, to open a legal sole proprietorship requires 169 steps, 270 days, and $3,765 U.S.

The interesting fact is that all this doesn't stop entrepreneurs from getting started in Honduras. Instead, they go underground. Up to 89% of all businesses in Honduras operate extralegally. Doing business in this underground economy has many problems. Entrepreneurs have no access to capital, so they can't expand. Businesses can be shut down arbitrarily by the law or local bosses. But despite these difficulties, new underground businesses get started every day.

This phenomenon isn't limited to the developing world. In the urban centers of North America, underground economies thrive. In Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor, Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh describes how conventional business owners -- not just drug dealers and prostitutes -- operate in the economic underground. Self-employed mechanics, food vendors, painters, hairdressers, and more are all operating outside the law and without participating in the tax system.

When people are unable to participate in the legal economy because the cost of entry is too high or their path is blocked due to racial, class, religious, or gender barriers, it doesn't stop them from entering the economy. They just create their own.

When I was a street kid in the 70's, I lived in this twilight economy. Money changed hands, products and services were obtained, people worked in exchange for compensation, but no one I knew had a paycheck or a business license or paid taxes. I used to look at the straight world -- the one where people had jobs and stores and checking accounts -- and think that was the real world. People like me, without an education or the right connections or respectable resumes, didn't have the price of admission to that world, so we stayed in our own.

But in an environment where more money changes hands under the counter than over it, isn't that where the "real world" truly lies? In an economy like that of Honduras, there are clearly more people participating in the shadow economy than in the legal one. In the U.S., no one knows how many people make a living in the underground economy, although the number of illegal immigrants alone has been estimated as high as 20 million. Estimates of the monetary size of the U.S. underground economy suggest that it is equivalent to 9% of the legitimate economy, which would make it about $1 trillion per year. That amount seems pretty real to me.

In the 1999 film The Matrix, the transformative moment for the central character, Neo, is when he discovers that the world he has been living in -- where residents have homes and jobs and businesses -- is all an illusion perpetrated by evil machines. The real world is one where a ragtag band of dropouts struggle for survival, fighting against the machines that dominate the planet. This real world exists, quite literally, underground.

In the surface world, Neo is a person of no importance, and feels lost and alone. But in the underground world, Neo becomes a hero and a leader to his people. For Neo to make the transition from the false surface world to the real world underground, he first must be able to see through "the matrix" projecting the false images. But once he does see the real world, the false one no longer deceives him. He can (literally) see right through it.

So what do underground economies and The Matrix have to do with taking action to change the world? Simply this. If you look around you at the world you believe you live in and think you don't fit in, or feel excluded from participating, or you don't have the price of admission, find another world. It's probably already operating right under your nose.

There is a back door into almost every line of endeavor you can name. If you believe that door exists, and are willing to knock on enough doors to find the right one, you can gain admittance. You can start a business with no capital, operate a nonprofit without registering one, or get a job as a researcher without credentials. I mention these three examples because they are all things I have personally done at one time, but many more examples exist.

To set up the necessary conditions for you to take action, perhaps you need to forget about whatever you have been led to believe the real world looks like. Instead, seek out people who are already doing what you want to do, connect with others who themselves have felt disenfranchised or excluded, locate the community where at last you feel welcome. Wherever that is, for you, that is the real world.

Even a rat can be a hero

2007-09-22T17:06:00.000-07:00

In the latest edition of Heifer International's World Ark magazine, I first learned about HeroRat, a project launched by the Belgian research organization APOPO. HeroRat trains rats how to detect buried landmines.

Even if this isn't an issue that would normally attract your attention, you should pay a visit to the HeroRat site. With photos, videos, cartoons, really cute graphics, and even a video game, it's one of the best fundraising websites I've ever seen.

Why landmine-detecting rats? Here's the story in a nutshell. Every 20 minutes, a civilian is hurt or killed by a buried landmine in war zones around the world. Metal detectors are slow and tedious, bulldozers don't work on uneven terrain, and mine-detecting dogs can set off the mines.

Rats, on the other hand, have a great sense of smell, are easily trained to do repetitive tasks, are inexpensive to breed, feed, and transport, and they are too light to trigger the mines. One trained rat can clear 100 square meters of land in 30 minutes. At the HeroRat training center in Tanzania, hundreds of rats are being trained to detect mines, then sent where they are needed around the world.

