Creating an Invisible Mentor Roundtable #napoleonhill

Introduction: Creating an Invisible Mentor Roundtable #napoleonhill #invisiblecounselor

Creating an Invisible Mentor Roundtable (Part III of the series – Part I, Part II) is critical to your success! How? You are reading an article, something grabs you, and you think, “I could have done that!” My response to you is, “Why didn't you?” You come across some information while surfing the internet, and you say to yourself, “That's helpful, I could do that!” My response, “What's stopping you from taking action?”

The point I am trying to make is that there are many people out there who can teach and inspire us, and they are our invisible mentors – invisible because they have the capacity to touch our lives from a distance, and without us knowing them personally. Invisible mentors are giants whose shoulders we stand on so that we can see much farther. We imitate their actions to accelerate our success. Through them we learn leadership skills because we take responsibility for our professional development.

In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill says, “my experience has taught me that the next best thing to being truly great is to emulate the great, by feeling and action, as nearly as possible.” Napoleon Hill had a definite purpose, he wanted to rebuild his character, so he decided to look to nine men whose lives and works he considered were impressive.

Each man had a trait that he wanted to imitate, and using those traits he would rebuild his character. The nine men comprised his Cabinet of Invisible Counselors (invisible mentors).

The key here, is that Napoleon Hill had a definite purpose for using invisible counselors, what reason do you have for creating your invisible mentor roundtable? Are you looking to rebuild your character, learn a new skill, write compelling headlines, and so on? Your answer will guide your choices for the members of your roundtable. Napoleon Hill had these nine men, and they are excellent choices because they worked for him, but they are all white men, and won't necessarily work for you.

Have you read?

Roundtable of Invisible Mentors Part I #napoleonhill #invisiblecounselors

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Review Part II

Members of Napoleon Hill's Cabinet of Invisible Counselors

1. Mini Biography of Thomas Alva Edison, Inventor
2. Mini Biography of Luther Burbank, Horticulturist, Wizard of Santa Rosa
3. Mini Biography of Andrew Carnegie, Steel Magnate, Philanthropist
4.  Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Essayist, Poet and Lecturer
5. Charles Robert Darwin, Naturalist who Presented the Origin of Species Theory
6. Abraham Lincoln, 16th President, Led America through the Civil War
7. Henry Ford, American Automobile Pioneer, Industrialist
8. Thomas Paine, Journalist, Political Philosopher, Built Case for American Independence

There are some phenomenal women, people of color, and men, who have changed the world, and a good place to find them is here on The Invisible Mentor blog by looking at people who I have profiled in the past. Thinking of some of the people who I have found interesting, I created the following list of people who would be members of my Invisible Mentor Roundtable.

I chose them for a variety of reasons – innovativeness, have great foresight, willing to take risks, invested in themselves, ahead of their time, made things happen, created a great body of work…. The common denominator is that they can teach me things, and the best thing is that they are diverse. This list is going to change very shortly as I progress with my liberal arts education. Additionally, I interview people all the time, so I am constantly learning from interviewees.

Members of Avil's Invisible Mentor Roundtable

1. Lucille Ball, Most Adored American Female Comic of the Twentieth Century
2. Charlie Chaplin, Cultural Icon – Helped the World Live through Some Dark Moments in History
3. Gertrude Bell, British Archaeologist, Explorer, Writer and Mountaineer
4. Marie Curie, Research Scientist, First Woman to Win a Nobel Prize
5. Gertrude Belle Elion, Biochemist, Nobel Prize Winner for Scientific Discovery of Several Drugs
6. Joseph Campbell, Essayist, Mythologist and Author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces
7. Booker T. Washington, Principal, Tuskegee Institute and Author of Up From Slavery
8. Madam C J Walker, Operated The Largest Black-Owned Business in the Early Twentieth Century 
9. Margaret Knight, Inventor
10. Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian Composer, Pianist and Conductor
11. Thomas Clement Douglas, Father of Canadian Medicare 
12. Grace Hopper, Mathematician and Computer Programming Pioneer

Creating Your Invisible Mentor Roundtable

Have you Read?

Self-Mentoring – an Idea for the Twenty-First Century

Back to your definite purpose, in what ways could invisible mentors aid your career? Think of keywords that would describe these people. Conduct a search on The Invisible Mentor blog using your keywords, if that doesn't yield you any prospects, conduct a wider search on Google. If you find suitable invisible mentors here on the blog, print the mini biographies and interviews – using the print friendly plugin which strips away all the extra stuff – so that you can leisurely read about them.

At the end of each mini biography, there are more resources that you can explore, and they are available online through your local library. Like Napoleon Hill, choose about nine people who you can learn from. The good thing about choosing someone from this blog, is that I have done most of the work for you, and you already have a starting point. If you know what you want, you can simply fill in the information gap. I thought it was worth mentioning that invisible mentors do not have to be dead people, I have many interviewees that you can use as your invisible mentors.

Using Your Invisible Mentor Roundtable

Napoleon Hill used invisible mentors, except he called them invisible counselors. Here are the steps he took to benefit from the members of his Cabinet of Invisible Counselors:

1. Study the information you have gathered on the people you have chosen as invisible mentors. Napoleon Hill studied the lives and works of the people in his Cabinet of Invisible Counselors.
2. Just before you go to sleep at night, imagine that you are chairing a meeting with all the members of your invisible mentor roundtable.
3. Involve each member by asking them questions, and gather information that supports your definite purpose in life. If you have taken the time to learn about your invisible mentors, using creative visualization, you are making your mind a fertile ground for ideas, thoughts and knowledge. Your subconscious mind, and your sixth sense step in, to make sure that you get what you need. Napoleon Hill even imagined that the members of his Cabinet gave him the advice that he needed – that's the power of the mind.

Final Thoughts: Creating an Invisible Mentor Roundtable

The process may sound strange to you, and you may be hesitant to try it, but what do you have to lose? Napoleon Hill had great success using the process. And the best part is that no one has to know that you have created your invisible mentor roundtable, unless you decide to tell them. Use invisible mentors to help you to achieve your goals, and to accelerate your success.

Next Steps

Wondering what to do next, you can do all of:

1. Buy my new book, Leadership Reading: Spilling the Tea on How Top Leaders Read

2. If you want to Consult 1:1 about Effective Reading Strategies

3. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

4. Join the Art of Learning Membership Site

5. Download Unlock Your Genius Power Reading Tips Sheet

6. Buy me a cup of coffee!

If you want access to my Bookish Notes, please consider joining my membership site, the Art of Learning.

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UPDATE: First published February 2014