(Part 2 of the Series)
 
In Part 1 of this series we looked at what a mentor is and does. If you have decided that a business or personal mentor could be a benefit to you, the link below will start you toward finding the right mentor.
 
Government Resources
Sometimes a government agency will offer to match entrepreneurs, or others in a Mentor Program which seeks to link those new in business with experienced business owners in a non-competing industry.
In the United States you can contact the SCORE Association (Service Corps of Retired Executives) for a free business counselor. The Department of Defense (DOD) has a Mentor-Protege Program too.
 
Organizations
Sometimes you can find a mentor through a professional or trade organization to which you belong, or that you can join.

• The Oak Ridge (Tennessee) Chapter of Professional Secretaries International has a mentoring program designed to help ensure active participation of all members in Chapter activities.
• Another Australian site is Mentor Resources Of Tasmania, a mentor program sponsored by the Rotary International organization. It is designed for "keeping small businesses in business."
• The Culinary Institute of America also has its own mentor program.
• Another mentor program to assist women is the Mentor Program of the Society of Women Engineers, Baltimore-Washington Section.
• Marisol Productions has a great article that describes the types of relationships between mentors and proteges. It also talks about how to find a mentor.

 
Referals
Far and away the best place to look for a mentor, however, is right in front of you. Look around you at work. Is there an individual who you admire and respect? Someone who has always impressed you with their insight and preceptiveness?
 
Maybe your boss or your boss's boss. Maybe it's a Vice President in a different division. It could even be the older individual who isn't currently a top executive of your firm, but who you know has lots of experience.
Approach that individual and ask if they would consider being your mentor. Depending on the individual, and your current relationship, your proposal will vary in the amount of detail and how it is delivered. At the very least, let them know what why you selected them and what you hope to learn from the assocation. If appropriate for the specific individual, you can also discuss amounts of time to be commited and what you will contribute.
Don't put it off. What can you lose? Even if they decline to be your mentor, and few will, they will be flattered that you asked.
 
NEXT TIME
Do you have what it takes to be a mentor? Check the next article to find out what it takes to be a true guide and friend to another individual.

 The global banking crisis, big business bankruptcies and the share market plummeting, has hit some people hard. It can be easy to succumb to the doom and gloom of the media or become overwhelmed by events. This is when a mentor may step in with words of wisdom, a reality check or a huge challenge.
 
 
Having taken a multi million-dollar hit to his business, one CEO thought his business might not survive the latest impact of the global crisis. Telling his mentor what a terrible day it was and suffering the pain of possible failure, he expected sympathy. Instead, his mentor pushed a shift in thinking with a series of sharp questions: How many days have you been in business? How many terrible days have you survived? You have survived the loss of a loved one and rebuilt your life. Was that without pain? After that knee reconstruction, was getting back into sport without pain? Take another look at this situation, how might it just be the best thing that ever happened? There is always an opportunity for the astute during a downturn.
The mentor's comments were not just spin, hype or motivation. There is truth in the saying: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Who in life cannot look back on an event that was terrible at the time yet shaped a better future? We are inspired by the para-olympians, stories of ordinary people who have done extraordinary things after suffering adversity and everyday heroes who act in the moment of catastrophe. In times of crisis a mentor will remind us of these simple truths.
 
On a bad day, a mentor will provide empathy rather than sympathy. A mentor will listen and allow you to ventilate your natural emotional response to events. They are non-judgemental and will understand how you feel about your circumstances but a mentor won't play the pity party game.
 
A mentoring conversation is not about glossing over, dismissing or ignoring events, pain or emotion. On the contrary, the mentoring conversation allows you to confront issues, process disempowering thoughts and feelings and choose a new response.
 
The mentoring conversation focuses on stimulating reflection and action. Using questions that stimulate thinking your mentor will challenge your thinking to overcome blame, shame and negativity. They will help you put things in perspective, consider a different point of view and ultimately choose a way to move forward.
 
Ironically, the current economic situation provides a metaphor. The direct cause and effect of the financial misadventure in sub-prime mortgages is only part of the picture. It is the crisis of confidence in the financial market that may cause a ripple effect to grow into a tsunami. It is how people feel, what they think and what they do in response to any event that produces the real outcome. Panic or despair will exacerbate any crisis.
 