Of course, the real heroes here are the people that came up with this brilliant concept: Bart Weetjens, Christophe Cox, and Mic Billet, now APOPO's chairman. They first began exploring the problem of land mines in Africa in 1995, and persevered for many years to find funding and a solution. The first team of HeroRats completed their training in 2004. You can read the full story here.

If you adopt a HeroRat for as little as 5 euros per month (about $7 USD), you'll receive emails from your rat, pictures of your rat in action, and an official adoption certificate, all of which I'll bet are every bit as cute as the website.

We are the champions

2007-08-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

Regular readers of this blog may have noticed a slight but significant shift in its theme over this past year. When I first began writing on the topic How to Become a Hero four years ago, I described the theme of these reflections as "stepping into your own greatness to be of service to others." Later on, this became "finding your right livelihood on the path of service." But recently I made the decision to declare a new theme for these entries: "you are the champion the world is waiting for."

I first began thinking about the need for more heroes in our modern world after the 9/11 attacks. There were many people who became heroes on that day, called forth by the urgent need of others. But so many aspects of this catastrophe could have been prevented if there were more people called to heroic acts before it began. "Why do the heroes appear only after the tragedy," I wondered. "We should be taking steps just as bold to prevent the causes of terrorism, not just responding after it occurs."

Then the U.S. invaded Iraq, and the news was again filled with stories about heroes. But this time many of those profiled weren't just saving lives – they were also responsible for taking them. "What about the warriors for peace and justice?" I asked. "Where are their stories? Aren't they also heroes?" I launched this blog three months after the war began.

And then came Hurricane Katrina. I watched helplessly from San Francisco as people in New Orleans suffered and died. Days passed, and it seemed that news cameras could reach every area of the flooded city while rescuers and supplies could not.

There were many heroes on the ground, doing what they could under desperate conditions with limited resources. But with very few exceptions, those in charge failed to show leadership, courage, or even a sense of responsibility. Instead, rescue efforts moved forward at a snail's pace as government agencies and elected officials protected their turf, pointed fingers at each other, and delayed critical decisions. Meanwhile, supplies, volunteers, and vehicles sent from outside the area were refused admittance to the city.

It was during that awful week that I realized three compelling truths about becoming a hero:

1. We cannot wait for a hero to come and rescue us. Like the people of New Orleans, we may be waiting for a rescuer to help our community or cause, but it just may be that no one is coming. The most likely place to look for leadership is not out in the world, but within ourselves.

2. We cannot wait to figure out the best possible course of action. Seeking our ultimate life purpose is a worthwhile endeavor, but meanwhile, we should take action to make a difference where and how we can. We will develop our heroic qualities more by exercising them than by contemplating possibilities.

3. We cannot wait for a disaster to hear the call to heroism. If the only time we are compelled to act is when a disaster is at our door, many options are already closed to us. We can make much more of a difference in the world around us by working steadily to address chronic problems and prevent major disasters from occurring.

There is no one better qualified, smarter, braver, or more talented than you and I to redress the ills we see in the world. There are no grownups to tell us what we should do. There are no leaders we can count on to do what must be done. In the words of Freddie Mercury, we are the champions of the world. It's you that the world is waiting for.

Mid-year's resolutions

2007-07-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

With the year half gone, I decided it was the perfect time to check in on my New Year's resolutions. Why wait until December to see what I didn't do this year?

This January, I wrote about the idea of including one heroic act in your New Year's resolutions and made a commitment to take on one of my own -- to launch or join a project in support of educating girls in the developing world. I'm pleased to report that last month I launched the Send Girls to School Project.

I've written previously about the important role of girls' education in eradicating global poverty. Lawrence Summers, former Chief Economist of the World Bank, puts it simply: "Educating girls yields a higher rate of return than any other investment in the developing world."

Send Girls to School is an education and advocacy project dedicated to improving education for girls in the developing world by compiling and sharing research, publicizing girls' education projects and supporting their fundraising efforts, publishing original writings about the impact of girls' education, and more. If this issue speaks to you, please consider getting involved.

What important resolutions of yours have gotten lost in the hustle of your daily existence since January? Take a look now and see what you still have time to accomplish in 2007.

