I was enjoying a nice conversation today with somebody and out of the blue they called me a name, MENTOR! How dare they? Mentors are supposed to know what they're doing, right? Mentors are professionals. Mentors are wise. I could reach my 300-word minimum simply by describing what a mentor is and why I didn't think the word applied to me.
Instead, let me share another perspective with you. Perhaps a mentor is somebody that people are watching and learning from, and dare I even say maybe people are emulating them. While I know people are not perfect, it always seemed to me a mentor would be closer to that than most people. However, I believe many of us are "Mentors Unaware." People are indeed watching our behavior, listening to our counsel, and we may not even know it's happening.
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| Bob Goff, one of my Mentors From a Distance |
I was at a leadership conference years ago and one of our speakers spoke about his mentors; some were a part of his daily life and some he referred to as mentors by observation. He could still learn from this person even without any form of contact. Think about that - are there people you watch around you, listen to on the internet, or authors you read that cross from being informational to becoming a mentor?
We may not ever know we are speaking into somebody's life, but would you do anything differently if you knew you were being a mentor to somebody? You likely are already. Take a moment this month to think about who might be learning from you that you didn't know about. What an incredible honor and opportunity it is to speak into someone's life. Imagine the value if you knowingly did so and made time for that person regularly. Mentoring is a two-way street and you simply cannot spend time with somebody in that kind of relationship without your own life being touched as well.
Are you a Mentor Unaware? Who is learning from you and what might they see?
I can see having unaware mentors, especially now that we get so much information from the internet and social media. I can think of a whole list of people who I follow and consider mentors but have never met. We put stuff out there and people are going to read it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Donna. It's kind of exciting to think we may be influencing more people than we realize. A lot of responsibility for sure. So many people have touched my life and they aren't aware of it.
ReplyDeleteI've been a mentor unaware as well. It is a great reminder that we never know who we are influencing and teaching.
ReplyDeleteI love it!
ReplyDeleteKayla - you have mentored countless!
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