The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Lou Costello’

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. It makes 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.

Who do you have on your support team, the people who watch your back?

Your support network should consist of about four to six people who are committed to helping each other achieve their goals. 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 network assumes the role of “buddy” or sidekick to the other members.

Why You Need a Support Network

As part of the work I do, I interview accomplished people, and a recurring theme is the importance of having a group of people who support you and cheer you on. The language may differ from person-to-person, but the message is clear: “You need a team of advisers, people who you can call on, you need people to be accountable to, no one succeeds alone, you need people to watch your back.

How to Find Members for  your Support Network

1. Identify people in your diverse networks whose goals, personal mission and values intersect with yours
2. Initially, get together to talk about what is important to you, and where you would like to see yourselves in five years
3. Brainstorm various ways to fill the gap between where you are, to where you want to be
4. Before committing, take the group for a test drive to discover if real chemistry is there

Desired Characteristics of the Members in your Support Network

• Leaders
• Willingness to share wisdom, knowledge and experiences
• Ability to explain, teach and communicate
• Capacity to listen actively
• Old enough to have learned important life lessons
• Accomplished and possess extraordinary perception
• Unique ability to sort out the valuable from the superfluous
• Facilitates understanding
• Enlightened and understand that the world is bigger than them
• Inspiring
• Willingness to help others succeed
• Engaging
• Well-read and has exceptional intellect
• Demonstrates intellectual inquiry
• Problem solvers
• Change makers
• Passionate

Characteristics of Highly Successful Support Networks

• Established ground rules
• Clear purpose and well-defined expectations
• Non-competitive relationship among members
• Safe and secure environment
• Absolute confidentiality
• Group has structure and focus
• Members pool knowledge and resources
• Encourage each other to achieve personal and professional goals
• Members support and encourage each other to overcome obstacles
• Personal chemistry within circles among members is important
• Respect for diverse backgrounds and needs of co-mentors
• Values among co-mentors are aligned
• Members are people whom you trust
• Members have to be people with whom you can speak freely to
• Improve upon each other’s unique skills
• Members recognize both academic and non-academic achievements/professional and non-professional achievements of each other
• Commit to meet between one to two hours every two weeks
• Evaluate regularly to determine if the needs of all members are being addressed by the group

Rotate roles and responsibilities among group members. Members in your support network could be co-mentors to each other. In today’s environment, standing still is no longer an option in work and life. Use your support to partner your way to success.

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

In today’s environment, standing still is no longer an option in work and life. Use the Buddy System™ to partner your way to success.

The Legend of The Lone Ranger Music Video By Carey Lee Fisher

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