The Invisible Mentor

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Mission Statement

As an Invisible Mentor, my purpose is to deliver information through this blog that unleashes the inner genius within you. I plan to accomplish this by:

1. Posting blog entries at least four times each week
2. Finding thought provoking books that are off the beaten track, that provide concepts that you can apply to your lives
3. Interviewing successful people, who are not the usual suspects, and who have a willingness to share their wisdom and experiences
4. Providing thoughtful and/or educational posts that will make you pause and think
5. Presenting information that allow you to:
   • Amplify your internal voice
   • Figure out your own solutions
   • Become your best selves and be the people you are meant to be
   • Find your most deepest and intimate truths
   • Accelerate building your body of knowledge
   • Achieve expert/master status
   • Discover the unique leaders (dead or alive) who you can learn things from

If I do this faithfully, in one year, The Invisible Mentor Blog will not only be a premier site, but also a valuable education resource and destination for those interested in expanding their minds and thought processes.

The Promise

At least four times each week The Invisible Mentor Blog will be updated with Summareviews (a hybrid book summary and review), interviews, articles, resources and Tips and Tricks. Many of the Summareviews will be of works written at least 50 years ago, building on the concept of using yesterday’s concepts to solve today’s problems.

To assume the role of  The Invisible Mentor, we will make suggestions about how you can apply the concepts presented to your life. For us to succeed in helping you to achieve personal and professional success, we require your assistance and active participation. We also encourage you to identify your own Invisible Mentors. To get the most from your Invisible Mentors, interact with both the written and spoken word.

For the book, identify:

• The problem the author presented and how it was solved
• The relevance of the information to your work and life
• Five takeaways
• Five great ideas you can glean from the information presented
• Any rule breaking
• Ideas/solutions that relate to work and life
• Solutions to everyday problems
• Ways to use ideas/insights/takeaways to increase the value of your product/service to your customers both internal and external to the organization

And, does the book remind you of something you have done or read about?

For the interviews:

• How does the information relate to your work and life?
• What are five takeaways?
• What are five great ideas?
• What personal qualities made the interviewees a success?
• Why are those qualities important to their profession?
• What qualities do you have that are similar to the interviewees?
• How will those qualities aid your success?

Examples Where Invisible Mentors Helped

Charles Darwin and British biologist Alfred Russel Wallace independently arrived at similar theories of Natural Selection in the mid-1800s after reading Essay on the Principle of Population by British pastor Thomas Malthus.

After many years of research and observing birds in flight, German engineer Otto Lilienthal, also known as the King of Gliders published his findings in the widely read book Birdflight As The Basis Of Aviation. Lilienthal’s research article Practical Experiments for the Development of Human Flight, writings and notes proved invaluable to Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright also known as the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers believed that they could improve Lilienthal’s designs and resolve the problems plaguing aircraft theories. The Wright Brothers are credited for inventing the airplane.

As a child, while confined to bed because of illness, Robert Hutchings Goddard read H G Wells’ The War of the Worlds and became captivated with rockets and outer space. Goddard was a pioneer in liquid-fuelled rocketry and made significant contributions to the field.

While reading an article on a flight, Jeff Bezos founder of Amazon learned that the Internet was growing 2,300 per cent each year and wondered how he could use the information. He then looked at the top 20 catalogues to identify which would translate best to an online business and as a result Amazon was formed.