The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Professional Development’

Since last week I have been including tools to assist you with your professional development. The Reading & Listening Plan Process has been taken from The Invisible Mentor Toolkit, which is packed with a lot of tools and processes to enhance continuous learning. The Toolkit is also designed to walk you through the process of choosing your five invisible mentors.

1. Invest in a good speed-reading course
2. To get tips on how to get the most out of your reading, read
   1. How to Read A Book
   2. Book-Lover
   3. The Reading of Books
      
   4. How to Read and Why
      
   5. The Art of Thought, (The Thinker’s library)
      
   6. The Thinker’s Guides (Center for Critical Thinking)
3. Set a daily reading goal and schedule it into your day
   1. Try to read about 40 to 50 pages a day, which will allow you to read about a book each week
   2. Get up earlier and/or stay up later if necessary
   3. If your aim is to attain mastery in a topic within three years you have to apply the necessary discipline
4. What to read each month
   1. Choose another two from the list of books that influenced people profiled in Tales of People Who Get It and the CEOs featured in the New York Times article
   2. Have a combination of fiction and non-fiction and every now and again read a children’s book “just because”
   3. Refer to the presentation How to Build Intellectual Power for a possible reading lists
How To Build Intellectual Power
View more presentations from Ambeck Enterprise.
5. Each week listen to an interview and a speech by or about one of your invisible mentors from the list in your Self-Discovery Worksheet
6. Join a Book-of-the-Month Club. Two suggestions are:
   1. Book of the Month Club http://www.bomc.com
   2. Quality Paperback Book Club http://www.qpb.com
7. Subscribe to business book summaries and use them as a guide to decide which books are worth reading. Two good ones are:
   1. Audio-Tech Business Book Summaries http://store.audiotech.com
   2. Soundview Executive Book Summaries http://www.summary.com
8. Make professional development a fun time for the family. And, if you have a long commute to work, invest in:
   1. Unabridged books on CDs and tapes to listen to during the commute
   2. Audio programs that your family can listen to during family time or on road trips
9. Create a form to record information on the books that you have read, for easy reference.

Click on the comment link below and leave a note for me. 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. Visit my sales page for resources such as The Invisible Mentor Toolkit to assist you in acquiring wisdom from a distance. For free white papers click here.

All book links are affiliate links.

If you haven’t already, it’s time to take your professional development into your own hands, and invisible mentors will help you to do just that! Invisible mentors are unique leaders that you can learn things from by simply observing them from a distance, or researching them on the Internet. It’s simpler than you might think, here is how:

1. What do you want to learn and why (See Knowledge for a Reason)?
2. Who knows what you want to learn?
3. Make a list of the five top experts in the field.
4. Research them using your favourite search engine.
5. What articles and books have they written? What articles and books have been written about them?
6. Which presentations and speeches have they given?
7. Look for videos about them.
8. Visit their websites and fan pages.
9. Take time to read the information and digest it, then compare it to what you already know.
10. Teach the information to another person to cement it into your memory.

If you’d like me to hold your hand, The Invisible Mentor Toolkit will assist you in choosing your invisible mentors and much more. It’s  acquiring knowledge and wisdom from a distance. Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know what you think about this.  Click on the comment link below. 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. Visit my sales page for resources such as The Invisible Mentor Toolkit to assist you in acquiring wisdom from a distance. For free white papers click here.

Photo Credit: Flickr via Apture

You are smarter than you think, and you have a lot more to contribute than you think.  Today, instead of an interview, I will post some of the interview questions for you to answer. The questions make you think, but you’ll find it very worthwhile going through the process.

Next week I’ll present Nathalie Lussier’s interview. It’s the first time I have ever interviewed someone so young, she is 24 years old, but we’ll all learn from her. You can email me (email address found on contact page of this blog) your interview responses and I will feature them on this blog.

1. How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
2. If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?
3. What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?
4. What’s unique about the service that you provide?
5. Tell me about your big break and who gave you.
6. Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?
7. What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its reoccurrence?
8. What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?
9. What are three events that helped to shape your life?
10. What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?
11. How did mentors influence your life?
12. What’s one core message you received from your mentors?
13. How do you integrate your personal and professional life?
14. What’s a major regret that you’ve had in life?
15. What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?
16. What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?
17. What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?
18. 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?
19. 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?
20. 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.

What are your thoughts about the questions? 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.

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. Visit my sales page for resources such as The Invisible Mentor Toolkit to assist you in acquiring wisdom from a distance.

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

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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