The Invisible Mentor

Archive for February, 2010

This is Part 2 of Paul’s interview. When reading this interview,  think about ways to apply his wisdom. What is the formula for success? For Paul, it is to figure out what you are passionate about and find a way to do it? The book that profoundly impact him is Brand You 50 by Tom Peters. This is unusual because most people are not impacted by business books. Which book has profoundly impacted you?

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Paul Copcutt, a transported Brit, came to Canada in 1996 with the biotech company I was working with to follow a Canadian and convince her to marry me. Started my company Square Peg in 2004 as a recruitment company but always with the intention of doing something more involving personal branding because what I had been doing in a corporate career was personal branding there was just not the name for it.  Now that is all I do, personal branding for individuals, inside corporations and speaking on the topic.

How do you integrate your personal and professional life?

They are intertwined all the time because I work from home and in my work and speeches I use personal examples to communicate the message of personal branding.

What’s a major regret that you’ve had in life?

Not having my mother around to see her grandchildren.

What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?

1. There is no such thing as a free lunch
2. The easiest route is sometimes the right one.
3. It does not have to be perfect. Learn from both mistakes and successes.
4. It’s okay to say no and sometimes you have to have tough conversations.
5. Sometimes it is personal, not just business, so be respectful of that.

When you have some down time, how do you spend it?

With my family. Catching up on reading. Enjoying the outdoors.

What process do you use to generate great ideas?

Mind mapping. Also going to a favourite place and reflecting on what I am trying to do and thinking with an open mind, jotting down whatever comes in to it.

What’s your favourite quotation and why?

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you will help them become what they are capable of becoming.” Johann Goethe

It sums up what I believe personal branding has the capability of doing for everyone.

How do you define success? –

Being rewarded for doing what you love to do and that lets you lead the life you want to live.

In your opinion what’s the formula for success? -

Find out what you are passionate about and figure out a way to live a life doing it.

What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?

1. Reach out to those I saw as successful in the field and ask for their advice.
2. Personal and professional development through reading, programs, training and sharing of ideas.
3. Collaboration.
4. Helping others.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

Find a mentor and find the time to mentor someone yourself.

If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?

With the way that the world is so connected now this is way more possible than most people appreciate or realize. I think you can do much of this yourself. So I would more likely choose people who are now gone.

1. My mother – what was I like as a toddler and see how comparable that was to my own experiences of my children growing up.
2. Winston Churchill – to understand what leadership meant to him and what made him persevere.
3. Mother Teresa – to appreciate sacrifice and for my own humility
4. Martin Luther King – to understand what drove him to do what he did.
5. Queen Elizabeth the First – how a woman was able to reign for so long

Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply? Did you have an emotional or intellectual attachment to this book? Why?

Tom Peters – Brand You 50. This was one of the very first books on personal branding and started my journey. As soon as I read it I realized what he was talking about was what I had done in my career and explained a lot. It was probably more emotional because it spoke to my belief that you can do what you want to do if you put your mind and efforts to it.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why? Summarize the book in two sentences.

1. Book of quotations – for daily insight and inspiration
2. Dictionary – to learn a new word everyday and find a context to use it
3. Suduko – because I like logical puzzles to keep my mind active
4. Encyclopedia of World Religions – to understand the basis of all human cultures
5. War and Peace (Vintage Classics) – because I never finished it for English Literature class.

What one music CD and movie would you like to have with you (on the deserted island) and why?

Music – Mozarts 40^th – my Dad used to play classical music every Sunday lunch, his attempt at having us appreciate classical music.

Film – Kind Hearts & Coronets – black and white English comedy where Sir Alec Guinness plays eight different characters. Great plot, Guinness is a genius and the perfect comedic twist at the end.

What excites you about life?

At the moment I am just scratching the surface of what is possible with personal branding. So much more to do.

How do you nurture your soul?

I do not know if I do enough now to say I nurture it. Something I am working on.

If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for? Or, if I gave you a magic wand, what would you use it for?

