quantmleap

Few years ago, having been heavily influenced by a set of pod-casts published by the guys in manager-tools.com, I have started volunteering to assist people in their professional career by providing them with the opportunity to discuss work related issues, career decision opportunities and other professional questions.

 Over the years I have made a number of contributions to people’s lives by being there for them and by allowing them to use me as a discrete sound board as they were going through both professional and personal junction points.

Having had the opportunity to reflect over these relationships I suspect the term ‘mentor’ is far too limiting. To be a mentor implies that you have a certain experience which you utilise to advance and assist someone else’s goals. That is not quite what I was doing. What I successfully done is become a ‘Mentor / Friend’. This is a much more powerful position as it implies a higher level of confidence in not just my professional capabilities but also in my personal and emotional attributes.

Being a ‘mentor’ implies a functional interest in your circumstances while being a ‘friend’ implies a much closer and intimate interest in your well being, not just a functional interest but rather a ‘whole of person’ interest, allowing you the opportunity to expose and discuss your issues, concerned and questions in a more holistic and complete way.

Think about it!

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