Ignoring the signs

2007-07-04T07:48:00.000-07:00

We live in a country of rebels. It seems that flagrant disregard of signs is part of our national character. I witness this every time I work out at the gym. The line of treadmills, elliptical trainers, and exercise bikes looks out through floor-to-ceiling windows at a spectacular view of the northern half of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Bay. But directly below, my eyes are drawn to the constant activity on the top floor of the parking garage, an area where all the stalls are clearly marked "Compact Car Only."

During the course of a 40-minute workout, I'll see a dozen different SUV's, vans, and pickup trucks pull in and out of these too-small spaces. With not enough room between the lanes to back and turn, they often have to pull in and out several times, sometimes with the help of a passenger or passerby to guide them. Solo drivers frequently bump into the other parked cars, sometimes leading to altercations.

Why do these drivers insist on ignoring the signs and parking in spaces too small for their vehicles, even when there are plenty of full-size spaces on the floors below? And these aren't the only signs I see being ignored. Daily, I notice people pushing doors marked "pull," standing still on the left side of escalators posted "walk on left, stand on right," and getting out of their airplane seats while the "fasten seat belts" sign is lit. And I can't remember the last time I saw anyone actually observing a speed limit sign.

I guess it's not surprising, then, that we also ignore much more significant signs than these. For example, when you wake up on Monday morning and feel sick to your stomach at the thought of another week at a meaningless job. Or when you have a recurring dream of a promised land you can't seem to reach. Or when three times in one week, news about a cause you're attracted to, but doing nothing about, drops into your lap.

There are times when it may serve you to rebel against authority. Following the rules all the time is not necessarily the best path to making a difference in the world. But when the authority you are rebelling against is your own inner knowing that a path to something greater is waiting for you, maybe you should pay more attention to the signs.

What to do when you don't know what to do

2007-05-31T15:07:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest obstacles in the way of many potential heroes is figuring out exactly what to do. Sometimes we hear the call to make a difference in the world loud and clear... but we wish it could have been a bit more specific. "Get moving!" says the compelling voice in our head. "The world needs you. Do something!" But what's missing from this exhortation is any indication of what that something is.

So then what? Do we wait for another divine transmission with perhaps a few more instructions? Do we begin an intentional quest for our life's ultimate purpose, engaging in study, contemplation, dialogue, and analysis? Do we ignore the call because we don't know what the appropriate action truly is? Or do we begin somewhere, anywhere, not knowing if it's right, and perhaps making a major mistake?

My personal orientation toward action often leads me to "pick up a broom and start sweeping," as I described in an earlier post. I have found that I can learn what the right direction is by choosing a path to take and beginning to walk down it. If it's the wrong path, I find out soon enough. Then I can choose a different one. This type of trial-and-error decision-making usually works better for me than standing at the crossroad trying to completely think things through.

But this works for me because I have a high tolerance for risk and don't place much value on caution. When I took Martin Seligman's Signature Strengths Survey, one of my top five strengths was "bravery and valor." My strength in "caution, prudence, and discretion," on the other hand, was ranked way down at #22 out of a total of 24. So it's no surprise that I'm more willing to leap into unknown territory than I am to carefully consider all my options. In fact, I'm actually better at leaping than at considering.

For me, the best answer to "what to do when you don't know what to do" is clearly to take action in a new direction, because that capitalizes on my strengths. In addition to bravery and valor, I also score high on curiosity, creativity, and love of learning. But mine is not a one-size-fits-all solution. If your strength is in caution and prudence, I would guess that a careful analysis might be a valuable next step. Or if your strength was in spirituality and faith, you might spend time in prayer or meditation. Or if it was in teamwork and loyalty, you might ask for guidance from others close to you.

If there is a single recipe that everyone could follow to determine what to do when you don't know what to do, perhaps it is this: 1) Know what your strengths are. 2) Find a way to use them that will help you move forward. 3) Repeat as necessary.

How is your obituary coming along?

2007-05-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

The past two months have seen the passing of two significant people in my life. First, my coaching mentor Laura Whitworth died of lung cancer. Then my father passed away at the age of 91. The blessing and the curse of being a writer is that people expect you to come up with the right words for important occasions. I was asked to write obituaries for both Laura and my dad, and to speak at both memorial services.

It's a challenging task to sum up a person's life in a three-paragraph obituary or five-minute speech. What should you include? What do you leave out? What would the person you are honoring have wanted you to say?