Make every country capable of being self sufficient in food.

Complete the following, I am happy when…..

My children continue to believe that anything is possible.

What nuggets of wisdom have you gleaned from Paul’s interview? How might you apply his responses to your situation.

Keep the conversation flowing. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN, I can assist you with that too.

Today and tomorrow we present Paul Copcutt’s interview. Are you noticing any similarities in the interviews that you read here? If you were asked what are three threats to your business, how would you answer? What are three events that shaped your life? For Paul, it was (1) The death of his mother and sister when he was seven years old, (2) Taking a job at a biotech firm as a National Sales Manager without any medical experience and (3) Marrying his wife. If you were to respond to the questions, would any of  your answers be similar Paul’s?

Tell me a little bit about yourself. Tell me a little bit about your company and where the idea for your business came from?

Paul Copcutt, a transported Brit, I came to Canada in 1996 with the biotech company I was working with to follow a Canadian and convince her to marry me. I started my company Square Peg in 2004 as a recruitment company but always with the intention of doing something more involving personal branding because what I had been doing in a corporate career was personal branding there was just not the name for it.  Now that is all I do, personal branding for individuals, inside corporations and speaking on the topic.

What’s a typical day like for you?

I run a home based business, so once the family is getting on with their day is when mine starts professionally. This will involve talking to clients on the phone, using the technology of the internet to connect and stay in touch. If I am out meeting clients or speaking, a day can start early and be a long one depending on location, travel etc.

How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

My main motivation is that everyone should have the opportunity to understand personal branding and see if it applies to them. My purpose is to spread that message to as many people as possible. Also I love to connect with others. My colleagues and connections become my virtual watercooler. I am in two mastermind groups and we help and hold each other accountable.

If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

The journey I have had to this point makes me who I am, I don’t know that doing it differently would have resulted in the same outcomes, so I hesitate in saying what I would do differently.

What’s the most important business (or other) discovery you’ve made in the past year?

That my biggest strength is spreading the message to many versus converting people one at a time and modestly I am actually very good at it.

What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?

The speed of the internet and the developing technologies that stem from that. Now people see the need to manage their personal brands because of the impact of social media and online brands.

What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

1. Remaining focused – belief that what I am doing now is right and resisting the temptation to look at another direction just because things may not be happening fast enough. 2. Too much noise, not enough substance – there are a lot of people now talking about personal branding but to be honest that is all it is. There are very few people who are actually doing something everyday in terms of helping people define and develop their personal brands. 3. Bright shiny objects – trying too many new things can be a distraction. I am a catalyst and starter, but not a finisher, so new ideas and so on are a big attraction but also distraction.

What’s unique about the service that you provide?

I inspire people to take action with regards to their personal brands by sharing personal information and examples and practical solutions. There does not have to be smoke and mirrors to make this happen.

What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?

I do not think that most people in my field who are actually working with people on their personal brands are doing it badly. It is more those that talk about personal brands as the solution to online branding but fail to get the foundation offline established first.

Describe a major business (or other) challenge you had and how you resolved it.

Charging by the hour you reach a limit – either in number of hours you can work or fees you can charge – or both. I stopped charging by the hour or month for my services and went to a project based model.  Researched value based fees models and created proposals and marketing materials around talking about value and outcomes versus hours worked.  I now have only one client who pays by the hour and that is an arrangement through a partner and not my contract.

What lessons did you learn in the process?

People are receptive to a project based fee model for consulting and coaching. It makes you focus more on the outcomes and creates a much better relationship with clients because you both have interest in getting results versus just delivering a program.  Clients call on me when they need to not when they need to pay for it.

Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

My first ever client for my own business. I had made the decision to leave my previous employer and had no actual business to take with me. That first client gave me the opportunity to prove myself and became a significant client for my first 2-3 years of business.

Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

First ever job that required me to sell a service instead of a product. At the time I was not ready, I could not relate to selling an intangible and within 3 months I had left the company. The next time I went to sell a service a few years later I knew what was expected and needed and although it still took me some time to get good at, it eventually set me up for what I do now.

