A couple of weeks ago, I conducted a session on Mentoring in a large MNC. The session was for a bunch of very senior folks who had signed up to become mentors as part of a formal and structured mentoring program.
While I was preparing the deck, I was awash with memories. I recalled the many mentors in my life, some formal and some informal. I am still in touch with some of my mentors who I was introduced to about 2 decades ago. Our relationship over the years has only gone from strength to strength. With one of such mentors, I have a plan to co-author a book soon.
One of my ‘informal’ mentors helped me create my Vision Statement for my life over 2 decades ago. He persevered with me for almost a year and in this journey, I responded to numerous questions from him, becoming laser-focused in the process. This Vision Statement has helped me take the right turns in life, following my heart, and stay the course even today.
I also recalled many of my relationships with my mentees – formal and informal. Thanks to my life’s Vision, I have tried to contribute to as many people’s lives as I can through my career and life. I am in touch with several of my mentees even now.
Lately, my website has extended my reach. I was pleasantly surprised when one of my ‘students’, who I had trained in a Process Training class in the year 2000, reached out to me a few days ago for career coaching. He is located in the US.
Another ‘student’ of the same batch, located in New Delhi reached out to me a couple of months ago to help him evaluate a career choice. Yet another ‘student’ located in Australia reconnected with me on phone about a couple of months ago and we plan to meet on his next visit to India.
I use the word, ‘student’, fondly – these individuals have now risen in life to be leaders in their careers and occupy very senior positions today.
Some of my ex-colleagues have already signed up for Career Coaching and Life Coaching with me and some more discussions are in progress.
As is evident, many people have and continue to contribute to my life. Similarly, I continue to have the good fortune of contributing to the lives of others.
In a way, it was very easy for me to prepare for the session. I just had to walk down memory lane. In the session, while I followed a structure, I just went on narrating true stories. I could tell so many more stories but I held myself to respect the time slot that was allotted to me.
Mentoring is a great opportunity to evolve into a better person. Mentoring is also role modeling. Contrary to popular perception that mentoring benefits only mentees, mentors also gain significantly through the process of mentoring. Each mentee helps the mentor leverage some part of the mentor’s experience. New challenges that a mentee brings up also challenge the mentor. A focused mentee has the capability to stretch a mentor.
I believe that we are on this planet to lift each other to reach higher planes. Contributing to a person’s life can be an enriching experience for both parties.
As one of my Quotes goes:
‘When you contribute to people’s lives, it shows’.
And it shows on both sides.
Mentoring has played a significant role in my life. I have benefited hugely from it. What about you?
Are you keen to give a powerful mentoring/coaching boost to your career?
Are you spotting some dysfunctional patterns in your career that are holding you back? Would you rather liberate yourself from these barriers? Would you benefit from the detached perspective of a mentor/coach?
If your answer is a yes to any of the above questions, it is time to make the move.
Invest in yourself NOW. Click on the ‘Services’ tab and sign up for Career Coaching.