Both Laura and my father had an impressive list of achievements to acknowledge. Laura co-founded three professional organizations and six businesses -- one of which became the largest coach training company in the world -- and co-authored a bestselling book. My father held five patents in electronics and automation, and published over 50 professional papers.

Even so, neither Laura nor my father felt as if they were done yet. Laura had far-reaching plans for her newest project, The Bigger Game. My dad was working on a book about the history of film and broadcast technology.

Immersed on preparing these life summaries, I couldn't help but wonder, what will be in my obituary? Because I notice that in both the obituaries I wrote, completed projects made the cut, but work in progress did not. If I were to die today, my obit would mention the two full-length books I've published. But all the blood, sweat, and tears I've put into the other books I haven't finished yet wouldn't even receive a mention.

In order to become a part of your personal legacy, the work in question must actually be done. Dreams, ideas, goals, and plans, no matter how visionary and grand, don't count in the end. When you are gone, what stays behind to make an impact on those who outlive you is what you have completed, not what you hoped to accomplish some day.

And so I ask, how is your obituary coming along? Which of your treasured dreams and plans have you already brought to life, and which are still waiting for you to act on them?

Do you need a gatekeeper?

2007-03-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've been tempted by a number of interesting opportunities that I've had to turn down. They were all possibilities that had merit, and some of them were options that I myself had initiated by setting wheels in motion at an earlier time. But it often seems to me that there are too many desserts on the buffet table of life. One or even two can be delicious and satisfying. Putting four or five on my plate at once, however, does not produce a beneficial result.

It's always a challenge when I'm faced with several different new opportunities, all of which are appealing. I want to say yes to them all and figure out later how I will fit them in, even though I know from long experience that this is a recipe for disaster. The trickiest part is when they arrive not in a bunch, so I can choose between them, but one by one, so I don't know what's coming next.

On Monday, I'm asked to deliver a keynote in Orlando. On Tuesday, I receive a request to write an article for a trade journal. Wednesday, I'm invited to serve on an industry committee. Thursday, I'm offered several days of training in Europe. And Friday, an exciting new client urgently wants to work with me. If I were comparing all five of those choices side by side, knowing that I can't pursue them all, the one I might pick first is the exciting client from Friday who needs to get started right away. But if I had already said yes to two or three of the earlier invitations, I might no longer have the time and energy to even return that client's call.

This is where my gatekeeper comes in. Executives, celebrities, and other important folks have people on staff to screen the requests they receive and decide which ones are worth responding to. They give their staff criteria to use in screening calls and mail in order to decide who gets through the gate. Now maybe, like me, you don't have a full-time staff, but you are still an important person. Why not design criteria like these that you can use to screen your own opportunies?

I hit upon this strategy some time ago in a moment of complete overwhelm, and (when I remember to use it) my gatekeeper has served me well ever since. When faced with a tough choice about whether or not to engage in an attractive project, I let my gatekeeper decide. What is this gatekeeper? It's a list of criteria I designed in a visioning session with myself, and I use it to evaluate the project in question to see how well it fits.

To give you an idea of how this works, here are the main criteria on my gatekeeper's list:
o Will this project make the world a better place?
o Does this project honor my personal values?
o If I am being compensated, will I earn at least $X per hour for the entire project, including time required to write a proposal, prepare for the work, and travel there and back?
o If I am not being compensated, is the population being served in alignment with my mission?
o If I am speaking or writing for promotional purposes, is the topic and audience one that serves my current strategic plan?
o If travel is involved, is there at least a one week buffer zone before and after any other travel dates or major deadlines?
o Are there currently ten or fewer projects I am committed to that will require my attention during the same week as this one?

Your gatekeeper's list may be quite different from mine, but if you haven't considered using a system like this before, you may find it both valuable and enlightening. The first time I tried out my fairly simple screening criteria, I was shocked to discover how many projects I was already working on didn't measure up!

A critical moment on the hero's journey is when he or she faces several doors and must choose which one to open. It could come in handy to have a gatekeeper standing by to advise you which door leads to the treasure and which one conceals the dragon.

Laura Whitworth, we'll miss you

2007-02-28T18:13:00.000-08:00

Many of you who read this blog have known and loved Laura Whitworth, co-founder of The Coaches Training Institute, Co-Active Leadership, and The Bigger Game. Laura passed away this afternoon after a long battle with lung cancer, at the age of 59.

