An inspiring, capable mentor is one of life’s great gifts.
The act of mentoring might be simply defined as modeling success. When I ask people to name someone who has been a meaningful mentor in their lives, the most common response sounds something like this: “There are so many. I don’t know where to start.”
Some of the most influential mentoring we will receive in our lifetime occurred when we were much younger. Think about how lessons learned from teachers, coaches and school counselors could be applied to a current situation. Did someone inspire a passion for a certain subject? How can passion for your work serve you now? Did you learn great discipline from a music teacher who expected you to practice an hour a day? How might better discipline help in your current role? Did a teacher or coach demonstrate the truth that there are consequences for actions, both good and bad?
Mentorship fills a gap. It may be a gap in skill set, opportunity, courage or confidence. As often as not, a mentor helps fill the gap in our vision—our vision of what could be; our vision of what we could be. The difference between making our mark on the world or not might be the mentor who helps us believe that we have a mark to make, and that making it will make a genuine difference.
Read Johnson’s full advice column from the latest edition of Business Report. Send comments to editor@businessreport.com.
