Invisible mentors and pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone
When was the last time that you really challenged yourself? Pushed yourself beyond you comfort zone? That's something that I usually do, but for a few years, I became complacent. And you know what, it showed in my results. Last year I stepped it up a notch with the first Virtual Literary Tour, which didn't end up the way I expected or wanted, but like Thomas Edison, I have learned from my mistakes, and version two will be a lot better. You can expect to see the Tour this year, but in a different format. I am pushing myself again by working on my informal liberal arts education – using the free resources that I have access to. And I am also pushing myself beyond my comfort zone by developing The Invisible Mentor Model.
I created my version of invisible mentors in 2009, and as I have worked with it, I have realized that I have to update my definition. Initially, after much research, I defined an invisible mentor as a “Unique leader you can learn from by observing her/him from a distance.” That definition worked well for a time, but today, it is quite lacking. I am using more than unique leaders as invisible mentors. Books have mentored me tremendously because there are books that have touched my soul and guided me, what about you? There have been times when I was reading a book that I felt that the author wrote the book just for me.
As I am journeying through my informal liberal arts education, I am also finding that courses that I am taking are also my invisible mentors. I have mentioned a few times already about developing The Invisible Mentor Model, and as a part of the exercise, I had to define what invisible mentoring meant to me. One of the first things that I did was to revisit “Invisible Mentor: Communication Theory and Lilian Katz” by Karen L. Peterson, which was one of the first articles I reviewed after the idea of invisible mentors first came to me while walking in High Park in the fall of 2007. And I carefully reviewed my body of work since I have started working on the concept.
After much discernment, here is the updated definition of an invisible mentor:
- S/he is a unique leader you can learn from by observing her from a distance and/or studying the record of her life to imitate the traits in her that you admire.
- Tools and resources to help you achieve your stated learning goals.
Saundra McGuire on Self-Mentoring
Cannot view the self-mentoring video, here!
Having this focus of invisible mentoring will enable me to develop content that will assist you in achieving your learning goals. On the blog, I will continue to provide interviews with successful people, mini biographies and book review/summaries, but I will put more thought into how I make my selections so that they have a greater impact on your learning. In what ways have you used invisible mentors to mentor yourself? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Liked this post? Share it and subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more! If you’re new to the blog, visit the Start Here page for my pillar posts.
Author Bio: Avil Beckford, an expert interviewer, entrepreneur and published author is passionate about books and professional development, and that's why she founded The Invisible Mentor and the Virtual Literary World Tour to give you your ideal mentors virtually in the palm of your hands by offering book reviews and book summaries, biographies of wise people and interviews of successful people.
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