Likewise in life, it is not what happens to us but our reaction to what happens that produces results. Mentoring enables you to process thoughts and feelings and choose a response. A mentor's cool head and a warm heart, skilful listening and powerful questions are the reasons why mentoring works.
 

Giving feedback isn’t just a great way to help employees around you perform better. If done properly, it will also make them feel better! Read the 11 simple rules below on how to provide good feedback to a team, employees or fellow workers. These rules came from an article in www.leadership-expert.co.uk
 
Simple Rule 1: Give feedback the time it deserves. Great feedback isn’t shouted to an employee across the carpark at the end of the day. Try to dedicate time for the sole purpose of giving feedback, whether it’s just a minute or part of a formal meeting. Properly announce your intentions by asking, “I would like to give you some feedback on X, would that be OK?”.
 
Simple Rule 2: Be Honest. The purpose of giving feedback, (whether positive or constructive), is to align the persons perception of their behaviour with reality. If your idea of feedback is to spoon feed half-truths in an attempt to shift their behaviour to suit your ends, you may be only making things worse.
 
Simple Rule 3: Use the ‘compliment sandwich’ or more exotic varieties. A compliment sandwich is where you offer a compliment followed by a constructive point, and closed with a further positive feedback point.
The theory is that this approach will help the conversation end on a positive note. However a word of warning to those dealing with savvy employees & especially middle management (who may use this technique themselves); don’t strictly stick to this exact recipe because it is a very transparent strategy.
If an employee actively recognises you are using a compliment sandwich, they may choose to ignore the positive comments in the belief that the ‘true’ purpose of the conversation is for you to communicate the constructive point, and this may cause them to react defensively.
 
If you want to read more www.leadership-expert.co.uk/how-to-give-good-feedback-employees-team-collegues/

 Hmmmm, any tip?

 You heard about pimp my car right? But pimp yourself is a pretty new word (at least for me).
 
My partner in Trainifique, trainifique.com , was interviewed in a blog about branding.
 
They start the interview like this:
 
 
Today we have a wonderful trainer, motivator and a guy who cares for information security to present to you. How did Kai Roer make it and how does he measure success? Let's see...
 
 
If you want to read the rest, click here:
 
www.jci.ee/bc2010/personalbrandprofile-kai-roer

 
You know how to market your product or service, but do you know how to market yourself? You are the critical factor to successfully selling your product or service, so make sure your marketing medium and message aren’t outdated.
It’s not just social networking.

Facebook is no longer a site only used for reconnecting friendships or indulging your teenager’s need for constant communication. As of April, Facebook now has 200 million users, and its fastest growing segment is 35 years old and older. If you don’t have a page on Facebook, you’re missing out on an easy advertising medium. It takes just minutes to create a Facebook page, and soon, you can be establishing yourself as a leader in your field, developing your personal brand and creating more visibility for yourself, your product or your service.
 
Sign up with LinkedIn so you can easily be found with a Google search. LinkedIn is a business networking site where you can personalize your own page, broadcast your professional history and post testimonials from others. The contacts you link up and interact with, the more expansive your network. View LinkedIn as an opportunity to build your contacts, expand your network and increase your credibility.
 
Twitter began as a way to easily stay in touch with family, friends and business contacts by answering a simple question: What are you doing? But, now, Twitter also can be a marketing tool. Users “tweet” by sending short messages via mobile texting, instant message or the Web. Savvy business owners tweet to draw attention to a product, event, resource, blog or Web site. Use Twitter to find out what people are saying about a competitor or you. Show the human side of your business by discussing the good things people in your company are doing. Find out your contacts’ interests, or share some of your own. Get feedback on a problem or answers to questions. Organize meetings or “Tweetups.” Or, follow your mentors by seeing what they are tweeting about.
 

This is a must read book!

What's the difference between a dreamer and someone who achieves a dream?

According to best-selling author Dr. John Maxwell, the answer lies in answering ten powerful, yet straightforward, questions.

Whether you've lost sight of an old dream or you are searching for a new one within you, Put Your Dream to the Test provides a step-by-step action plan that you can start using today to see, own, and reach your dream.