What has been your biggest disappointment in your life and what are you doing to prevent its reoccurrence?

To varying degrees I still get disappointments – the contracts or pieces of work you expect to get but don’t. I try to learn from every experience and even ask the question “Is there something I could have done differently?” and take that to the next experience.

What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

Moving to Canada with all my family still in the UK. I knew deep down it was the right move, and Canada has offered me so many opportunities as well as a wonderfully supportive wife and two great children. Not sure if I ever would have started my own business back in the UK.

What are three events that helped to shape your life?

1. Loss of my mother and sister when I was 7 years old.
2. Taking a job as a National Sales Manager for a biotech company without any medical qualifications.
3. Marrying my wife.

What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

My two children.

How did mentors influence your life?

There are probably three people, apart from my father, who have influenced my life.  My first ever boss when I had a part time retail sales position. He said, “You are never bigger than the customer and the customer is never bigger than you.”

The owner of the first recruitment company I worked for who let me learn from my own mistakes and was okay with my learning the lessons even if it meant we lost the business.

And my boss when I first became a manager, who always challenged me to have at least two options to any decision.

What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

See above

Which resources (books, movies, training etc.) did your mentors recommend to you?

The most influential training I received was the Wilson Learning Social Style program over 20 years ago and is still something I use now.  I am constantly looking for new resources, books and probably seek out opinions from many places to find these, but I have never found anything to replace that program.

As an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

Be yourself, be truthful. Stick to your values and beliefs and it’s okay to say no sometimes.

What nuggets of wisdom have you gleaned from Paul’s interview? How might you apply his responses to your situation.

Keep the conversation flowing. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN, I can assist you with that too.

Is good enough sometimes good enough?

Let me explain. Have  you ever revisited  work you did in the past to see how you have grown? What did you think about what you saw? Was it good enough or did you feel as if you could have done a lot better? Next month will be one year since I have been blogging, so I decided to see how much I have grown as a blogger. I decided to revisit Fairy Tales, What You Can Learn From Them, one of the first blog post I did, but also a review that I had some previously. What I discovered was that I still liked what I did back then. Good enough is good enough. Yes, I have made some changes to enhance the reader experience by using some of the tools that I am now familiar with.

Compare the old blog post with this one and let me know which version you prefer. In what ways can you make your work appear new? What new tools do you have to make the old new again?

Book Review: Best-Loved Folktales of the World by Joanna Cole

Reviewed by Avil M. Beckford

When was the last time you ventured into the land of make believe? Best-Loved Folktales of the World by Joanna Cole allowed me to do just that. As an active reader, I was really engaged and found myself getting really annoyed at some of the characters. For example, I became so frustrated with Snow White because she kept on making the same mistakes over and over again, because she thought it would be different, she kept on getting fooled by the disguises of the evil step-mother. Why was I frustrated? Is it because her actions are a metaphor for life, my life, your life, where we seem to find ourselves in the same undesirable situations over and over again until we finally get it.

Some people may think it is a waste of time to read folktales, but for me, I thought it was very worthwhile because it reminded me of simple life lessons such as persistence pays, there is no need to be greedy because there is enough for all of us and instead of competing, why aren’t we creating?

Though Best-Loved Folktales of the World by Joanna Cole is nearly 800 pages in length, it is still appropriate for people with short attention spans because 200 folk tales are included. Because the stories are so short, and there are so many of them, the reader can start reading at any point in the book. You’ll find familiar tales you read as a child such as Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves or unfamiliar ones such as East of the Sun and West of the Moon, Crab, Chelm Justice, Baby in the Crib, Salt, The Bunyip, and Faithful Even in Death. As an adult, you’ll approach these stories much different from the way you approached them as a child. You’ll view them with a different set of lens all based on your life experiences. You may find yourself sympathetic toward a character in a tale while you could be frustrated with characters in other tales because they keep on making the same mistake over and over again.