Laura was my first coaching mentor and made many contributions to my life, to the lives of thousands of other coaches (and their clients), and to the development of the coaching profession. Among a host of other gifts from Laura that I could name, it was she who gave me the original idea that led to the creation of Get Clients Now! in 1995.

Below are some additional details about Laura's passing. The best places to find out about her memorial service and how to send condolences or share memories are Laura's blog and the Co-Active Network discussion list.

From CTI co-founder Karen Kimsey-House:

Dear Fellow Coaches:

I write this email with a heart that is both heavy and full. As most of you know, our beloved co-founder Laura Whitworth has been battling advanced lung cancer. With astonishing courage and commitment, she has fought a good fight, calling us all forth to Fight for Life and to Live Strong.

Over the past few days, Laura's condition has worsened and the doctors have said that she is in liver failure will be passing over in a matter of days.

Currently, Laura is in Mexico with her life partner Judy. They are working to get Laura transported via helicopter to San Diego and then on home to her Meadow House in Sebastopol.

Please join me in holding an intention of peace and ease for both Laura and Judy.

The family has requested that they not be contacted directly by phone or email at this time. Instead, I would invite you to visit Laura's Blog http://laurawhitworth.blogspot.com for the latest information or to post messages of love and support.

With deep sadness and awe at the Great Hoop of Life,
Karen
Feb 28, 2007 10:35am

And from Karen Kimsey-House later today:

Hello everyone:

After a long and arduous battle with lung cancer, our beloved Laura left this life today on the airplane ride towards home. Her dear partner Judy was by her side.

In true Laura fashion, once she got clear about the direction that she was traveling, she didn't waste any time. I like to think that she just got high up in the air and decided to keep going.

There will much to grieve, celebrate and honor in the days and weeks to come. I'll continue to keep you posted as things unfold.

All my love,
Karen
Feb 28, 2007 3:47 pm

Laura, the world will miss you. You still had so much more to contribute to us, and we mourn your leaving us so soon.

I would tell you to rest in peace, but the word "rest" was never in your vocabulary. I can see you now, gathering the angels in a circle and asking them what their bigger game is.

I'll be watching for a bolt of lightning from an unexpected quarter very soon, letting us know that although you are done with moving earth, you are now moving heaven.

A poverty of ambition

2007-02-19T11:51:00.000-08:00

Listening to Barack Obama's podcast recently, I heard a talk and Q and A session he gave for Partnership for Public Service interns last July, where he referred to a "poverty of ambition."

It's not the first time Obama has used this compelling phrase. Here's a quote from his commencement address to Knox College in 2005: "Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. You need to take up the challenges that we face as a nation and make them your own. Not because you have a debt to those who helped you get here, although you do have that debt. Not because you have an obligation to those who are less fortunate than you, although I do think you do have that obligation. It's primarily because you have an obligation to yourself. Because individual salvation has always depended on collective salvation. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential."

It seems to me that a poverty of ambition in our modern world afflicts much more than young people making career decisions. We each must choose -- not just once, but many times throughout our lives -- whether to act purely on our own behalf, or to raise our ambition to something higher than our immediate wants and needs. Too often, we choose simply what serves us in the moment. I'm not talking about just you and me making decisions that affect our own lives and those of our families. Our political leaders, business leaders, and community leaders, more often than not, are limiting their ambition to choices that are poor in every sense of the word. And we're letting them get away with it.

When we raise our ambition to seek out solutions that benefit everyone instead of settling for those that help only a few, we call forth the amazing richness of our human potential. By expecting more -- of ourselves, our leaders, and our communities -- we raise the bar for what is acceptable. A raised bar causes us to stretch our capacity, to explore new ways of doing things, to sometimes simply leap, and by leaping, set a new record for what is possible. In this rich territory of stretching and exploring and leaping, we not only discover what we were already capable of, we make ourselves more capable than we ever could have been without the challenge.

Realizing our true potential as people, as leaders, as a nation, and as a global community requires a higher ambition. It is by growing ourselves that we can truly grow rich.

Five reasons why to stop global warming

2007-02-04T08:51:00.000-08:00

Amy Wilson is a woman on a mission. In the spring of 2006, she sold most of her possessions, cashed in her retirement savings, and set out on a quest to do something about global warming. Amy's project is called Five Reasons Why, a documentary film about how global warming is affecting people's daily lives, and what they are doing to stop it.