Dr. Maxwell draws on his forty years of mentoring experience to expertly guide you through the ten questions required of every successful dreamer:

·        The Ownership Question 

·        The Clarity Question 

·        The Reality Question 

·        The Passion Question 

·        The Pathway Question 

·        The People Question 

·        The Cost Question 

·        The Tenacity Question 

·        The Fulfillment Question 

·        The Significance Question 

More importantly, Dr. Maxwell helps you to create the right answers, giving you principles and tips to so you can make good decisions and maximize every moment to achieve your dream.

Don't leave your dream to chance. This book is a must-have and can make the difference between failure and success.

Here can you buy it on Amazone:

www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss 

  In the previous installment, we reassessed and realigned   our “reference group,” or the associations that can help     or hurt us in achieving our goals.

  Now we need to talk about the most powerful          influence in your life: the information or input you feed    your mind.

  If we want to produce different results in life, we have to    think differently, to nurture a different mindset. As Einstein  said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same  thinking we used when we created them.”

 If your thinking is stinking so will your results. What you  think about, you create. This is why all the monumental  classic personal-achievement books have focused on  how you think:Think and Grow Rich, As a Man Thinketh, The Power of Positive Thinking, The Magic of Thinking Big, etc.

You are not what you think you are, but what you think… you are!

The most constant influence of conditioning that affects our lives, our results and our ability to achieve is the information we feed our mind.

 Read more here: darrenhardy.success.com/2010/02/db10-your-fuel-for-growth/

I'm so sick of leadership catchphrases. Irritable enough, is also right in the majority!
 
This morning I met with my mentee. And I was struck by the cliché is actually true: it is developing to be a mentor.
By mentoring, I have to think through how I do things and why. It is a bit embarrassing having to admit it, because I have developed allergies to all the clichés surrounding leadership and leadership development. But "I want to grow the second« it is so true.
 
A commentary by Catharina Nordlund from Sweden giving in the swedish leadership magazine www.chef.se

What will your life be like when you've achieved your most deeply held dreams? Let's take a look at how you can start living your dreams this very day.
 
 
Do you have a dream, a vision of the life you wish to live? 
How specific is that dream? 
How clear is that vision? 
How do you intend to reach it? 
What obstacles stand in your way? 
Are your fears holding you back or are you using them to move you forward?
 
Your fears can actually lead you to success. Fear is an intense emotion. But that doesn't mean it has to control you, or even stop you. Fear can prepare you and push you forward just as strongly as it can hold you back. Fear heightens your awareness and increases your physical strength. Fear brings your mind to sharp focus. With all that going for you, does it make sense to just run and hide? Of course not. Fear gets you in shape to take action!
 
Are you waiting for things to get better before moving ahead? If you're serious about success, you need to start taking action today. If you're waiting for things to be perfect, you'll wait forever and nothing will ever get done.
 
The way to achieve is to bloom where you're planted, to do what you can, where you are, with what you have. It's easy to think up excuses for not taking action. "If only I had more hours in the day. If only I had a better job. If only I could meet the right person." But excuses won't bring you anything of value. You've got to change your "if only" into an "I will." "I will make better use of my time. I will work on improving my career. I will create and nurture my relationships."
 
Take a chance. Have faith in yourself. Your circumstances will improve when you make the effort to improve them. Start where you are right now. You have everything it takes to reach for whatever you desire. Stop wishing. Use your time, your energy, your thoughts and efforts to make it happen! You'll be glad you did!
This  article was by Les Brown
 

 
Jim Rohn will pass on to you these four simple steps to success:
 
The first is good ideas. Be a collector of good ideas.
My mentor taught me to keep a journal when I was 25 years old. I've been doing it now all these years. They will be passed on to my children and my grandchildren. If you hear a good health idea, capture it, write it down. Don't trust your memory.
 
Then, on a cold wintry evening, go back through your journal and read through the ideas that changed your life, the ideas that saved your marriage, the ideas that bailed you out of bankruptcy, the ideas that helped you become successful, the ideas that made you millions.
 
What a good review, going back over the collection of ideas that you gathered over the years. So be a collector of good ideas for your business, for your relationships, for your future.
 
 
The next step to success is to have good plans—a good plan for the day, a good plan for the future, a good health plan, a good plan...
 
Continue Reading >
 

Having all the answers isn’t a good thing, says Tim Hurson, productive thinking and creative leadership expert. “Productive thinking requires us not to rush to answers, but to hang back, to keep questioning even when the answers seem obvious.”
 

