A Game Plan for Life: The Power of Mentoring

While mentoring is usually about building someone up, it can occasionally be about taking someone down a notch or two, too—provided the dressing down is done with that person’s best interest at heart and that it stems from love.

IT WOULD BE wrong, however, to assume that being mentored is always as simple as absorbing a positive example. Sometimes the opportunity for mentoring comes from passing on what one has gained from learning an incredibly painful lesson.

every time we watch someone and make a mental note about that individual’s character or conduct, we’re being mentored.

Mentoring can be any action that inspires another;

Hand in hand with consistency come honesty and trust. When a teacher or a coach or any kind of mentor is consistent in his or her principles, it creates trust between the mentor and the people he or she is mentoring.

THERE IS ANOTHER part of this equation, though. It’s not enough to set about finding a mentor; it’s every bit as important to concentrate on becoming one yourself.

Mentors are all around us; they are everywhere we look. Anywhere there is a sharing of knowledge or a teaching of experience, there is a mentor.

“Don’t whine, don’t complain, don’t make excuses. Just do the best you can. Nobody can do more than that.”

That same level of honesty is required of a mentor. You have to be willing to identify a need, weakness, or even an unpleasant reality but also assure your mentee that you’re going to help him or her overcome it. The frankness builds trust, while the positive action you take builds character.

Consistency is essential. You have to make sure that your students know what is expected of them and what the consequences will be if those expectations are not met.