As the song says... "When I was younger so much younger than today, I never  needed anybody's help in any way..."

Well today, we all need help whether it is with a personal goal, a business  challenge, or in making a difference on a much broader scale.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s-F7ZmmGbY&amp;feature=player_embedded]

I was in kindergarten in <a href="http://www.brainyhistory.com/years/1965.html">1965</a> when the Beatles  released Help!.  It did not mean much to me except as a song with a catchy beat  to bop around the kitchen to.  Mom was the one who probably needed HELP! back  then with 4 babies under the age of 6 and another on on the way.  Our country  needed HELP! too.  Key topics of the day included a war we could not win,  healthcare, racial inequality, new technologies, and a generation struggling to  make a difference and leave a mark  a new way.  Well the song means a lot more  to me now.  It's been a long time since kindergarten - but interestingly, in  2010, many of the same themes remain. The words and the names are different -  but there is still a need for help.

<strong>Help Requires Courage</strong>

Whether you are asking for help or offering it, help requires courage.

We often won't ask for help when we need it.  Perhaps because people might  think we are weak or don't know what we are doing.  Yet if the fear of asking  for help holds us back - we rarely get it when we need it.

Offering to help can be just as scary.  People don't always appreciate you  when you offer to help.  I've seen leaders and volunteers alike become targets   personally and professionally just because they stepped out, spoke up, or got  involved in helping someone else.  Yet true leaders keep doing it.  They make  the time, proactively offer assistance,  take the criticism, and keep moving  forward.

<strong>Helping Takes Commitment</strong>

<strong> </strong>I've watched <a href="http://jkw.typepad.com/corepurpose_joan_koerberw/2010/05/turning-round-and-looking-up.html">Lynn  Tilton</a> take <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lynn-tilton/dark-days-ahead_b_642357.html">her  message</a> of how to turn the economy around and create more jobs out across  traditional and social media while working 20 hour days, seven days a week to  help save companies and jobs.  It must be working - Lynn and her team have saved  250,000 jobs on the last 9 years. (You can hear what Lynn has to say about this  when she will be the featured guest on <em><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/huckabee">Huckabee</a></em>, at 8:00pm ET on the FOX  News Channel tomorrow (Saturday, July 17th) with on FOX News Channel at 8:00pm  and 11:00pm ET on Sunday, July 18<sup>th</sup> she'll be talking about job  creation in the current economic crisis.)

<a href="http://littlelifestories.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/being-a-little-bit-different-makes-a-differnce-francine-hardaway/">Francine  Hardaway</a> is committed to job creation too.  Working at the ground level with  entrepreneurs in the Southwest and around the country, she has not stopped for  30 years.  Whether it is flying to Kansas City on her own dime to learn about  programs she can bring back to help other entrepreneurs, launching a <a href="http://www.azec10.com/">conference to bring entrepreneurs and thought  leaders together</a>, or just spending time one on one, Francine is committed to  making a difference with the entrepreneurs she touches.

<a href="http://jkw.typepad.com/corepurpose_joan_koerberw/2009/02/honoring-a-great-president.html">Dr.  Michelle Hanna</a>, founder of <a href="http://www.ribomed.com/">RiboMed  Biotechnologies</a>, has dedicated the last ten years of her life to developing  new tests that will help us battle cancer.  Today she and her team are focusing  on ways to make a major difference not just in the lives of the patients but   have also found a way to do so that could result in billions of dollars in  healthcare savings and that affects ALL of us.

<a href="http://www.amilya.com/the-recipe/amilya-talks-about-the-recipe-with-adam-shapiro-of-fox-news/">Amilya  Antonetti</a>, founder of Soapworks, today takes what she learned along the  journey to help other entrepreneurs bring out products that provide better  choices to today's consumer.  Along the way she learned that every leader needs  the help of their team - to share it she wove it into a story and wrote a book.

In a quiet manner, one on one, <a href="http://www.phoenixmag.com/lifestyle/valley-news/200907/a-life-redeemed/">Morris  Callaman</a> shares his story and his expertise in helping entrepreneurs with  great ideas move forward.  A successful investor and venture attorney, Morris  finds projects that he believes will make a difference and help people - and in  turn he helps them.

But you don't have to be running a $7 billion private equity fund, be a  social media maven, a PhD, a serial entrepreneur, or a certified member of  MENSA, to help others.  You just have to have something to offer and be willing  to share.

<strong> </strong> <strong>Everyone can help</strong>

<strong> </strong>Take a look at <a href="http://dalvaro.tumblr.com/post/816641383/optimism-101">this post</a> by  Domenic Alvaro who graduated High School with my son <a href="http://littlelifestories.wordpress.com/2010/05/24/oh-the-places-hell-go/">Nick</a> this year.<strong> </strong>He has a better handle on how our attitude makes a  difference than many adults I know.  And he is sharing it with others so that  what he has learned in his life can help them.

Each of us will need help sometime.  And each of us has something to offer  that will help someone else.  We just need the courage, the commitment, and the  willingness to HELP!

<strong> </strong>

Thanks for stopping by.  Stay Tuned...
<blockquote>Joan Koerber-Walker</blockquote>
P.S. to everyone who has helped me along the journey -Thank You!  I promise  to keep passing it forward to help others too. ~ JKW
<div id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:a54b2874-d663-41fa-ad5e-118fd797d099">Technorati Tags: <a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/People%20Making%20a%20differnce">People  Making a differnce</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/asking%20for%20help">asking for help</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/offering%20help">offering help</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Lynn%20Tilton">Lynn Tilton</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Francine%20Hardaway">Francine Hardaway</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Morris%20Callaman">Morris  Callaman</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Amilya%20Antonetti">Amilya Antonetti</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Patrairch%20Partners">Patrairch  Partners</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Fox">Fox</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Huckabee">Huckabee</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Dominic%20Alvaro">Dominic Alvaro</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Nick%20Walker">Nick Walker</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Joan%20Koerber-Walker">Joan  Koerber-Walker</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/CorePurpose">CorePurpose</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/HELP">HELP</a>,<a rel="tag" href="http://technorati.com/tags/Beatles%20Songs">Beatles Songs</a></div>