I enjoyed reading this book because I was introduced to stories from all over the world, the majority of which I had never heard about. And, it was amazing to find the same story with a different spin because of cultural differences, such as Rumpelstiltskin and Tom Tit Tot. The folk tales reinforce that we are not as different as we think. The author organizes Best-Loved Folktales of the World by regions and if you are like me, the first section in the table of contents that I rushed to was the Caribbean and was delighted to see an Anansi story from Jamaica among the 200 stories. There were other Anansi stories that originated from the Ashanti Tribe in Africa. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Anansi stories, Brother Anansi is a trickster.

Another good thing about the way the book is organized is the Index of Categories of Tales, which allows the readers to quickly see which tales are appropriate for children, wonderful to read aloud, have a moral, are for women and girls and so on. If you like drama, adventure, romance, mystery, horror or fantasy, there is a tale for you. After reading Best-Loved Folktales of the World, you’ll be reminded of the following:

• Share what you have with others because there is enough for everyone
• Persistence pays
• Operate with honesty and integrity: do not claim the work of others because the truth has a way of coming out and the consequences can be dire
• Asking for help shows strength
• Dream big
• Appreciate what you have instead of pining over what you don’t have

I recommend Best-Loved Folktales of the World by Joanna Cole because it’s not only a page-turner, but it allows you to tap into your inner child and have some fun. When reading Best-Loved Folktales of the World , read it not only in the context of providing entertainment, but also in the context of what lessons you can learn to apply to your life. So, take a step back in time and remember when….

Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentorand subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN, I can assist you with that too.

Reference Credit:  via Apture

Link for the book is an Affiliate Link

Excerpt from March 2008 Ambeck Edge http://www.ambeck.com/newsletters/nl_200803.html

How gracious are you? Are you quick to criticize? Or have you mastered the art of graciousness? Over the past few years I have been working on myself and learning to be less critical of myself and others. I am not there yet and I still have work to do. Two recent events made me realize how important it is to be gracious, and how important it is to give people second chances, when it will not negatively impact us if we did so.

I conduct many interviews so I am always looking for interesting people to interview. In December, Diane Danielson founder of the Downtown Women’s Club agreed to let me interview her. I was very excited because I always want great content to deliver to you. I gave her my conference call in number. At the scheduled time we both called in on time but I couldn’t initiate the record function. There are 40 questions that I ask interviewees so Diane felt that it would be too much for me to take notes, so she graciously offered to schedule the call 15 minutes later and record it for me.

True to her word, she recorded the call and had her assistant email it to me. I got the recorded interview, but forgot to download it to my computer. Just over a month later when I was ready to transcribe the interview, I checked my hard drive and it was at that time I realized my error. I quickly went to the link but could no longer access the recording. I quickly sent an email to Diane’s assistant and learned that the link was good for only a month and she could no longer access it for me. That’s screw up number two. I felt terrible because Diane was extremely generous to me, someone she didn’t know. She had also offered to assist in promoting the blog post with her interview.

I knew that her assistant would have told her what happened, but it was important for me to apologize to her. I sent an email apology, because that was the best way to contact her. She responded later and offered me another opportunity to interview her. I quickly grabbed it, and asked myself if the tables were turned, would I have been that gracious, and I do not think that I would have been, so that’s something in myself that I have to work on. I have to learn to be more gracious and give people second chances if it will not negatively impact me.

If you were in Diane’s situation, would you have given me, or another person who had screwed up like I did, another chance? How might you learn from me and also from Diane? Please keep the conversation flowing, leave a comment for me.

Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentorand subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN, I can assist you with that too.

Photo Credit:  via Apture

When it comes to taking control of your professional development,  how do you rate yourself?

I spent this weekend at Podcamp Toronto, the first time I have ever attended. I am not going to focus on the the sessions I attended, but on what the organizers said during orientation, which resonated with what I have  consistently said on this blog.

