The Invisible Mentor

I just made a  major mistake, and I am writing about it so that others may learn from it. I have been conducting interviews with people who are great Invisible Mentors because I know that I can learn from them, and I know that you can learn from them as well. I registered with a free conference call company so that I have the capability to record the interviews.

Just before I called in (the first time I was officially using the service), my instincts told me to have a low tech back-up where I put the telephone on speaker phone and use my digital recorder to record the interview. I decided not to listen because I had tested the recording function for the conference call service and it worked well.

During the call something happened and the call got cut off. I dialed back in and so did my interviewee, and we continued with the interview. I am a very good listener, but I was very relaxed, and didn’t pay as close attention as I should because I was recording the interview, so I thought that I could always listen to it if I missed something important. I became a “slave” to technology, instead of using my excellent listening skills. I temporarily forgot that technology is a tool and not a crutch. How many times have you made these types of mistakes?

When I went to the conference call service’s website to download the interview, I was able to only download the portion of the interview after the call got cut off. I panicked and called them, and at that time, I was told that the second call overwrote the first. What did I expect from a free service?

I screwed up, I dropped the ball. I was devastated because it was a great interview. Here are the things that I did wrong:

1. I didn’t prepare the way I usually do by going into the Alpha Brainwave state. If I had, I would have remembered all the interview
2. I didn’t practice active listening, I slacked off and relied entirely on technology
3. I didn’t follow my instincts, which told me to use a back-up device, which I had handy
4. I relied on a free service for something that is very important to me

How did I solve the problem? I contacted the interviewee and admitted that I screwed up and asked if I could conduct the first portion of the interview again. She was very gracious and said yes.  Most of the people who I interview want to help others, and believe in the Invisible Mentor concept, so they have a very helpful and accommodating disposition. Despite this, the next time that I conduct an interview, I have to set aside the “ego” and listen to the inner voice that is my guide. I also have to practice what I preach about about active listening and not rely on, or use  technology or other things as a crutch.

Has anything similar happened to you? How did you deal with it?

Photo Credit: Public domain

No related posts.

Comments are closed.