How Mentoring Can Help You Develop Your Leadership Skills

A mentor is often someone in a position who volunteers to transmit skills to up-and-coming movers and shakers in order to foster growth in their career. While taking on the mentor position is intended to benefit the mentee, it is not a one-sided experience. Being a mentor provides an incredible opportunity to improve your talents and grow as a future leader.

Learn to communicate in an open and supportive manner

Both the message sender and the message recipient must do more than simply act passively in order to communicate. You’ll become a better communicator who listens and talks with thought and regard for the other person’s comprehension as you study communication styles and how it all works.

Practice and improve your listening abilities

Mentors must pay attention to their mentees in order to understand what they require. Because listening is a skill that most people need to practice more regularly, simply needing to listen is fantastic preparation for the rest of your career. Listening entails more than simply hearing. It’s active listening with the goal of understanding, which necessitates asking questions to obtain answers.

Find out how to give constructive criticism

When mentoring someone, you must provide feedback. As a leader, you’ll be required to provide feedback to a variety of people to ensure that the influence you’re having and the outcomes you’re delivering are as good as you want them to be. However, this is a step that is frequently overlooked. When you mentor, you must do so since it is the most important aspect of the connection that you must learn to perform well. This constructive criticism will benefit you in all aspects of your leadership.

Encourages continuous improvement

While a mentor’s primary function is to guide a less experienced individual into the meat of their career, the fact is that it also helps you to learn more. It’s easy to become trapped in old habits of doing and thinking, but when a less experienced colleague asks fresh questions based on their unique perspective of the world, you’ll be forced to master new skills that will propel your career as a future leader forward.

Forms New, Strong Relationships

Even if a mentor is perceived as being significantly ahead of their mentee in their profession, the bond you develop as you help them navigate their life and job via your expertise can be extremely beneficial to you later on. Furthermore, these relationships are developed in a mutually respectful manner, which will continue over into future opportunities.

Enhances your professional reputation

It only helps you appear better if you are recognized as the person who goes out of their way to assist others and open doors for them. As a leader, you’re not concerned about someone replacing you, and you want someone to replace you someday, so you coach future leaders.

Increases self-awareness

It feels nice to help someone somewhat behind you achieve the success you achieved so far because you get to view yourself from a different perspective. The more viewpoints you can see yourself through, the more you will understand who you are and what matters to you.

Enhances your coaching abilities

Most leaders are in charge of guiding people through a problem-solving process, although they may not know it. Once you’ve mentored someone, you’ll realize that you can apply this talent at work, in your business, and even in your personal life with your family.

Finally, mentoring can assist you in becoming a better leader. With each mentee you take on, you’ll improve your people skills and become a more informed, open, and respected leader who isn’t stuck in the old ways.

EXTRA BONUS:

If you are currently in a mentorship but have found it difficult to facilitate a consistent dialogue then I’ve provided a list of 40 Questions to Ask A Mentor.

What Bon Jovi & Boston Can Teach Us About Perfectionism

Some individuals spend their working days attempting to avoid making errors, yet their work suffers as a result of their inability to achieve perfection. They make fewer mistakes in the end, but they achieve less because they spend so much time trying to make everything flawless. In business, time is money. Doing a good job today is better than the potential of a great job tomorrow.

Jon Bon Jovi’s career may have ended before it even began if he hadn’t grasped this idea. In 1983, he was just 21 years old when he won a radio station contest to record his debut song. He promptly created a band and published a first record the following year, which went gold. Suddenly, they were performing at Madison Square Garden as the opening act for ZZ Top. They hurriedly recorded a second album in order to strike while the iron was still hot. It was released to mixed reviews in 1985. Jon was dissatisfied with the record and desired to improve it, but time was crucial. In 1986, the band overcame this stumbling block and published a better-written and produced third album. Jon was still dissatisfied with the record since he didn’t think one song in particular was worthy of inclusion. He was fortunate in that he listened to folks who understood the commercial side of music. “You Give Love a Bad Name” was the title of the song. It went on to become one of the band’s most well-known songs, and it helped propel the album to the top of the charts. This catapulted them to superstardom, with over 100 million records sold as a result. They may have lost their record label’s backing if they had waited till the second album was flawless before moving on to the third.

Tom Scholz, a rock icon, experienced something similar. He’s been dubbed “the brightest man in rock & roll history” on several occasions. He graduated from MIT with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and is credited as an inventor on 34 patents in the United States. His band Boston’s debut album, released in 1976, sold over 16 million copies and is still the best-selling debut record in history. It’s also regarded as one of the best-produced rock albums of all time. Scholz performed all of the instruments on the album and produced it himself. He’s a gifted and intelligent individual. He’s also a stickler for detail, taking eight years to complete his third record. After a year of waiting, CBS/Epic Records sued him for breach of contract and pulled Boston from their roster.

It’s fine to have high expectations as long as they’re reasonable. It’s not acceptable to wait until everything is perfect before proceeding. Even if you’re a brilliant scientist or a great music singer, the engine of business doesn’t have time to wait for you to do everything just right. Payroll must be fulfilled and deadlines must be met. Employees who are highly respected do not usually make fewer mistakes they are trusted to get the job done and on time. In fact, they frequently make more mistakes, since the frequency of errors rises in tandem with production. They simply know how to do it correctly.

It’s fine to make mistakes as long as:

They’re reasonable mistakes to make.
You catch your own mistakes.
You correct your own mistakes.
You accept responsibility.
You don’t blame others.
You don’t make excuses.
You don’t hide your mistakes from your boss.
You don’t repeat the same mistakes.
You apologize when it’s appropriate.

5 Strategies to Overcoming Set-Backs

Everyone despises failure, but what most people don’t know is that failure is an essential part of the succeeding process. Anyone who has ever achieved success has also experienced several failures. So, what is the best way to overcome failure?