Being OK with ambiguity fosters creative thinking, he says, but acknowledges it’s hard to do. “We are patted on the head for coming up with that one right answer quickly—the faster you answer, the smarter you are,” says Hurson, who’s also the author of Think Better, An Innovator’s Guide to Productive Thinking. “This drive for singularity and speed continues in our adult lives. In business, the successful manager is the one who is decisive and always has the right answer.”
 

But being able to stay with the question is one of the most powerful thinking skills you can develop. Here’s how he says to do it:
“Question. The more we question and the more we stay in the question, asking it over and over again, the more useful our ultimate answers will be.”
 

“Remember, initial ideas usually aren’t ideas at all. They are little more than regurgitations of the patterns we already have. The reason they arise is simply that they lie so close to the surface of our consciousness. They have little to do with productive thought. They are merely recalled.”
“Live in your question until you can see the vast panorama of possible answers.”
 

“Make lists all the time. Ask why things are the way they are. Ask how things might be different. Always be making lists.”
 

“Your mind is a treasure box of ideas, inspirations and insights ricocheting and resounding through your hundred billion neural connections,” Hurson says. “Sometimes you just have to wait for them to come into view.”

So you now have your well-designed goals—fantastic!

You also have your plan of action to achieve them—hooray!

You even have your achievement-management system set to keep you on track with that plan—bravo!

What could possibly get in your way now?

Actually, 6,692,030,277 things (the world’s current population), or at least those people whom you circulate with regularly.

This reminds me of the title for one of Connie Podesta’s books: Life Would Be Easy If It Weren’t for Other People. So true, so true.

Your associations are one of the most powerful influences (I will discuss the most powerful influence on Thursday) that determine whether you will stick to your goals or get forever derailed.

Dr. David McClelland of Harvard University concluded after 25 years of research that the choice of a negative “reference group” was in itself enough to condemn a person to failure and underachievement in life. Whoa! Scary, isn’t it?

His discovery indicates that your reference group is more important in determining your success or failure than any other single factor.

To read more: darrenhardy.success.com/2010/02/db10-support-systems/

 
A friend of mine called the other day to tell me he had been promoted to Engineering Manager for a large, national, environmental services and consulting firm. I shared his good news and thought to myself about the years we had worked together. I remembered the day I hired him as a field engineer, his first professional job.
 
He has worked hard to get where he is. He is intelligent and good with people. He was a quick study and I enjoyed sharing my experience and knowledge with him. I may have been his first mentor, but I wasn't his last. Yet it got me to thinking about the importance of mentors.
I would welcome your thoughts and stories on this topic as well. Feel free to email them to me.
 
History
The original Mentor is a character in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. When Odysseus, King of Ithaca went to fight in the Trojan War, he entrusted the care of his kingdom to Mentor. Mentor served as the teacher and overseer of Odysseuss’ son, Telemachus.
Definition
The Merriam-Webster WWWebster Dictionary defines a mentor as "a trusted counselor or guide." For their Mentor/Protégé Program, the Anesthesiology Department of Cleveland’s MetroHealth System defines mentor as "a wise, loyal advisor or coach."
 
Application
A mentor is an individual, usually older, always more experienced, who helps and guides another individual’s development. This guidance is not done for personal gain.
 
Mentoring is used in many settings. Although it is most common in business, we saw above its use in a medical setting at MetroHealth. It is commonly used in educational settings, especially with "at risk" students. It is also the basic principle behind the Big Brothers and Big Sisters programs.
 
One of the most valuable assets your career can have is a good mentor.
In subsequent articles we will look at ways to find a mentor, and the requirements you must meet if you want to be a mentor.
 
If you have any questions or comments about this article, or if there is an issue you would like us to address, please post them on this blog as a comment.

Have you ever heard the adage, “I will accomplish this even if it kills me”? Well, in my early years of goal setting and achieving… I almost died! I also missed a lot of other opportunities along the way.

I became so focused, so dogmatic about the goals I had set and my specific plans to achieve them that my blinders kept me from 1) seeing easier and faster routes to my destination, and 2) that some of the goals that were important earlier in the year or at the beginning of the decade were less important than I originally believed.

One of the greatest challenges to success is learning how to stay focused on your goals while remaining flexible enough to adapt to needed change.