Where do you find ‘Mentors’?

So, you have concluded that a ‘mentoring type’ of relationship would be of benefit to you and you feel ready to be challenged and intentional with your growth and development within such a relationship…wonderful!…now where would you find such a person?

Well…have you begun intentionally looking at people around you with eyes of a ‘mentee’…what is it or rather ‘who’ is it that you are aspiring to know and become? Essentially when I engage a mentor, I am saying ‘I want to grow…am open to learning how to do that better with you, because I see something in the way you do what you do that I would like to learn and emulate’.

Watch the people around you…in your team, your workplace, your wider organisation, family or community…if you imagined yourself with a neon sign above your head that said ‘Open to Learning to Grow with You!’…who is it that you would allow to see that neon sign turned on, and around whom would you turn that neon off?

Now they might not be immediately within your circle of contact. If there is a specific skill or way of being that you do want to explore developing within yourself, it might be an opportunity to seek that out through other avenues.

Throughout my journey as a teacher, coach and mentor, as an advocate for others, as a leader and now business owner, I have had to seek out many different mentors, most with whom I had no immediate contact, in different fields, for different reasons. I currently have several people who I count as mentors or coaches who each have a specific strength that I draw learning and renewal from;

• For the ongoing development of my own teaching, coaching and mentoring skill set

• For financial and business guidance

• Within my personal relationships, roles and responsibilities

• To ensure the strength of, and ongoing alignment to, my foundational or ‘core’ paradigms, principles, beliefs and values.

How long did it take to find them - well that is an interesting question. It took some time.

Funnily enough, the more I sat and intentionally explored what was happening, both around and within me; articulating the needs of the tasks that were in front of me, the possibilities I saw in the distance and the person I needed to become in the present…two things happened…

• I realised that even if I did find the most amazing mentor…it still came down to my choice to learn, commit, do… reflect…learn, commit, do…that my learning and growth is not my mentor’s responsibility…it is and always will be mine… so I stopped myself thinking that I NEEDED a mentor…I CHOSE to say instead, that I am going commit to noticing my opportunities to learn from those around me…whoever they are…whenever the learning opportunity presents.

• I started ‘seeing’ more clearly, evidence of like-mindedness in others and of ways-of-being I did not aspire to in others, through their words, actions and atmosphere…because I became more aware of and intentional with my own words, actions and the atmosphere I wanted to produce.

Not rushing into finding a mentor to ‘fix’ what I was ‘feeling’ was the best thing I did. I can’t speak highly enough of making the time to clearly and fluently articulate what you are hoping to learn, why that is important and what your vision is for the person you are wanting to become.

Only with those reasons and motivations clear, does the person who you would trust and ask to share that journey of BECOMING also become clear.

I maintain to this day, that my greatest ‘teachers’ are my kids, my wife and those who would learn from me…because my vision is being the best Dad, Husband and Teacher I can be.

My mentors help me work out the logistics, effectiveness and skill set involved in balancing that vision, with the providing for the needs of ‘my’ people in each of those domains; the necessary nurture, infrastructure and leadership for growth and fulfilment in each of those key relationships.

My mentors I chose because they both share and champion my vision.

At the very last comment…if you have read this far…I will throw my hat in the ring for your consideration…if anything I have written has resonated with the journey you want to be on…send us a message and lets have a talk about how we could partner with you on your journey.

All the VERY best!