In Alaska, Amy interviewed indigenous people who told her that their traditional way of life is ending. "The fish are no longer good to eat," a village elder said. "The warmer water rots their flesh." Warmer temperatures are melting the ice and bringing more powerful storms to the coastline, causing people's homes to fall into the sea. Because of the warmer winters, spruce bark beetles are surviving year round, and killing trees by the thousands.

But the children of Alaska aren't waiting for adults to do something about it. "This is the biggest issue our generation faces," a young man in Anchorage told Amy. They have formed the organization "Alaska Youth for Environmental Action" and collected signatures from over 5,000 young people concerned about the future of their state. The kids raised money to fly to Washington and speak with legislators directly, and even purchased carbon credits to offset the environmental impact of their flight.

You can see a trailer for Five Reasons Why on Amy's site and learn about her plans to interview community members in four other states of the U.S. about what global warming is doing to them and how they plan to fight it. What Amy needs to finish her film is, of course, money. In addition to asking for individual donations, she is currently looking for people willing to host house parties and invite their friends to contribute.

"America is in denial about our warming planet," Amy warns. If nothing is done, "the consequences of America's inaction will be experienced by the entire world." Amy's heroic mission is to give a voice to those who are passionately engaged in taking action about global warming, and wake people up to the truth.

A life's work or a day's work?

2007-01-20T06:52:00.000-08:00

It's hard to set out on your hero's journey when you aren't sure where you are going. If I had to name the one thing that prevents more bright, talented people from making a difference in the world than any other, I'd say it was not knowing what the difference is they truly want to make.

It seems that most of us would-be heroes are listening very hard for The Call -- the inspired message that will tell us once and for all what we are supposed to do with our lives -- but we aren't quite sure how to recognize the real thing. One morning you feel unusually determined to do something about global warming and you wonder, "Is this it? Have I heard The Call now?"

But when you find yourself the next day strongly pulled toward a project to help teenage runaways, you think, "I guess that global warming idea wasn't the real thing. Maybe this is it." And your plans to take action about global warming go out the window. But you're still not sure about helping those teenage runaways. After all, you were wrong before about hearing The Call. Maybe you had better wait and see how you feel tomorrow.

As someone who has heard and acted on more than one inspired message in the course of a lifetime, here's my experience with the "how to be sure" question. You can only ever know what is right for you today... or maybe this hour, or this minute.

There is a moment on each journey when we take the step that sets things in motion which prevent our easy retreat. And I think that often it is the mood we are in at the very moment we take that step that determines the journey we go on.

There is probably no single mission in life that will hold your attention forever. There may not be just one mission that will satisfy you completely for even a short time. But one thing is sure -- if you wait until you know without a doubt what that mission is, you will also be waiting to do what good you can in the world in the meantime.

I say if there is a mess in front of you and your hand lights upon a broom, pick it up and start sweeping. Perhaps ultimately a mop might do a better job, or even a shovel. But the longer you wait to decide what tool to use, the longer the mess will be there.

I don't mean to suggest you should just throw a dart at a random list of ways to help the world. But you have probably already done a lot of studying and thinking and listening about what your mission in life should be. Most people I talk to are seriously considering no more than a handful of different ideas at any one time.

What I am suggesting, though, is that you should allow yourself to be moved in the direction of action regarding one of these ways to be of service the next time some useful action presents itself to you.

There will be a moment when that action will turn into a commitment and then there will be another point when you can decide if the direction you are going feels right. Even after you commit, most commitments are negotiable. Once you have set upon a course, you can usually still change it, although it becomes harder to do the further along you go.

But since it's likely that no decision you make will be permanent anyway, why not simply choose to make one based on what is calling to you most in that moment? Then you will act, and in acting, you will learn more. After deciding, you will feel differently than before you decided, and that too, you will learn from. When you decide and act, you will tell people about your choice, and from their reactions (and from your own when you tell them), you will learn still more.

And while you are learning these things, you will simultaneously be contributing your unique talents in the direction of cleaning up a mess that is much in need of cleaning.

In many ways, I think there is little effort in acting to clean up the world's messes that is truly wasted. If you decide to work helping runaways for a time and then decide it is not for you, the runaways and you will still benefit. In fact, if you were to work or volunteer on a different path of service every month for the rest of your life, you and the world would still benefit.