Podcamp, the unconference, is different from other conferences because it’s organized by participants for participants. Connie Crosby, one of the key organizers emphasized that participants are responsible for their own learning, that is, take control of their own professional development. With that in mind, participants were encouraged to leave sessions if they felt that they weren’t getting what they needed (A concept called The Rule of Two Feet), and attend others to see if there was a better fit for them.

Other key aspects of Podcamp unconferences are the sharing, paying it forward and flexibility. Presenters who are also participants share their knowledge, wisdom and experiences so that others may learn from them. Many who have attended previous unconferences subsequently present at later unconferences, honoring the idea of paying it forward. And when you attend these unconferences, there are slots left free for sessions that participants can fill if they want to expand and continue a conversation, or start a conversation they see missing. Traditional conferences can learn from the flexibility of unconferences, as well as practice the Rule of Two Feet to increase attendee satisfaction.

A model such as this, fills some very basic needs, and people learn from their peers or those who have traveled further down the path they are on. When the economy slows down, training budgets are the first ones that are  slashed. How do you respond when this occurs? Do you place your professional development on hold, waiting for the economy to pick up? Or are you proactive  and take your professional development into your own hands? I hope it’s the latter and that you are taking care of your continuous learning.

How might you apply the idea of the unconference to your life? What are ways in which you can take care of your professional development? One way is to get a group of friends together, where each friend would present to the others on a topic that they are very knowledgeable and/or passionate about. This could be organized as a potluck dinner because food makes everything better. Each person in the group would benefit, and may even learn about a model or concept that could be applied in their field or industry.

Another way to apply the concept is to teach others what you know, so that they may learn, and in the process you will deepen your knowledge in the subject.

Let’s keep the conversation going, please comment.

Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN, I can assist you with that too.

On February 22, 2010, from noon to 1 pm EST, I will be the guest speaker on a teleseminar on women re-inventing themselves. If you can attend, the call in details are Conference Dial-In:  1-712-432-3100, Conference Code:  932589.

Photo Credit: Creative Commons via Apture

Related articles by Zemanta

• Canada’s Largest Social Media Gathering Converges in Toronto (newswire.ca)
• Connie Crosby Update: My New Brainchild (conniecrosby.blogspot.com)
• Essentials for PodCamp Toronto (adelemcalear.com)
• Seven Ways To Get The Most Out Of PodCamp Toronto (davefleet.com)

The book list is comprised of books that profoundly influenced interviewees, desert island books as well as the books that I have reviewed. There is a lot of books on the list so I do not expect you to read them all.

Books That Influence

The Bible

The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell

Gone with the Wind,  Margaret Mitchell

Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig

Desert Island Books

Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth

Fall On Your Knees (Oprah’s Book Club), Ann-Marie MacDonald

The 1001 Arabian Nights

Don Quixote, Miguel  de Cervantes

Short stories by Alice Munroe

A Summons to Memphis, Peter Taylor

New Hart’s Rules

The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters, edited by Charlotte Moseley

Books Reviewed

The Skinny on Time Management, Jim Randel

The Skinny on Success: Why not you? Jim Randel

If you have read any of the books on the list please let me know what you thought of them. Choose at least four books from the list. Find ways to connect them even if they appear to be unrelated. Remove all barriers and let your creativity flow. What are five takeaways, and five great ideas that you can immediately apply?

Keep the conversation flowing. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN, I can assist you with that too.

Note: All book links are affiliate links

Instead of an interview, I have decided to line up responses to the same career-related questions so that you can compare and contrast them. The interviews are content rich and some may find it daunting, others may find it difficult to remember all the wonderful information. This is a way for me to enhance the user experience and make it easier for you to use the information. Please let me know what you think.

How did mentors influence your life?

Gina McAdam

Their kindness and generosity, sharing their time, ideas, experiences and contacts, impressed me deeply. This gave strength when one needed it, and also a key through many doors that may have otherwise remained locked or unnoticed. Their bright example is what made me want to be a mentor as well. In 2008, I was thrilled to be named Shine Outstanding Mentor of the Year. Shine is a national industry award for female talent management in the UK hospitality and tourism industry. It was started in London by two ladies of Italian origin who wanted to make a difference to how women were seen and wanted to see themselves in the industry.

