Life’s most urgent question is: What are you doing for others? Are the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
After many decades of leading and governing with great teams, and having had the benefit of being guided by some great mentors who taught me servant leadership, I have found that helping in the development of other leaders is the most personally fulfilling work I can undertake.
Assisting business people in Western Australia to become better leaders who make better decisions and achieve better results in their companies and lives is something that I really enjoy.
ORGANISATIONS CAN’T CHANGE UNLESS LEADERS CHANGE WITH THEM
Books used to be written about companies that were somewhat glorified as “built to last”.
Following notable stumbles and failures, arguably, businesses and their leaders need to be “built for change”.
Leaders should start a transformational journey accepting that the organisation they are leading will have to change them as much as they will have to transform the organisation.
But CEO’s who are isolated at the top of organisations can often have their decision making and the effectiveness of their leadership compromised given culture norms of deference to authority and the sheer unwillingness of direct reports to “speak truth to power”.
NOT EVERYONE IS MENTORABLE
When a person is considered mentorable – it means they are curious, prepared to learn, deal with a high degree of candour, be vulnerable and sometimes – well… just wrong.
Being mentorable is one of life’s most important skills and attitudes.
If you’re any kind of person who wishes to grow, learn, improve, excel or peak perform, you should care about whether or not you’re mentorable.
In other words, being mentorable relates to a happy, productive life. It means you’re ready to do what it takes to change, transform, improve or excel, whatever that means for you and your situation.
ARE YOU MENTORABLE?
If you have the trait of humility, it means you have learned there are things you needed to do that you could not do on your own.
Having a bias for action shows that you will get on and do what it takes.
If you possess a clear and pure purpose that you are pursuing, this reflects a genuine desire and passion to use the mentoring process to achieve quite specific outcomes important to you.
A preparedness to surrender control is a key determinant of whether mentoring will help you at all.
Some mentors argue that they reason why clients reach out to them in the first place is to learn how to give up control.
An unwillingness to surrender control has been quoted as the single biggest reason for the lamentable fact that most authentic change is precipitated by a crisis.
Finally, trust, is vital. Given that life must be lived forward and only understood backward, an essential ingredient must be to have faith that the benefits of mentoring will often only become obvious after the change has occurred.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Someone who is open and candid. Someone who will be honest before they are nice but gives advice that people can act on.
Also, someone who recognises that every situation is different. A lot depends on the circumstances a person faces and I know how critically important listening is.
A focus on gathering intelligence to develop a clearer picture of the issue being dealt with. In my experience, the “issue” once explored with a few appropriate questions, reveals that that what has been expressed is in fact, the “apparent issue” and not the “real issue”.
It’s much better to ask questions that allow people to reach conclusions themselves. If they do, they’ll feel much more confident in the process and the choices they make.
I encourage my clients in their pursuit of personal and professional growth.
I hold them accountable for taking action to achieve their goals and targets.
I am always happy to meet potential private clients to see if there would be a good fit between us – as every mentoring relationship is unique and demands mutual trust and respect in a safe and supportive environment.