Mentors Make A Difference

I spent Sunday afternoon putting together "easy to assemble" shelving in my new office. The directions on the packaging seemed simple. The only tools required a mallet and "a chisel to help the pins slide in" but the task proved more challenging than it looked. Even with my darling man's lifetime of experience in construction, getting the first set of shelves together took far longer than expected. Lucky I did not attempt to do this alone!

By myself, I would have persisted in trying to follow the instructions, got frustrated, hot and bothered and maybe given up. After initial futile attempts, precisely following the steps on the box, Leon was able to say: "Nah, that's not the best way to do it, we'll do these bits first". A bit more logic and experience (and a little trial and error) saw the first set of shelves in place and only four more to go! The next two were easy and by the last two we had an efficient partnership completing installation in minutes. It was satisfying and fun!

We celebrated with a picnic on the balcony and as I admired the view from my beautiful new home, which also houses the office downstairs that more than doubles my workspace, I knew I would not be enjoying all this without the assistance of my mentors.

I think of mentoring as conversations that create insight. You may have conversations that create insight by chance, informally, socially or at work, with colleagues, friends or strangers; You can have conversations that create insight with someone you think of as a mentor; and you can have a mentoring relationship deliberately designed around conversations that create insight, In a group or one-to-one situation

My life and my livelihood are all the better for the mentors in my life. Mentoring conversations released the inspiration, ideas, and motivation to make many of my dreams come true. Mentors have provided encouragement, information and practical assistance.

So thanks to you all - professional mentors and coaches, peer-mentors and mastermind groups, friends and family, colleagues and acquaintances, clients and workshop participants and those of you that I am fortunate enough to be in contact with through the magic of the internet. Together, we are living proof that mentoring works!

Ann Rolfe

Mentoring Works
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Coaching Club Or One-to-one?

Here's a question I recently answered on LinkedIn:

I'm doing some research and interested to hear from those who have participated in either or both of the above. Have you joined a coaching club and how did that work for you? Or do you prefer one-on-one coaching and why?

Group mentoring or coaching needs skilful facilitation. A “hot seat” approach where group members are permitted to ask questions of their colleague but not offer suggestions, promotes insight. Alternatively, exploration to uncover key issues, then brainstorming a range of options is also a powerful use of the mastermind concept. In both approaches the recipient, reflects on the information generated and decides their action for themself. 

One-to-ones have the advantage of confidentiality. Issues can be explored at a deeper and more personal level. The silences that often precede an “ah ha” moment sit more easily between two people who know and trust the process. 

I have experienced both. I have two mentors that I engage for different aspects of my business and one coach for more holistic life issues. I also have a peer mentoring relationship that is reciprocal (I mentor him/he mentors me) and spans both business and personal matters. Both of my business mentors run webinar that provide group interaction. This provides the best of both worlds!