In the aftermath of the South Asian tsunami, I read a news report that created a subtle but profound shift in my thinking on this issue of waiting to be sure about the best way to be of service.

A village leader in the Aceh province of Indonesia was interviewed by a journalist two weeks after the tsunami. "How much foreign aid is reaching your village?" the journalist asked.

"We can't understand it," the elder replied. "All we see are journalists and aid agency workers making studies. People come with cameras and clipboards and ask many questions. Then they leave and never come back. We need food, we need water. People are dying. Please stop sending people with questions about what we need and send us some help."

A day on, not a day off

2007-01-12T10:53:00.000-08:00

On Monday, Jan 15, the U.S. will celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. with a national holiday. But what many Americans don't realize is that in 1994, Congress designated the King Holiday as a national day of volunteer service. Instead of just taking a day off from work or school, Americans of all backgrounds and ages are encouraged to honor Dr. King's memory by turning their concerns into positive action.

Each year on the King Day of Service, hundreds of thousands of Americans volunteer in their communities, building homes, painting schools, delivering meals, and teaching children about Dr. King's life. Many projects started on King Day continue to involve volunteers long after the holiday and benefit their communities year-round.

It's not too late to find a volunteer opportunity for yourself this coming Monday. You can find local organizations sponsoring King Day projects on the King Day of Service website, or through the USA Freedom Corps or the Corporation for National and Community Service, which sponsors projects such as AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Get Involved! and Learn and Serve America.

In the words of this year's presidential proclamation of the holiday, this can be a day for us all to "...recommit ourselves to the dream to which Dr. King devoted his life -- an America where the dignity of every person is respected; where people are judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character; and where the hope of a better tomorrow is in every neighborhood."

One heroic act

2007-01-08T20:35:00.000-08:00

Did you make any resolutions this New Year? According to an A.C. Nielsen survey, over half of all the people in the world did in 2007. The most popular resolutions worldwide were to get more exercise and have a better work/life balance. Other top choices were to go on a diet, quit smoking, avoid bad relationships, and change jobs.

There's nothing wrong with resolutions like these. If we all paid more attention to our physical and emotional health as well as our job satisfaction, the world would be a happier place. But I'd like to see another sort of resolution make the top ten. What if we were all to resolve to do just one thing this year to make the world a better place?

Imagine the positive impact on a global scale if each of us took on just one significant task to better the lives of others or the state of our planet. We all have the capacity to be heroes if we allow ourselves to claim our own greatness. Could this be the year that you take a giant step forward on that path?

Here's my invitation -- choose one heroic act that you are willing to perform in 2007. Look outside yourself and your circle of family and friends to the wider world that is so in need of your skills and talents. What's just one thing that you could do to be of greater service?

I've pondered this question for myself, and decided that my heroic act this year will be to launch or join a project in support of educating girls in the developing world. There are several organizations already doing great work in this area, so my commitment is to forge an alliance with one of them and contribute enough of my time and energy to send at least 30 girls -- a classroom full -- to school this year in a developing country.

That's my heroic act for 2007 – what will be yours?

The call to heroism in the howl of a dog

2006-12-14T10:57:00.000-08:00

In a recent issue of Inquiring Mind, I encountered the story of Pali Boucher, the founder of Rocket Dog Rescue in San Francisco. I'm always looking for what motivates people to step out of their ordinary lives and into a heroic role. In Boucher's case, it was a howling dog.

Boucher was the child of a homeless, drug-addicted mother who died when she was ten. After a short time in a foster home, she ended up on the street herself. For many years, she was in and out of jail, became addicted to drugs, and contracted HIV. But she always loved animals. As a child, she took care of pigeons, feral cats, and junkyard dogs. As a homeless adult, she visited animal shelters to spend time with the dogs there.

At the SPCA, Boucher fell in love with Leadbelly, a hound who no one wanted to adopt because he howled all the time. Learning that Leadbelly was in danger of being euthanized, she scrounged up some money, faked an address, and adopted him. After almost losing her beloved hound when she went back to jail, she checked herself into a detox program. "It was the first time in my life I realized that I wasn't just affecting myself by going out and getting loaded, that I was directly responsible for the pain of somebody else," Boucher recalls.

