The Invisible Mentor

The Buddy System: Who Is Watching Your Back?

September 3rd, 2009 |

There is truth to the adage that no one succeeds alone: the Lone Ranger had Tonto, and Bud Abbot had Lou Costello. They needed and relied on each other to achieve their goals. Even the self-made millionaire used “somebody’s” resources to achieve professional success. Would it then not make sense to have a system that allows people to pool their mental capacities to solve problems, generate great ideas and perhaps even conquer the world?

The Buddy System™, a support system consisting of about four to six people who are committed to co-mentoring each other to achieve their goals, could be the answer. Members of this support network do not have to be from the same company, they just have to have a willingness to help others while helping themselves. Each member of the co-mentor network assumes the role of “buddy” or sidekick or co-mentor to the other members. Think of the Buddy System™ as a mini think tank where transformation partners pool their resources to achieve a greater good.

Finding appropriate buddies (co-mentors) takes careful planning, but the effort spent in getting it right will potentially catapult you to success. Have you identified those people in your diverse networks whose goals, personal mission and values intersect with yours?

Initially, get together to talk about what is important to you, and where you would like to see yourselves in five years? Brainstorm various ways to fill the gap between where you are, to where you want to be. Before committing, take the group for a test drive to discover if real chemistry is there.

If co-mentors feel comfortable together, decide which courses, webinars, workshops, seminars, conferences, podcasts, blogs and books would benefit the group the most. When deciding, focus on training and resources that will help members to attain greater personal and professional success. Allocate training and resources among members. When members take a course or read a book and so on, they should write a summary and teach the concepts to other members. This lessens the learning curve for each transforming partner.

For maximum impact, meet once a week and no less than every two weeks for two hours, but remember to harness technology by creating a group on LinkedIn, Twitter, Yahoo! or any other to circulate training or book summaries. If members are dispersed geographically, utilize video or web conferencing to meet. Reserve meetings as a forum for members to act as a Buddy Think Tank™ where they strategize, act on opportunities, and generate innovative ideas to resolve critical issues/concerns/problems facing them in their daily lives.

Potential ways to enhance the Buddy System™ experience:

If members are located in the same geographic area make the Buddy Meetings™ a fun event – eat and laugh together
When summarizing books, ask the following questions and include the answers in the summary:
- What breakthroughs did you have while reading this book?
- Does the book contain facts that are somewhat surprising because they are different from what you know?
- Are there any rule breaking in the book? If yes, what are they?
- Is there a method of thinking, or metaphor implied in this book that you could adopt to solve problems?
- What are the top 5 great ideas/takeaways from the book?
- How does the author’s ideas or solutions relate to your life and your work?
- In what ways can you use the ideas/insights/takeaways to increase the value of your product/service to your customers (internal/external)?
- In what ways can you use the ideas/insights/takeaways to add value to your life?
Rotate roles and responsibilities among members
Evaluate regularly to determine if the needs of all member are being addressed by the group