Ron LeBlanc

I have always surrounded myself with very bright people, and my mentors have always been good to me. I am always striving to improve myself.

Lynn Kahle

I can’t think of any mentors and that makes me sad…

Duke Redbird

They influenced me in terms of encouraging me to understand that the pursuit of money and power as an end was unwise and that the best advice I got, often was follow your bliss. Use the talents that you were gifted with and the money will come.

What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

Gina McAdam

Don’t hide your light under a bushel.

Ron LeBlanc

Always deal with professionals and always get the very best people. If you do not have the best people you are not going to succeed in a difficult industry.

Lynn Kahle

I can’t think of any mentors and that makes me sad…

Duke Redbird

Be wise. I remember I was on a reserve in Morley, Alberta and there was this man in his late seventies or early eighties sitting under a tree. I sat beside him and he said to me, “What do you think about white man’s insurance?” and I said that I had never thought about it because I have never had it. He said, “I have thought about it a lot because they came around to my house to sell me insurance and I didn’t buy it,” and I said, “why?” he said, “When I was a young  man, about your age, I would chop wood for the older folks. I am an old man now, when I need a pillow someone gives it to me, and if I tell them to chop wood, they chop wood for me. That’s Native insurance. White man’s insurance won’t do that for you.” And that was the conversation and it has lived with me ever since.

Which resources (books, movies, training etc.) did your mentors recommend to you?

Gina McAdam

One fabulous mentor, Diane Morris who runs TIAW, recommended that I join and get involved in good networks. I have never looked back since. Someone who is less a mentor than a caring colleague has always signposted me to great articles, events, people and organisations.  Through him I’ve got involved in the Oxford Brookes University Bacchus Mentoring programme for final year hospitality management students. I now mentor a very motivated girl from Sweden and a very bright young man from Hong Kong.

Ron LeBlanc

I was told to keep current on the front side of things because of the constant oscillations of the market and everything else. Everything that affects your business is always shifting so stay on the front side.  Get the best data and voices. I used to read Harvard Business Review, and marketing magazines.

Duke Redbird

They encouraged me to read non-fiction books.

As an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

Gina McAdam

Nurture the people who give to you, always give back. Also, someone I spoke to recently said that one of his mottos was ‘you can’t have two faces’. Treat everyone with equal respect. That is so true.

Ron LeBlanc

Follow your bliss, follow your passion and stay current at all times. You are always unfinished, you are always working on something you want to be and will be. Have a leading kind of curiosity that gets you access to all the information in your particular sector. You have to be passionate, and if you are not, the universe will conspire against you. You want the universe to support you. The intelligent universe will support someone who is operating within their passion and following it.

Lynn Kahle

READ.

Duke Redbird

Realize that what gets everyone up in the mornings is one of four motivations or a combination of them: money, power, self preservation and romance, which includes all the arts, and everything associated with the arts. These are the motivators, and put more emphasis on the self preservation and romance side, and less on the money and power side. You’ll be a happier person.

What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?

Gina McAdam

Respect yourself and all people; b) never give up and that’s different from cutting your losses c) know that you can’t know everything, d) trust in Someone or something higher; e) never forget to say thank you.

Ron LeBlanc

1. Follow your bliss, follow your passion: when you follow your passion you find that the universe conspires to help you along the way
2. Notwithstanding that passion, you need an honest assessment of the possibilities within the choice which you have taken. If your passion is to move piano you know there is a limitation there. If your passion is to be a head of a company you know that’s a different thing completely so you have to have a realistic view on your ambitions
3. Once your way has been chosen, the lesson in life is that you have to be the best. Every individual is unique in some way and has unique sets of talents of experiences and that uniqueness has to be shored up by all the information possible. You have to know what you are doing and be efficient in the career that you’ve chosen.
4. You cannot expand your business without co-operating. One of the imperatives is survival of the co-operatives. Every expanding business needs a level of faith and you need trusting people around you. You need to be able to give up some of the power and co-operate.
5. You can be wrong, and you have to be able to take a bullet, be candid about it and say that you are wrong. You have to be quick about it. That’s the best way forward. Meet those challenges, meet those failures with candor.

