Leaders Have Mentors

mentor

If you don’t have a mentor or someone you can talk to looking for guidance or advice on your matters, then read about people you admire and learn about their lives and experiences, learn how they got to the position where you recognized them. The good thing about reading is that most of the great books are “condensed experience”.

Remember, if you want to lead, it’s probably because there’s someone in your life that influenced you (unconsciously may be). A mentor is a role model, a reference, someone you want to imitate because you share the same values. By the way, that’s why I think you picked him/her as your mentor.

What’s behind the whole issue of “having a mentor”. I’ll put it bluntly, You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Every time you face a problem, it boils down to a technical matter or a relationship matter. If it’s the first, then you need all your technical savvy to work the thing out. On the other hand, if it is a relationship matter then a more experienced person could help you to figure things out, based on his/her own experience. Either way, having a “mentor” it’s a way to save time, but most important, to follow the path that “mentor” followed before you.

The flip side of the coin is that after a while when you’re leading you start to become a mentor yourself. That’s a fact of life, everybody turns to you and looks for your guidance. That, keeps you getting better and better because you’re committed to lead, and you keep improving because you’re already in the way to become a great leader, and most important, you have to lead.

Remember: before leading, you have to lead yourself first.

LEADERSHIP ACTIONS

1. Make a list with three people that have been of influence in your life for you to want to be a leader.
2. What are the values of each one that you admire the most and
want to replicate in you.
3. Commit yourself to work every day doing that.

Remember Be Alert, Be A Leader :)

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3 comments

1 Shanthi Maduresan { 03.05.09 at 11:43 pm }

dear sir
it is really useful for me and it motivates me to do lot fot for my mentee. could you share the effective way of mentoring process to my mentees in relation with development Sector(NGO) .

2 fuad usman ali { 03.06.09 at 12:45 am }

without a mentor, a leader is an empty shell

3 christine { 03.07.09 at 10:40 am }

Many thanks to this website.for you leadershiptips,currently i dont have a mentor i can talk to looking for guidance or advice on my matters, therefore i have decided to read about people i admire
and learn about their lives and experiences,learning how they
got to the position where you recognized them. the mentors am seriouly focusing on include JESUS CHRIST,WINSTON CHURCHILL,APOSTLE PAUL.
COMMENTS.Every kid needs a mentor. Everybody needs a mentor. Watching/helping others allows me to see where I have been. It helps me to reflect on my past to better design my future.

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