Hanna Cooper

Five Things...

OK, so it's a bit 2006, but Carol Ross tagged me a month ago with this blogger's meme going around, and I've been slow on the draw to give you 5 things you probably didn't know about me.  So, here it goes:

1) I've been driven to make a difference since I was a kid.  As a child, I planned that my grown-up job would be to reclaim strip mines.  I wanted to drive a VW minibus around filled with grass seed, bunnies and deer.  Not exactly sure where that idea came from - but I did spend much of the first 8 years of my life in rural Pennsylvania.

2) I'm used to rabble rousing.  At 11 years old, I made my first protest t-shirt - against Safeway supermarket.  They'd locked their dumpsters to deflect a dumpster-diving family friend.  The masses - however - were not induced to rioting.

3) I have a birthmark on my face.  Without the benefit of cosmetic alteration, half of the hairs on my right eyebrow and eyelashes are so light that it appears that I have only 1/2 an eyebrow.  You might be able to make it out in my photo over on the left.  But not to worry if you don't:  my best childhood friend didn't notice this about me for the first 15 years of our friendship.

4) I'm related to someone moderately famous.  A great uncle of mine invented the laminate ski.

5) I have a great memory for meals eaten, vacations taken, people's birthdays, and other past events, but I'm not so great with the names of people I've just met.  The whirlwind of introductions and connecting in with someone new - sensory overload? - can take over and I lose the name.  So, if I blow it when I meet you, have pity on me, and tell me again, please!

I think every blogger I know or could tag has been tagged, so I'll just stop the madness here!

How about you?  What's something you'd share that most people don't know?

Blogidarity

The good folks responsible for the blog Synergy - Felix Gerena, Rosa Say, Trevor Gay, Steve Sherlock, Troy Worman, Rocky Noe and Phil Gerbyshak - have a new blogging adventure, Blogidarity.

Through www.blogidarity.org they intend to help people in the third world by raising funds for a selected non-profit through monthly $1.00 donations from readers.

Clear Path International, a non-profit serving landmine and bomb accident survivors,their families and their communities, is this month's beneficiary.  You can read here about one of their beneficiaries, Ha, a young woman severely injured by a landmine explosion.

Vision Monthly

The latest edition of Vision Monthly is out, with a theme of "defining the box" and I'm pleased to announce that I'm a contributor!  A January blog post of mine, Says Who?, is included this issue.

With the tag line of "Live to learn. Learn to live,"  and insightful writing from a variety of sources, there's much to discover at Vision Monthly.

What Carol knows...

Carol Ross at Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Living has a great post up entitled What I Know Now About Being Self-Employed.  Jump over to her site to read more of Carol's insights, but her list of what she's learned so far on this journey of self-employment also works pretty well as a set of guidelines for work within organizations, or in life overall:

1. Work with the best people you can find.
   
2. Start conversations with people you admire.
   
3. Ask for feedback.
   
4. Know who your ideal clients are and why they are attracted to you.
   
5. Do your homework but don’t over prepare.
   
6. Read. 
7. Create a network of supporters.
   
8. Give away flowers.
   
9. Hang around irreverent people.
   
10. Be willing to give up good work in order to do great work.

Her list and insights both gave me some new food for thought and also rang true with my experience as a solopreneur - how about you?

What have you learned so far on your journey to make a difference?

Coming attractions

I love to read.  I have friends who wonder how I ever have time to read, working and being the parent of small children.  But like anything else in life, if I want to do something I have to make time for it.

This month I'm making time for Rosa Say's love affair with books.  It's the total win-win for readers: if I can't get to the books themselves, I'm going to get great reviews and suggestions to fill out my "to-read" list.  I'm contributing a piece, and can't wait for the other recommendations that will come out this Friday.

Not that I really need more books to read.  I had a hard time enough time choosing which book I wanted to dive into for Rosa's book party: the ones I list here on my blog's side bar, all important ones to me; or one of the ones on my book shelf that I really want to read but haven't dived into yet.  It's a great unfinished task: there will always be more books to read than I can get to.

Come back Wednesday to check out my thoughts on Meg Wheatley's Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time.  I've wanted to read her work for a long time, and this book of essays has lit some new fires for me.  I'm percolating on it now, and look forward to a great dialog with you!