Lynn Kahle

1. Learn to listen.
2. It is better to give than receive, especially when it’s unexpected.
3. The golden rule still applies.
4. Love is infinite—your children teach you this.
5. Good health, physical and mental, really is priceless.

Duke Redbird

This is a tough question and I could write a book just to give it justice. But I would say don’t sweat the small stuff, the only thing we have is now, this moment, there is truth and relative truth, most people function on relative truth and few people have an idea about what is really truth. Another life lesson is that the opposite of birth is death and the opposite of life is eternity.

What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?

Gina McAdam

Generally, I was never afraid to try something new and see where it would lead.  I didn’t have fixed ideas and notions about myself. When I did, I knocked on the right doors. But I was lucky always to have an orbit of good and wise people around me for support.

Ron LeBlanc

Straight and unmitigated courage and confidence in my own talent and intelligence but also I have learned more and more that I need a supporting group of professionals as I move forward, education and professional support and a great deal of courage. Go for it!

Lynn Kahle

Not so sure that I have but I do keep up and change the content of a course to be as relevant as possible.

Duke Redbird

Never burn bridges, treat everyone with respect, and follow the golden rule.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

Ron LeBlanc

Collect all the information possible about the field, look at it and really be mindful of how the field moves you, and make sure that it is field that you want to be in. Look at yourself and make sure that it is the place for you. You only have one life so you want to be sure.

Lynn Kahle

If you don’t love it, leave it. Do something else. There are a lot of options.

Duke Redbird

Be compassionate and have charity in your heart.

if you combined the responses what might you create? If you compared and contrasted the responses, what might you glean? Keep the conversation flowing, please comment. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN, I can assist you with that too.

This post was inspired by the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. On Monday, a friend invited me over for dinner, Family Day, a holiday in a few Canadian provinces including Ontario where I reside. She has been glued to her television watching the competitions. I hadn’t watched any of the competitions so far and took the opportunity to do so.

We watched snowboarding and what an adrenaline rush, and I wasn’t even competing. Of course as a Jamaican-Canadian I was rooting for Mike Robertson, the Canadian who was a very close second behind the American competitor, Seth Wescott. For a while Robertson was leading, but Wescott took the lead at the last minute to win the gold medal. Both Mike Robertson and Seth Wescott are winners in my book.

There are times in life when we give it all we have and yet we do not win. There is no reason to feel badly because we did the best we could with what we had. Unlike the Olympics, in the absence of competition, how do you test yourself to ensure that you show up as your best self most of the time? What activities do you perform daily to ensure that you become better and do not stagnate in your field? How often do you Go for the Gold in life?

Who do you have in your support network to coach, mentor, motivate, inspire, challenge and question you, so that you reach deep within to draw on your reserves to eke out a little bit more even when you think you have nothing more to give?

WE all need a support network of people to help up show up as our best selves most of the time. In what ways are you similar to athletes? What leadership lessons can you learn from athletes?

P.S. I will be rooting for Errol Kerr who makes up the Jamaica Ski Team. Kerr a freestyle skier, is doing the unexpected. It doesn’t matter whether he wins or lose, the point is that he tried and the point is that he showed up, and the point is he went against the grain.

Keep the conversation flowing. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN, I can assist you with that too.

