In This Issue: December 2006

• In the main article, I've rewritten one of my most popular articles from last year, looking at the people in our lives who are heroes.
• "Don't Take My Word For It" sums up the pros and cons of heroism
• Got It Going On: see the cool and funky places where I'm speaking in the coming months - and if you're in Mumbai, drop me a line!
• Market Place Products of the Month:
  • If you want to spend no money, the Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun screensaver
  • If you want to spend a little, support Anne Abbot - a brilliant artist with a disability
  • If you want to spend more money, support Roel Mahatoo whose book of photos from Africa raises money for Foster Parents Plan

Celebrate Your Heroes

Growing up in Australia the son of an Englishman, one of my first heroes was King Richard I, the Lionheart. "Coeur de Lion" ... it had such a fantastic, romantic ring to it, and as an 8-year-old his story was a stirring one.

Thirty years later things look a little more complex. The questions raised by the Crusades aside (no small thing considering the state of the world today), he really had a terrible work-life balance and spent only 6 months of his ten year reign in England.

The metaphor of the heart is so powerful - and it shows up in words such as courage, core and encourage. And this for me gets to the essence of heroism. I'm not much for the outward show of glory. I'm more drawn to those quiet acts of courage, that inward moment of stepping forth into the unknown to try something out and see what happens.

Last year I wrote an article about heroes, and I'm publishing a revised and enhanced version of it this year, celebrating the people I see who possess a "coeur de lion".

Know anyone who's a hero for you? Please forward Outside the Lines (in its entirety please) to anyone you think might be interested. This community grows with your help.

I'd be delighted if you should wish to reprint (for free) any part of Outside the Lines in your newsletters, websites, and message boards. Contact me at michael@boxofcrayons.biz for further details.

Michael Bungay Stanier
Principal, Box of Crayons

Don't Take My Word For It

Smart folks thinking out loud about what it means to be a hero:

"The notion of the hero as outsider, as alien, is forget it, over, done with. It's not about being against society anymore. It's about standing there, holding something up. It's not pulling away."
Twyla Tharp, dancer

"Of all the will toward the ideal in mankind only a small part can manifest itself in public action. All the rest of this force must be content with small and obscure deeds. The sum of these, however, is a thousand times stronger than the acts of those who receive wide public recognition. The latter, compared to the former, are like the foam on the waves of a deep ocean."
Albert Schweitzer, Noble Peace Prize winner

"I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles."
Christopher Reeve, actor

"The difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways."
Gene Hackman, actor

"I'm a hero with coward's legs."
Spike Milligan, comedian

"I am, to be quite honest, sick of hero stories."
Julie Taymor, actor

"Every hero becomes a bore at last."
Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer

The Hero's Journey

All of us are surrounded by heroes. All of us have walked a hero's journey.

Joseph Campbell first described the Hero's Journey, recognizing it as the basic blueprint for all stories, including the ones we live out in our own lives.

As I lay out the journey Campbell describes, I want to acknowledge my own heroes - some of whom I know personally, and one I don't.

There are basically three stages to the Hero's Journey. The first is the Departure. It is when the hero first hears the call to adventure - the first hint that something is going to change.

Often the call is initially refused - the notion of leaving the safety of what is known is too scary to contemplate. But the call persists, and eventually the hero - often with the help of a Mentor - accepts the call and crosses the threshold into this new and special world to begin the journey.

One of my heroes I don't know:

I'm thrilled that Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Gurteen Bank, won the Noble Peace Prize this year. He invented microcredit, a way of lending money to the poor. This seemingly simple process has allowed people - mainly women - with no possibilities to suddenly have possibilities. And by creating economic independence, Yunus has started to change the very social structure of these societies.

The second stage of the Hero's Journey is the adventure itself. On the road to the goal, the hero will face tests and enemies, and will conquer them with the help of allies. The allies may show up as a "sidekick" or they may show up as a team.

The hero may stumble and fall and victory may (more than once) be snatched from their grasp. But slowly and surely the Hero learns the ways of this new world, and comes closer to their goal. The Hero faces the final ordeal - their nemesis - and conquers it. The quest is won!

Some of the heroes I know:

All of people I have worked with who have made a bold choice. One of my passions is helping people to do more "Great Work" - work that takes you to the edge of yourself and makes a bigger impact in whatever sphere you're working in. To do that, you need to start saying no to some "Good Work" - those activities which you do well, get rewarded for, and which are part of your comfort zone.

It is a bold step to say no to something that's comfortable - and if you've started a business, started a new relationship, renegotiated a way of being with someone, tried something new - then you've done that. Bravo!

The final stage of the Hero's Journey is the journey back. Again, there will be challenges to overcome, enemies to face, allies to call upon for help.

Crossing the threshold back to the "real world" can be tricky - will the Hero be able to bring back the new found wisdom, experience and share it? It is often in this final stage that the real transformation occurs.

One of the heroes I know within my family:

My mum. Rosey, has just had an operation to replace her knee. It's been something she's done with some trepidation, but she's stepped over the threshold (or hopped...) and she's now on the journey back. Her best ally is my dad, Robin. He is loyal and brave - the highest praise anyone can give me is when they tell me I'm like my dad.

SOMETHING TO PRACTICE

What's your hero's journey?

• If you are the Hero, what's the challenge you are facing right now?
• What is your goal? What are you seeking?
• Who is your nemesis? Who or what must you overcome for success?
• Who is your Mentor? Who are your allies you can call upon for help?
• Where are you in your journey? What do you need for the journey to continue?