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How do books contribute to your making a difference?

What books have made a difference to you?

Make mine humble

Based on a conversation we had this past Monday, Phil Gerbyshak over at Make It Great! has written up a quasi-interview with me about my coaching work.  His words are kind and I'm humbled. 

Phil's a generous friend in the blog world, a true connector and prolific resource, so check him out: I always leave with new information, a new perspective, and great energy for my day.

The man, the vision

For the last ten years or so, instead of the usual holiday card to friends and business associates, print designers Bryan Potter Design of Portland, Oregon have sent cards of their own design that honor the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.

I always anxiously await the second week of January to see their card's design and selected quote from Dr. King.  The quote they've chosen this year:

America must re-examine old presuppositions and release itself from many things that for centuries have been held sacred.  For the evils of racism, poverty and militarism to die, a new set of values must be born.  Our economy must become more person-centered than property- and profit-centered.  Our government must depend more on its moral power than on its military power.

Even though much of their design work is for non-profit organizations or political campaigns, these cards do more than just connect with customers.  I know that this way of honoring Dr. King reflects their values and beliefs, as well as their skills in print media design.  It's a great alignment and demonstration of their beliefs and actions as people and as a business.

While each year's design and quote is different, they all have shared the same tag line:

Remember the man.  Remember the vision.

Indeed. 

Hopeful crossings

While the main focus of my coaching practice are people in nonprofit and government settings working to make a difference, one of my other areas of interest is supporting people who are experiencing grief and loss.

To that end, I'm co-writing another blog, Hopeful Crossings, for that audience.  While this time of year can be uplifting and joyful, it also brings reminders of what may be missing or gone.  Our blog hopes to be a resource for people in various stages of grief and loss to connect and heal.  Stop by & visit.

Around the neighborhood

Catching up on my blog reading, here are some of the highlights for you:

Carol Ross' blog, Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Living, points her readers to an interesting survey about people who make a difference, "with a small 'd'".  Sponsored by a non-profit network focused on promoting emotional intelligence in a variety of settings, this is the focus of the survey:

Every once in a while we meet someone who makes a tremendous difference in our lives. These people are not necessarily leading a noteworthy cause (a big “D” difference), rather they are “ordinary” people who affect the people they touch - making a difference with a small “d.” When we're affected by these people, we know they've made our lives, and the world, a better place.... We want to learn from these “difference makers” so we can make more of a difference ourselves - and so we can teach others about what it takes.

I named this blog "Making a Difference" because the idea that everyone's got something to contribute - big "D" difference or small "d" difference - is one of my core beliefs.  How great that someone's naming and studying the "ordinary" contributions of individuals.  Check it out the survey here if you're curious.  They are looking for 1000 replies by November 15th.

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My friend Kirsten Johnson, over at her blog Dream Big, had a great post last week on life purpose. 

When I start working with a new coaching client, I ask them to fill out an intake form as one way for me to learn more about what they want out of coaching.  The questions on the intake form are meant to be thought-provoking and call the client towards his or her greater goals in life. 

One of the questions is "How would you describe your life purpose?" I've found that this question is one that often provokes a great deal in clients - whether or not they have a quick answer for it, how they interpret the question. 

Kirsten's post includes a list of 50 questions that address life purpose - so if life purpose is something you are currently chewing on, head on over and check it out.

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And, finally, I'm enjoying reading Heather's blog, life@work.  For anyone looking for a great blog on work and the search for career happiness, please head on over.   

Introducing...

I'm so very pleased to add Carol Ross' blog, Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Living, to my blogroll.  OLEL is about "living well, seeing the big things in the small things, finding the ordinary in the extraordinary, through the stories of everyday life."

Carol is a business and personal coach, organizational development consultant and writer in the Denver area that I met via the Coaches Training Institute's online community, the Co-Active Network.  We shared resources and thoughts about blogging and coaching, and I feel like I've found another kindred spirit through her writing.  Since she shared with me the beta-version of her blog a few months ago, I've been anxiously awaiting her OK to promote her blog here.  She has the gift of telling an story with a point in a compelling and engaging way that gently nudges you towards a new way of thinking, being, acting.

So, with that... drum roll, and ta-da:  pull up a chair, and enjoy Carol Ross & Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Living!  (Sounds like a great band name, huh?)