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The Invisible Mentor
One morning while on my morning walk in High Park in the fall of 2007, “Tales of People Who Get It is your Board of Invisible Mentor” pops into my consciousness. I quickly pull out my mini notebook and pen out of my back pocket and jot down my epiphany. I had been thinking about how to describe my book for a few months. Board of Invisible Mentor made perfect sense to me because whenever I face a challenge, I remember parts of the interviews I conducted for the book and I would know exactly what to do, or how to proceed.
I continue with my walk, enjoying the wonders of nature. I marvel at the four cygnets (baby swans) as they struggle to learn to fly before the winter arrives. Papa and mama swan patiently watch, every now and again instructing their offspring in lessons of persistence, “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.”
I notice the beaver enjoying the unseasonably warm weather as he takes an early siesta in the nook of a tree. Ducks line up in a row on a log as the birds rehearse their cantata for the fly south. Being in touch with nature takes me back to the basics of life and reminds me of the truly important things in life.
Later, I confide in a friend about my epiphany and she thinks it is pure genius. She further adds that the idea is ahead of its time so I should alter it to Tales of People Who Get It is your Board of Mentors. This doesn’t work for me because “invisible” is what makes it so special. Discouraged I park my idea for nearly eighteen months.
Why do we care so much about what others think, even if it sets us back? Why don’t we trust our instincts and just plough ahead? Could it be fear of going it alone?
After thinking about “Invisible Mentor” for some time, I develop the concept which I regularly fine tune. At times I berate myself for changing my mind about the concept, but I stop myself because changing our beliefs, thoughts and ideas show that we are evolving and growing.
The paper “Invisible Mentor: Communication Theory and Lilian Katz” by Professor Karen L. Peterson from Washington State University, and the book The Mentor’s Spirit by Marsha Sinetar (Author of the bestselling book Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow) helped me to clarify my thinking around the Invisible Mentor Concept. I am eternally grateful to them for their seminal work. I think it’s important to build on the works of others, instead of re-inventing the wheel.
After chewing, swallowing and digesting the works of Peterson and Sinetar, here is what I believe and understand:
Invisible Mentors are unique leaders we can learn things from by observing them and studying their works. This means consuming the books they have written (also books written about them), the presentations, speeches, and interviews they have given and studying and reflecting on works of art and ideas they developed/created.
After discovering the importance of invisible mentors, The Invisible Mentor Blog is born. Please see note of disclosure below.
Avil Beckford
Avil Beckford, President of Ambeck Enterprise and Chief Invisible Mentor, is a writer, researcher and the published author of Tales of People Who Get It and its companion workbook, Journey to Getting It.
She often heard friends and colleagues talk about their mentors and the positive impact mentoring has had on their lives. But Avil was never fortunate to have a mentor until recently.
Looking back with perspective, according to Avil, “I realized that I have always had non-traditional mentors in the form of the many books that I have read, the many people who I have interviewed for my newsletter Ambeck Edge and Tales of People Who Get It, and the many training programs that I have participated it.”
In fact, writing Tales of People Who Get It was a critical part of her evolution because the process changed her very much. When faced with certain situations, she would recall aspects of the interviews, and it dawned on her that the interviewees sat on her personal Board of Invisible Mentors. “I thought that if those tools helped me so much, perhaps they would help others as well and that is why I developed the concept of Invisible Mentors.”
Note of Disclosure
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