Guide to Business Mentoring
Great mentors are motivated and have exceptional mentoring relationships.
Anyone can be a mentor and yet there are specific qualities that make mentors exceptional:
Reliability – A great mentor is trustworthy, consistent, and dependable. The mentee should be able to count on the mentor to show up when agreed, be prepared for the session, and have the mentee’s best interest in mind.
Persistence – A great mentor is persistent. In most cases the mentor must be willing to commit to mentoring for a length of time in order to support the mentee in achieving results. Especially when working with young people, a successful mentor does not give up easily but instead keeps persistent focus on what the mentee wants to achieve.
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It is argued that our reality, our outer world is in fact a reflection of our inner world, made up of our thoughts and beliefs. In other words, what we believe about ourselves internally, translates externally in the way we live our lives.
Think about our new Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. What do you think she believes about herself? I read somewhere that she told Prince William that he was lucky to have her. I bet she fully believes that she is worthy of being a future queen of England. And, so she will some day.
On the reverse, if we believe that we are stupid or unattractive we create a reality around that. “I can’t be in business because I’m not smart enough”, I can’t meet a partner because I’m unattractive”. And guess what happens? You aren’t in business and you don’t meet a partner.
]]>People who lack one or more of the five develop enhanced powers with their remaining faculties.
The recognised senses are sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. They make our world wonderful. We see the changing seasons, the colours, the faces of our loved ones. We hear the rustling of the wind through the trees, the sea crashing on the coastline, the music of our loved ones' voices. We taste the exquisite flavour of our favourite food, the purity of bubbling spring water, the salt of our lover's kissed away tears. We smell the beautiful flowers, the aroma of freshly ground coffee, the perfume of a tiny baby. We touch the fur of a favourite pet, the keys of a piano, the skin of our child's face. All amazing experiences which we love.
]]>It became even more striking for me personally when I reviewed the goals and intentions I'd set for myself at a New Years retreat. I was disappointed to see that many of the good intentions I'd started in January 2011 had fallen by the wayside and I thought to myself "what have I been doing?"
So where does the time go?
What distracts us, takes up our time, diverts us from what really matters to us?
Try this Life Strips exercise to see for yourself.
Find a piece of paper, which for this exercise will represent your life.
Fold the paper 3 times so that when unfolded it has 8 segments. Each one represents 10 years of your life. On average most people have around 80 years (some will have more and others will have less)
Next Steps:
First you want to tear off "How old are you?" which is the approximate number of years and throw the paper into the bin.
Next "What do you have to do and if you don't do you will die"
Think about how much time you 'typically' spend:
o Sleeping? One third of our life is typically spent sleeping (33 years)
o Eating and drinking? (10 years)
o Going to the toilet? (3 years)
And tear off the strips, which equate to this amount of time and put them in the bin.
Now keep the piece of paper you have left in your hand. This is the time available for you to follow your dreams and achieve your goals and intentions. But it's a your choice.
Planning for success:
Planning and taking action are obviously key components of making your dreams a reality.
Unless we schedule in the most important things first we can end up with endless "To Do" lists and never feel as though we're achieving anything that matters.
It can be useful to take time at least once a month to check on your progress, re-evaluate what's working and what's not so that you can adapt and make changes if necessary.
Top Tips:
· Break your goals into smaller steps
· Put the most important "big stones" into your plan first e.g. holidays
· Reward steps as you achieve them
· Make goals public and get support from friends
· Keep track of your progress
· Treat occasional lapses in the plan as temporary setbacks.
Remember: Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world. (Joel A Baker)
This article was written by Striding Out Career Coach Fiona Biggins. If you are looking for stronger accountability around your goals, then talk to one of our qualified coaches who are experts at helping people to walk their talk and live out their dreams.
To contact Fiona email [email protected]
]]>The relationship between client and coach uniquely offers a deep human connection that can profoundly support the client to transform their life in any area that feels ‘stuck’ ‘lifeless’ and ‘unfulfilled’ - to quote clients pre-coaching.
It is totally and unapologetically about the individual; tailoring dynamic coaching tools and resources to support the individual in their quest to live a fulfilling life and to be their best.
]]>There are times in our lives when we can lose our way, feel overwhelmed, that it’s all too much. During these times, it is as much that we can get through the day maybe let alone to rejoice in the present and feel excited about the future. It may be at such times just too difficult to consider the ‘big scheme’ of things. It may be that right then and there, staying with the status quo or situation is easier, even though ultimately the price is high. This could be staying with the relationship in which there is no love or care; staying with the job that makes your heart sink when you wake up in the morning, or feeling that there is no way out of negative thoughts that take over your mind, and the crippling effect it can have on your well-being and enjoyment of life.
Most of us at some point experience the above –the ‘feeling stuck’, and can experience the difficulties and even isolation that comes with it. Indeed a raft of difficult feelings and thoughts can find themselves headily (pun intentional) playing havoc with your life and general well-being.
For however much we can feel stuck, powerless, unfocused, at sea, one certainty and constancy in life is change. We also have choice. Furthermore indecision is also choice. Of the same token, ‘feeling stuck’ is choice. We can choose to take action, to invite and positively embrace change and use it to serve us in any way that we need to in life.
Professional life coaching provides the space in your life - for you to fill with you, and to realise your ambitions in any/all areas of your life. It is a dynamic process which allows, indeed needs you to be at your most human and authentic, in order for you to be who you really want to be and do what you really want to do.
‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?’
Marianne Williamson as quoted by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 Inaugural Speech
This article was written by Striding Out coach Rachel Harford. If you feel you can benefit from coaching contact Striding Out.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0203 303 0468
]]>1. Bust your myths
We often make up rules about how we like to work. For example, a while ago I had a great revelation that, as a people person, I can’t really work from home. I made up a rule that I have to be near people, particularly people who serve fresh coffee in cafes. After indulging myself in this myth a few times, the reality hit – I was really just wasting a lot of time that could have been spent working. What I liked about the cafe was purpose. I had to be clear about what I was going to work on while I was there. Bringing this same purpose to my home office (along with a coffee) means I work perfectly well at home and my myth is no longer standing between me and my work.
Needing people, needing silence, needing tidiness, needing variety. When these preferences become rules we stop being resourceful and ultimately get stuck in inaction.
What myths are stopping you from working?
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I know that I can check out what the astrologers have to say. I have a favourite one, his predictions are always accurate because they are written in the same way as Nostradamus wrote his predictions. The words could fit under so many different circumstances, it's all in the perception of the beholder as to what the intended meaning was set out to be.
I could also try out tarot card readings, see what they can tell me. Vague messages from intricately coloured and designed cards randomly chosen to tell a story of sorts. Maybe this can provide the truth I seek
]]>EQUALS is a partnership of leading charities that have come together to step-up the call to demand a more equal world, spear headed by Annie Lennox. According to EQUALS, in the UK, it's easy to feel as if the fight for equality has been won, but at the current rate of progress, it will take 200 years to achieve an equal number of women in UK parliament, and 73 years to achieve equal numbers on FTSE 100 boards.
We’ve all seen the recent headlines such as “What’s holding women back?” “ I hate to say it but we need a quota to put girls on top” which sum up the thread that women are still not making it to the boardrooms and are still not being treated equally in the workplace.
So what are the obstacles?
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