Subscribe to this blog with a reader or
click here to get posts by email. Thanks!
![Zugunruhe [zoog.un.roo.ee] - carbon balanced with TerraPass](http://www.terrapass.com/images/partners/white-badge-medium.gif){kind=icon}
May you be filled with lovingkindness.
May you be well.
May you be at peace and at ease.
May you dwell in safety and security.
May you be free from anxiety and suffering.
May all good things be yours.
Peace and best wishes to you,
Tara
A few updates you might be interested in:
Zugunruhe added 96 new contacts in December! We’ll round up to an even $100 and divide the dough between our four worthy causes. A huge thanks to all who responded to our invitation. We look forward to getting to know you over the coming year and providing you with tons of great marketing tips and business life info. If you haven’t subscribed yet and want to be part of the fun, we’re continuing our pledge to generosity into the New Year. Just enter your email where it says “subscribe” in the left sidebar to join the fun.
I interviewed Bryan Sims, CEO of Brass Media last month. Now, we see that Brass is headed into the realm of reality TV! Check out the clip on Brass’s blog. If you know anybody in TV who might be interested, please pass the clip on. These folks definitely deserve some love.
Speaking of social responsibility, this video made its way to me today. I’m going right out to buy carbon offsets for all my friends and family as Christmas presents now. See you Monday!
I work the greatest people the world has to offer. Some of those people are social entrepreneurs. If the phrase “social entrepreneur” is unfamiliar to you, look out. It’s the latest trend in the business world and you’ll be seeing more and more companies founded on (or taking on) the principles of social responsibility as time goes by.
Social entrepreneurs take the idea of doing good and pair it with doing well. In other words, they reject the idea that you can only make money or be a do-gooder but not both. These people go out to change the world and make a profit at the same time. And the really good news is that they’re succeeding.
The social entrepreneurs I work with are, each and every one, really smart people. These are not pie-in-the-sky idealists with their goofy heads in the clouds. Oh no. These are realistic, well-educated, objective, hardnosed business people. They’ve run the numbers. They’ve done the math. But they’re not totally governed by their heads. They let their hearts have a say, too. They follow their passions and their consciences. Not conventional. Never boring. These are the change-makers. The movers and shakers of the next wave.
The best part of working with social entrepreneurs, though, is that these folks bet the farm on hope. Hope for a better world. Hope for a change that will produce better lives for people who are so downtrodden that they don’t dare have hope for themselves. Hope for a world that’s melting down and warming up. Hope for trees and butterflies, clean water and a nice profit margin.
Social entrepreneurship isn’t just for profit, by the way. It can be a non-profit path, too. More and more, non-profits are realizing that the wave of the future is to be self-sustaining. It’s great to carry your own weight and put your muscle behind a cause without worry about depending on the whims of donations. In short, it’s about being good as well as doing good, making an impact the smart way, not just because your cause is worthy.
Working with my fabulous social change artists makes me high, I’ll admit it. I get off the phone feeling like I, too, can leap tall buildings with a single bound. But the truth is, all of us can take on some of the characteristics of successful social entrepreneurs. We can all look for ways to be more green in whatever we do and to share our blessings with those who are less fortunate than ourselves. We can all learn to take risks, go after our dreams with solid business plans and open hearts.
If you’re not ready to take the leap yourself, you can still play in important role in social entrepreneurship. Check out Ashoka or Kiva. You can learn more about great people getting [good] things done and even lend a hand with your pocketbook. And if this is a path you're considering, check out Be Bold for some ideas on how to proceed.
><><><><><><>
Hey, if you've got a minute, check out my new podcast series: Zugunruhe Talks. The series is dedicated to highlighting great people who do good things. The first interview, with public speaking coach Arvee Robinson, is up now.
Perhaps you’re familiar with the NPR series, This I Believe. As I am planning revisions to my website, I’ve been thinking about the founding principles of Zugunruhe as a company. As part of the process, I thought I’d share some of the statements I came up with to describe what I believe and how Zugunruhe is operated.
We believe in continuous, life-long learning and improvement.
Zugunruhe was founded to serve people who want to grow. Grow intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. People who want to grow businesses and non-profits, companies and careers, children and gardens, joy and works of lasting significance. We serve people who are not satisfied with the status quo but instead want to move forward to make their lives, and the world, a better place to be.
Personally, I believe in life-long learning, not just for knowledge’s sake alone, but also for the benefits it brings. Everyday, I work to learn something new. I started this as a child when I caught on to the joy of telling my dad what I’d found out and seeing his pleasure in learning something from me. Not only does learning allow the learner to teach and entertain others but continuous learning is good for your brain. The more those connections are used and strengthened, the more likely it is that you’ll have a good memory for a lifetime. But that’s not all.
I believe in continuous learning. Practically every time I learn something new, I am called upon to transmit that information to the individuals and organizations Zugunruhe serves. A few days ago, I started to listen to a podcast on sales. The subject was closing sales and I thought, “I don’t really need this right now.” Sure enough, that afternoon a coaching client needed some advice on closing and I learned an important lesson. I may not need the information but somebody else will. It’s up to me to soak all that knowledge up continuously to be prepared when the need arises. (That’s why I followed the inclination to update my CPR certification last week; you never know!)
Finally, I believe in improvement. Always. Anything that can be done well can be done better. That’s why I’m always looking for ways to improve my performance as a coach, writer, educator, daughter, wife, dog-owner, you name it. Not because I seek perfection--that’s unattainable. But because I have a strong sense of untapped potential and promise within. It’s my mission in life to manifest potential and promise--yours as well my own.
Thus, it is Zugunruhe’s commitment that we will never rest on our laurels; we will always seek continuous, life-long learning and improvement. Because that’s what we believe in.
