Welcome to www.nakedleader.com. Please login or register to create groups, post questions, recommendations, articles and comments that you wish to share with other members. This website is best viewed in 1280 X 800
Have you got a mentor?
If not – get one!
Never be too proud to learn new stuff. A mentor can give you the benefit of their years of wisdom and learning. They can give you the confidence to make decisions for yourself after you’ve talked an issue through with them. If you are working in a large organisation besides the benefit of their years they will also know a lot about the company, the business you are operating in and the main players involved. This is vital information for those who have that ambitious drive. If you are part of a smaller concern it’s worth looking to an external network in order to find someone who has achieved what you want to achieve and you can ask them to be your mentor. Or, as a completely different approach, a mentor can be younger than you, and give you the benefit of their youth, passion and fresh ideas. They can give you the confidence to make decisions for yourself after you’ve talked an issue through with them. Either way, be up front – they will be chuffed, even if they do not have the time. Ask them ‘to be your mentor’ there’s nothing in it except you buy them a coffee and a lunch occasionally - you’ll be surprised how often ‘busy’ people will be flattered and willing to take you on. Or get an online mentor at our website – ask what areas and help you are looking for and choose an online mentor from the respondents. Alternatively ask questions of all our members and get some wide ranging answers. With my very best wishes PS Please take part in our latest online poll, on getting a mentor!
David
X
Mentors are excellent to have and I am thinking that they are worth a lot in terms of where you want to be. i believe that most people have a mentor in lifr even though sometimes they don't admit it. There are people I have always looked up to and they are not necessarily mentors but you can still learn off people. Being taught the right way to go is the difficult bit as there are so many ways, it'sup to you to choose the right way. We can all say we took bad advice and took a wrong turn although generally, if you have done that yourself, it was down to you. I had a mentor once and he was a great guide for me before he went off the rails a bit. Now I concentrate on mentoring myself.
I like to collect mentors. As Paul says, they are often people I look up to in my life, either professionally or personally, and the mentoring that goes on is often not formal. I have also found that having a mentor makes me more inclined to want to mentor others. In my last job I worked very closely with my mentor for almost two years and gained hugely from his experience and knowledge. When a graduate employee started working in my team the role of mentor/mentee naturally developed between us without any formal requests or agreements.
Being self-employed now it's harder to form those kinds of relationships, however. But because I've experienced them before I am constantly on the look out...