Ultimately, Boucher and Leadbelly rescued each other. Boucher says, "He helped me learn to take care of myself by taking care of him." After getting clean and sober, Boucher founded Rocket Dog Rescue, which saves dogs scheduled for euthanasia throughout California. Rocket Dog rescues about 150 dogs per year, and runs completely on donations with no paid staff. Boucher is a recipient of the Points of Light Award for outstanding volunteerism.

There's just no telling where a hero might encounter the call to inspired action. So keep listening -- yours is out there.

The hero's holiday shopping guide

2006-11-26T11:59:00.000-08:00

The holiday shopping season is upon us, so it's time once again for what has become an annual feature in this blog – suggestions for how your gift-buying dollars can help to make the world a better place. By making your purchases from fair trade organizations, nonprofit collectives, social enterprises, and other worthy causes, you can give a gift to the people on your list and the global community at the same time. Here are some ideas:

The Culture Shop - Buy jewelry, accessories, textiles, and home decor created by indigenous craftspeople around the world. Everything in their catalog has been purchased according to Fair Trade Federation standards

Global Girlfriend - Organic cotton clothing, recycled plastic accessories, and natural bath products are available online from this Fair Trade boutique. Their goods are made by women's non-profit programs, women's cooperatives worldwide and products that benefit women's human rights.

Greyston Bakery - Order brownies and blondies for shipping nationwide from this social enterprise in Yonkers, NY that gives jobs and job training to the chronically unemployed. Greyston is the sole supplier of brownies to Ben & Jerry's, and profits from the bakery support community development initiatives, including low-income housing, childcare, health services, and technology education.

Humane Society - For the pet or pet-lover on your list, shop at the Humane Domain, where you can buy dog sweaters in team colors, kitty hammocks, dog or cat pajamas, and lots more. Proceeds benefit the Humane Society's animal welfare programs.

Rosie's Place - Purchase jewelry and accessories made from unique and vintage buttons, made by the Women's Craft Cooperative. Rosie's place serves poor and homeless women in Boston, providing emergency and long-term assistance with housing, food, health care, and education.

Shop New Orleans - You can help with Gulf Coast recovery by purchasing gifts from the artists, craftspeople, and nonprofits struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina. The Carnival of Hurricane Relief has assembled this collection, which includes designs from the New Orleans Craft Mafia, Christmas note cards from Southern Creations, and prints of paintings salvaged from the destroyed Biloxi Maritime Museum.

Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates - Buy organic Fair Trade chocolate bars, caramels, truffles, cocoa mix, and more at wholesale prices. Orders from individuals are welcome on Sweet Earth's website.

Trails to Bridges - Beautiful handbags, baskets, pottery, scarves, jewelry, and more are available from this faith-based venture that supports disadvantaged artisans worldwide with Fair Trade practices.

Global Giving Gift Certificates - Allow the people on your gift list to donate to the cause of their choice by giving them a donation gift certificate. With Global Giving, you can buy a certificate in any amount of $10 or more, and the recipient can choose what project or organization your gift will be donated to by browsing a project catalog indexed by theme and global region.

For even more suggestions, check out last year's guide for where to buy gift baskets, baby clothes, bath salts, soup mixes, and much more. Make a difference with your dollars this holiday season.

To make a difference, be bold

2006-11-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

In the Skoll Foundation’s Social Edge newsletter this week, I discovered the book Be Bold by Cheryl L. Dorsey and Lara Galinsky. “The urge to live a life of meaning,” the authors say, “is one of our most elemental desires as human beings. We want to make a difference in the world; we need to leave our footprint in the sands of time to mark our existence. By honoring the beliefs and values we hold dear, we allow ourselves to live lives that matter.”

In less than 100 pages, Dorsey and Galinsky share powerful concepts like having the “gall to think big” and choosing to be “bold as a career choice.” They remind us: “Never forget that doing nothing is as much a choice as doing something. Choosing to get engaged in a cause that you deeply care about or launching a career in the nonprofit sector are not only courageous acts of service, but also the most powerful weapon against the horrors and injustices of the world that require indifference, inaction, and silence to thrive.”

You can download at no charge the preface and introduction to the book, as well as a Be Bold personal journal, from the Be Bold website if you join their free virtual community of readers and social change advocates. Be Bold carries a valuable and timely message to would-be heroes everywhere.