360 DEGREE MENTORING

A few months after the funeral and wake, I had a chance to speak with my late client’s son off to the side of a networking event we were attending.?I had known the son since he was in high school, but had not yet worked with him since he had joined his dad’s business.?With the unexpected passing of his father, he had confidently taken the reigns of the company.?I first told him how proud his father would be with how smoothly the transition had occurred.

“I also want to let you know what a wonderful mentor your father was to me,” I continued.?I then cited several examples where his father had advised me on what actions I should consider in growing my own business.?There was even a time my client advised me to charge him more money in my fee proposal for services that would be more time consuming than I had thought.?I also recounted many of the civic activities and quiet philanthropy his father had accomplished with charities we both cared about.?Finally, I offered any assistance that the son would now need as he learned the family business.

“What you could do is step up,” he suggested.?Without identifying specific actions, he challenged me to fill in the gaps the community left by his father’s passing.?He used a language that also included members of my generation, taking the baton from his father’s generation.?The turn of a phrase so reminded me of my mentor.?We wished each other well, and later there were only a few opportunities for us to work together before our business interests diverged.

Still, the gratitude I felt for my mentor caused me to take the son’s admonition seriously.?I had mentored my employees and emerging professionals throughout my career.?I knew that the son was talking about a higher level of involvement.?With what I had learned in 40 years of professional practice, there were wider opportunities provide guidance and share my wisdom than just with my closest contacts.?As a business owner no longer seeking personal advancement or competitive advantage, I set out to mentor all those I associated with beyond casual contact.?There were those still pursuing to rise in their careers, my professional colleagues and competitors, my vendors and my clients.?

I became more involved with charities and philanthropic causes.?There I encountered leaders of companies who had accomplished far more than I achieved in my career.?To each I sought to act as a resource, to ask questions from a deep sense of caring that might lead them to look differently at the situations they had shared with me.?If I could shift a person’s thinking to see their work from another lens, I felt I had given them the gift that I had committed to pass along at a brief conversation at that networking event.

Now retired, I am encountering a new opportunity to provide mentorship.?These are my age cohort who are struggling in the transition to their retirement.?There are others, mostly older than I, who have achieved the financial security to retire, but are fearful of facing that life cycle event.?They well know what they were retiring “from,” but have no concept yet of what to retire “to.”?Working still offers a fulfillment that they cannot see possible as a retiree.?I hope the example of my activities might offer a model, as I offer questions to help them explore what might be even more rewarding than working.?

Sometimes I wonder if my mentor, had he survived that devastating medical event, would have easily slipped into retirement.?I guess he would have told me that being able to serve others full time was far superior than even making money!