Photo Credit: Zemanta

Related articles by Zemanta

• Canada wins silver in snowboard cross (olympics.thestar.com)
• Wescott of U.S. wins snowboard cross gold (nbcsports.msnbc.com)
• Snowboarder Robertson says best expected (cbc.ca)

The Buffoon and the Countryman

At a country fair there was a Buffoon who made all the people laugh by imitating the cries of various animals. He finished off by squeaking so like a pig that the spectators thought that he had a porker concealed about him. But a Countryman who stood by said: “Call that a pig’s squeak! Nothing like it. You give me till tomorrow and I will show you what it’s like.” The audience laughed, but next day, sure enough, the Countryman appeared on the stage, and putting his head down squealed so hideously that the spectators hissed and threw stones at him to make him stop. “You fools!” he cried, “see what you have been hissing,” and held up a little pig whose ear he had been pinching to make him utter the squeals.

Men often applaud an imitation and hiss the real thing.

The Buffoon and the Countryman is from Aesop’s Fables but it provides an important lesson to us. When you read the above tale, what immediately comes to mind? What is the moral of the story and how does it relate to your life? Are we so accustomed to conforming, to group think, that we are unable to differentiate between the real thing and an imitation? And, in your work and life, are your solutions creative, or do you only do the “true and tried” methods?

Do you have the courage to take the road less traveled and provide the real thing? Or will you subscribe to the herd mentality and provide imitations? As a spectator, do you applaud imitations and hiss at the real thing, or do you embrace the real thing? Or have you been conforming too long and have become too comfortable? What are some ways that you can shake things up and zig when others zag?

Keep the conversation flowing. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN, I can assist you with that too.

Photo Credit: Apture

Source of Fable: Page By Page Books

Recently there has been coverage in the media on Minute Mentoring, or speed mentoring, which is the brainchild of Dana Perino, ex-White House Press Secretary. Minute Mentoring is based on the concept of speed dating, and for those who may not know, according to Wikipedia, “Speed dating is a formalized matchmaking process or dating system whose purpose is to encourage people to meet a large number of new people. Its origins are credited to Rabbi Yaacov Deyo of Aish HaTorah, originally as a way to help Jewish singles meet and marry. Supporters argue that speed dating saves time.”

Minute Mentoring

The aim of minute mentoring is to save time. Many of these female power brokers who participated in the minute mentoring event, do not have the time to participate in traditional mentoring relationships, but are able to carve out pockets of time to share their knowledge and wisdom. If you have never had the privilege of participating in traditional mentoring relationships, instead of feeling disheartened and sorry for yourself, be proactive and take your professional development into your own hands.

Mentoring Circle

Since the face of mentoring is changing, gather together a group of your friends and colleagues and form a mentoring circle, a peer mentoring support network. The relationship is reciprocal in nature where members of the Circle work as a unit to support each other in achieving personal and professional success. As a group, identify accomplished individuals who have successfully done what you are trying to do in your careers. Think about what you would like to learn from them. Organize a minute mentoring event, and invite these mentors who you have chosen to attend.

Invisible Mentors

In addition, you can incorporate the invisible mentor concept, coined by Karen L. Peterson, a Washington State University Professor in her 2000 paper, “Invisible Mentor: Communication Theory and Lilian Katz.” As defined by Peterson, “invisible mentors” are unique leaders you can learn from by observing them from a distance. Since 2000, we have progressed a long way, with advances in Internet and other online technologies. As a group, members of the mentoring circle can identify 10 people who they have always wanted to meet, and conduct extensive research on them. What books have been written by and about them? Which speeches and presentations have they given? What concepts and models did they develop? Who mentored and influenced them? Which books influenced them and why?

Each member should present to the group what they learned so that all may benefit from the newly acquired information.

The Merging of Mentoring Circles, Minute Mentoring and Invisible Mentoring

The mentoring circle combined with minute mentoring and invisible mentoring can form a dynamite hybrid mentoring program that can benefit mentees, especially those who have not had access to traditional mentors. With careful planning, mentees can reap the benefits that other mentees who are participating in traditional mentoring programs are accustomed to reaping.

What other concept can you adapt to your mentoring program? Everything old is new again, and you have to change with the times or you will be left behind to become obsolete.

Keep the conversation flowing. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN, I can assist you with that too.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia via Apture