Mentors – Saving ‘You’ from ‘You’

I can inform you about the right path/warn you about the potential pitfalls, but I cannot save 'you' from 'you'.

Sounds familiar??

If it is, then you are not alone. A big part of a leader’s role is to help make the team successful and using their own experience to prevent others from going through pain that they have already experienced.?

Easier said than done – What about the hindrances in the path of accepting valuable advice?

He doesn’t care about me..?

Everyone but me could be her favorite on the team!

Aren’t they only looking out for themselves?

What’s in it for him?

Above and many other questions are but natural to come up in an anxious mind and create chaos to the extent that decision making becomes debilitating.?

What if there is a trusted advisor who truly and selflessly cares for your success??

Odds are that this is the same person trying to provide you feedback/advice but still buying into that thought and believing that your best interest will prevail is not easy.

What if there is a successful leader with more experience, success, and stability that you have achieved so far and is also not a stakeholder in the project at hand?

What if they have no influence over your decision's repercussions and just want to act as a sounding board?

Wouldn’t that be fantastic! I believe that it would be beyond fantastic it would be incredible, and it is incredible..

Mentors are inspirational, inquisitive, and reflective.

Over the years, I have been blessed to have multiple mentors act as guiding lights during confusing times. My mentors have taken up the guiding role so effortlessly that sometimes I feel like they are invisible, and I am just thinking out loud and getting slight nudges to find my balance. They have taught me that the right note of appreciation often reaches you indirectly, and it is only by taking a step back and proving my team members’ space is how I can let them and watch them succeed.?

They have taught me that everyone does not need to be like me to achieve their needs.

They have taught me the value of asking questions and being patient instead of answering them myself.?

More than anything else, they have exposed me to the joy of ‘Paying it forward,’ which is indescribable but possibly one of the biggest highs in my personal/professional life.

Be deliberate, Be resourceful, Be genuine, Be grateful – Be a ‘good’ mentor and before that find a ‘great’ one to learn from.