When Mentoring Finds You

Last week, I shared about the Power of a Mentor. Having benefited from having Steve in my life has helped shape so much of who I am.
 
Those experiences are even more beneficial as having gone through my halftime and I enter the second half of my life. As I move from Mentee to Mentor, I take those lessons with me as I engage and provide services for others.
 
It would be easy to say, I’ve arrived and to take the stance that my experience and background means that I am at the top of my game and my focus needs to be on helping others learn instead of still looking for opportunities for me to grow.
 
Finding Mentors Around You
But, as I wrote in A Coach Getting Coached, there is always an opportunity to learn if you are open and willing. Recently, I was blessed to work with someone who had no idea how much he was mentoring me. I watched him engage our session participants through asking sincere questions and showing them gratitude for sharing a part of themselves with us.
 
It had such an impact on me that I found myself engaging the flight attendants and strangers in meaningful conversations to learn more about them because of the IMPACT he had on me in the week we spent together.
 
Another mentor appeared who is 10 years younger than me. Watching the way, he connected with a group of Executive leaders in a professional yet personal manner. He was present and interested in their challenges and the impact it was having on their organization. He connected with them through his confidence in his ability to help but also through humility in feeling the impact of the challenges they face.
 
I guarantee that neither of them had a clue that they were my mentor. But I was open to be shaped and to learn and mentoring found me.
 
When you spend so much time seeking mentors, it catches you off guard when people seek you out to be their coach or mentor. Throughout my career I have always had official and unofficial mentees. 
 
Mentees Finding You
Recently, I was invited to provide the keynote at a local Chamber Awards Dinner. My talk focused on IMPACT and how the impact of local businesses goes so much deeper than the economy. I started off by sharing My Day of Impact and how my second chance at life was a message for me that I would have an IMPACT on someone who was destined for great things and that person may be in that room.
 
At the conclusion of the evening, I was approached by someone who felt moved to share their personal experiences with me. It was a powerful story that this person has shared publicly through testifying but has been an emotional struggle - knowing the message is important but the fear of public speaking makes her avoid and decline what she knows she is called to do.
 
I explained that when you are called to Lead, one of the most important things to remember is that Leadership is not about you! It is about those you are helping and guiding.
 
The person asked if I would coach/mentor them on growing as a speaker to help get their message out to others. My first instinct was to try and deflect because I didn’t feel that coaching someone to be a motivational speaker was in my wheelhouse.
 
They shot back quickly “but you are a coach, and it is what you do.” As I tried to clarify that “yes, I coach but my expertise…” They cut me off using familiar words that I had uttered earlier and said, “Leadership isn’t about you.”
 
“Well, let me check my calendar…”
 
You never know when mentors or mentees will appear and provide guidance or seek support. It may be a direct interactive experience or only from afar in a one-sided relationship. Regardless, leaders lead, whether they are aware or not. Remember that mentorship is always present, it can be provided or received, and it will have a greater impact Beyond Today.

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