Helping Portfolio

I have been reflecting on how we can help the world be sustainable, well and peaceful…small issues. I’ve come across some excellent examples of how we can be exceptional helpers. Let me share with you my Helping Portfolio:

1. Social Enterprises

I spent a lot of the summer reading Daniel Flynn’s Chapter One book on co-creating thankyou a successful and dynamic social enterprise. Thankyou has generated over $5 million of profits and all that money has been directed to helping the poor. They are a true cause-based enterprise who are radically changing the fast moving consumer goods industry. Their passion, creativity, ingenuity and naivety have enabled them to capture market share in established markets which are tough to break into. They are a great example of Millennials getting on with fixing problems by radically transforming traditional business thinking and practices. When I buy my Thankyou hand wash and body wash I know I am helping the world through my conscious retail choices. It is a very clever yet simple way of making a positive difference and helping the world each day.  Thankyou is an exceptional leading social enterprise that is helping all its stakeholders every day.

2. Everyone needs a ‘Donna’

I also caught up on one of my favorite shows 'Suits' and found myself desiring a ‘Donna’ in my life. For those of you who do not know about Donna she is a magical, intuitive, intelligent and sassy Executive Assistant that can do all. She is proactive, friendly and firm and has an amazing knack of accessing people, information and intelligence through her extensive contacts and influencing techniques. Donna is a magnificent helper and I really want to be more like her. She uses all her intelligences – head, heart and gut (analytical, emotional and intuition) and she has amazing knowing and wisdom.

I know she is a fictional character but what if we could find the ‘Donna’ within us to effortlessly help others and ourselves.  In my coaching I mostly help other’s realize they are more than just their brains. I help people tune into their heart and use their emotional intelligence and tune into their gut to switch on their intuition. Marvin Oka and Grant Soosalu published mBraining research that validates our multiple intelligences. The Heartmath Institute and Howard Gardner have many research studies of our amazing multiple intelligences. When she was in year 2, my daughter’s teachers helped her work out that she had preferences toward kinesthetic and musical intelligences. To be more helpful to ourselves and others, we need to tap into our own multiple intelligences.

The knowing peace is a curious area for me, when I am in my element and working with leaders I tap into more knowledge and know-how than is just within me.  I tap into the collective intelligence or the collective unconscious. I am not sure what the theoretical construct is – a combination of Jung, Pierre Levy and new age deliberate receiving. The leaders and I co-create the knowledge in the space we have created and it is unplanned and spontaneous. Imagine if we are all capable of this - how much more could we achieve and be?

3. Identify your type of help

When I was 16, one of my teachers asked me what I wanted to do and be in my life.  It was the first time anyone had asked me that question. The gift my teacher, Mr Quin, gave me was the gift of choice. He made me realise that I had a choice of what I wanted to do and be – it was so empowering. The answer I blurted out was “I want to help people.”

The definition of Help is to make it easier or possible for someone to do something by offering them ones services or resources.  Over the years I have been clumsy in helping others who actually never wanted help. I have also realized you can’t help people who do not want to help themselves. Being a witness and confidante can be all the help some people want with no advice or projection. The magic happens when you attract people who want help and you can help each other – the exchange is beneficial for the giver and receiver. What type of help do you offer and what type of help do you need?

As Simon Sinek states in his book Together is Better:

“The value of our lives is not determined by what we do for ourselves. The value of our lives is determined by what we do for others.” How should we ask people to judge our legacies... by the number of emails we answer or how many times we went to the gym? Or by the character of the children we raise and the people we led?  Or the impact we had in the lives of people around us…

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I am still working on my Helpful Portfolio looking forward to giving and receiving in 2017.