Who are your heroes?

• How can you celebrate them?
• What does that tell you about your own values? And what's important to you?
• If you were to act like one of your heroes, what would you do?

WANT TO LEARN MORE? HERE ARE SOME USEFUL RESOURCES

Andrew Kaufman, All My Friends are Superheroes. A sweet and marvellous book that will make you laugh - and set you off on a quest to find your own friends' superhero powers. Buy here

Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell was the mythologist who described The Hero's Journey, the "ur-story" that is behind all stories. Buy here

The Hero's Journey. You can see a summary of the stages of the hero's journey here

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, On Death and Dying. Kubler-Ross's description of the mourning process has been recognized as the process we all go through when we face change: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance (although commonly known as the five stages of Grief, it was actually presented as the five stages to receiving catastrophic news). It echoes the shape of the Hero's Journey. Buy here

Comments? Feedback?
michael@boxofcrayons.biz

Market Place Products of the Month

I've no doubt that most of us are a little overwhelmed (not to mention jaded) by the constant call to buy something as part of the festive season.

Here are three ways to do things a little differently this season.

1. Spend no money: Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun screensaver

Earlier this month we launched The Eight Principles screensaver series. Now you can have www.eightprinciples.com on your desktop to remind you to have fun!

The First Principle - Stop Hiding Who You Really Are - is available to download for PC and Mac at no cost (and hundreds of people have taken advantage of that so far).

No catches - it's just a small way for me to say thanks for being part of this community.

Download your free screensaver in the Store

2. A little money: Anne Abbot's cards and paintings

Anne is a friend of mine who is a wonderful artist - she paints in a naïve, folk-art way and I particularly love her landscapes and her nudes. She paints with her forefinger, because she has a disability - cerebral palsy, which means that she has little control over her limbs.

I love visiting her at the local market, where she runs her stall on the weekend (for you folks in Toronto, she is at the St Lawrence Market, on the ground floor level). Even though she can't speak (she communicates by pointing at a word board on her wheelchair), she has immense charisma, and is always surrounded by people who are drawn to her style, talent and courage.

You can see Anne here and see some of her paintings here.

I've been buying her cards for years. They're beautiful and they're a bargain.

You can contact Anne directly at info@artistanneabbott.com.

3. Some money: Roel Dixon-Mahatoo's photographs of Africa

Roel is a friend of mine, a gifted photographer and a man with a big and generous heart.

On a recent photography trip to Africa, he became starkly aware of the AIDS/HIV pandemic in Africa. As just one chilling statistic, it is estimated that by 2010, over 25 million African children will be orphaned by AIDS/HIV.

Rather than just feel sad about such a tragedy, Roel is using his talent to do something. He has released a Limited Edition photography book to help raise awareness and money for this cause - and you can see it here.

He's partnered with Foster Parents Plan - an organization that I also support and that is totally committed to the welfare and well being of children.

One hundred percent (100%) of the profits are being donated to Foster Parents Plan with the funds being directed to African projects that support and assist children impacted by AIDS/HIV.

His book is now available for pre-order (it will arrive in January - which shouldn't preclude you giving it as a fantastic gift).

It is a 100 page, 9"x 12" hardcover book and there are only 1,000 copies available for sale. You can see some of the images in the book and pre-order the book online here.

Alternatively, you can call Roel at 1.888.301.0829 (toll free in North America) to order your copy. Cheque, Visa, Discover, Mastercard, AMEX and Paypal are all accepted.

Even better, the Canadian government through CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) will match your donation dollar-for-dollar, so your book purchase will work twice as hard.

Got It Going On

2007 is looking good for another exciting year of giving workshop and speeches to people around the world.

I'm very excited to be going to Mumbai in February to speak at the Asia-Pacific HRM conference on February 3rd. I'd love to meet some of my readers from Mumbai, so drop me a line to set up a meeting.

The next open and free Get Unstuck & Get Going teleforum is on Wednesday January 17 at 2pm EST. I'll be speaking on three ways to gather the courage to do what you want to do - and you can sign up for that here.

As you might be able to guess, I love to speak and run workshops or teleforums for groups! Read more about the keynote and workshop topics I offer in this PDF.

'The Scribbler'

There will be no Scribbler this month. I'll be back with Outside the Lines on Thursday January 11th.

Michael Bungay Stanier is the Principal of Box of Crayons, a company that works with organizations, teams and individuals to help them move from doing Good Work to doing Great Work. He is the author of Get Unstuck & Get Going ...on the stuff that matters, a coaching program and tool endorsed by leaders in the coaching and training professions, and creator of The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun, a movie that's taken the internet by storm. He is the 2006 Canadian Coach of the Year. You can find out more at www.boxofcrayons.biz or you can contact him directly at Michael@boxofcrayons.biz or +1 (416) 532-1322.

To subscribe to Outside the Lines & The Scribbler click here. If you have any trouble accessing the form, send an email to subs@BoxofCrayons.biz.

Outside the Lines is distributed on the 2nd Thursday of every month. The Scribbler is distributed on the 4th Thursday of every month. Your contact information is never traded, never rented, never sold.

©Box of Crayons 2006. Box of Crayons is a registered trading name of Maida CC Inc.

*Outside the Lines is read in at least 136 countries:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bouvet Island, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherland Antilles, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wales, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe!

Did I miss your country? Let me know!