Here are five strategies for overcoming adversity.

1. Make Use of Your Mistakes and Failures to Improve Your Performance.

What method did you use to learn to ride a bike? The short answer is that you fell off a hundred times. After every error or failure, try to extract as much information as possible from it in order to be better prepared for the next time.

Action Step: Make a list of the top five things you took away from your most recent error or setback and write them down.

2. Don’t Spend Too Much Time Thinking About It.

Now that you’ve gained some insight from your mistake, it’s time to move on. Don’t get caught up in the past. When you are gazing backwards, it is impossible to know where you are headed. Furthermore, concentrating on your previous failures will keep you trapped in your current situation.

Action Step: Go through everything you’ve written in Key 1 and make notes (The 5 Things You Learned).

3. Don’t be afraid to give it another go.

Make sure you don’t let the fear of failing again prevent you from achieving your greatest potential or achieving your goals. You don’t give up after one or two set-backs, just like you didn’t give up after one or two falls while learning to ride a bike.

Action Step: Apply what you’ve learned and give it another shot now that you’re more prepared.

4. Surround yourself with people who are upbeat and optimistic.

No matter what it is that you are attempting to do, it is important to surround yourself with successful individuals who have accomplished what you desire. One of the most effective methods to overcome failure is to learn from the experiences of others who have faced similar challenges. This will not only inspire you, but it will also serve as proof that it is possible.

Finding a mentor or group of individuals and surrounding yourself with them as soon as possible is a great action step.

5. Recognizing that failure is a necessary part of the learning process.

Failure and mistakes aren’t enjoyable, but they are necessary for us to learn how to be excellent at whatever it is that we are attempting. “There are no secrets to achieving success in life. It is the consequence of careful planning, hard labor, and the ability to learn from mistakes.”

Action Step: Think back to a moment when you were successful at anything. Then consider how many times you failed or made mistakes on your way to achieving your goal.

Now that you have the 5 Keys to Overcoming Failure, it’s time to put your knowledge into action. You have a spark of greatness ready to ignite deep within your being. Make no compromises in your pursuit of your full potential because of anyone or anything.

Below you’ll find a link to an E-Book on Famous Failures. History provides us with quite a few notable failures. Names that you are sure to recognize. These individuals are great examples of how set-backs led to insights that fueled their success. Enjoy~

https://designrr.page/?id=116206&token=2445540759&h=5676

#motivationmonday

A Foolproof Formula for Showing Your Boss You Have Potential

Whether you want to move up the corporate ladder to management or be chosen to lead new initiatives, demonstrating your potential to your boss is critical. Naturally, excelling at your present work is a good place to start, but advancement requires more. In fact, your supervisor is most likely analyzing you right now. According to a Harvard poll, 98 percent of organizations have some type of mechanism in place to identify top achievers, who make up around 3 to 5% of the workforce. Meanwhile, staying in those upper echelons is nearly as difficult as getting there. According to the same poll, up to 20% of these emerging stars disappear off the list each year. Start immediately to realize your ambitions. Check out these pointers to help you remain on track at every level of your career.

Displaying Your Potential Early in Your Career

Focus on fitting in and building connections while you’re new to the workplace. That preparation will lay a solid foundation for you over time.

1. Produce results. Keep track of your achievements and keep a record of them. Develop a reputation for going above and beyond and finishing tasks on schedule. Proactively I dentify problems for which you may have a solution. Naturally it would be great if your solutions were adopted, but that’s not always the goal. Sharing your voice and taking part in the solution is just as important in providing one.

2. Back up your manager. Make an effort to make your manager look good. What goes around, comes around. You’ll have your moment to bask in the feeling of making an impact, in the meantime focus the attention upward. Check your managers priorities to determine where you can focus your efforts.

3. Focus on learning. Keep the big picture in mind as you find out all you can about your company and your industry. Ask lots of questions, be observant, and read the latest news.

4. Request feedback. You should also learn about yourself, or at leas how you’re being perceived. Invite people to express their opinions on your work. Accept constructive criticism and acknowledge your coworkers for their input.

5. Take action! You must put your learning into practice in order for them to make a difference. Analyze information to see how it may be used in real life. When you pick a coworker’s brain or attend a conference, make a list of takeaways, and then choose one that you can take immediate action on.

6. As Kendrick Lamar would put it; Be Humble! Allow your actions to do the talking. Contribute to the team and be willing to share credit.

Displaying Your Potential Later in Your Career

Your skill as a seasoned professional is often taken for granted. Intangibles such as leadership and vision are now more likely to be valued.

1. Create a niche for yourself. Prepare to relinquish certain obligations in order to focus on your talents. Find out what you’re excellent at and what you enjoy doing. Later in your career is a great time to leverage your strengths that may not have been quite as developed earlier.

2. Act as a role model for others. Now is the time to return the favor. Consider the attributes you appreciate in your role models and tailor them to your own personal style. Make an effort to reach out to new recruits and provide supportive comments to your coworkers.

3. Inspire others. Encourage people to achieve their goals. Allow your colleagues to learn and improve by providing them the opportunity model you.

4. Take on the role of an mentor. When working with customers or other members of the team, your behavior reflects on your company. Make sure you understand the mission statement so you can apply the values that perpetuate the teams success.

5. Take risks. You can act like an entrepreneur even if someone else owns the company. Take sensible risks that will allow you to stretch your skills and enhance your company’s position. Start off small and learn from experience so you can fine tune your judgement over time.

Demonstrating your potential to your manager will help in your advancement and recognition. Early in your career, increasing your effectiveness is a great way to set yourself up for success. You may rely on your business acumen and strong ties to help you succeed as a leader later on.

#motivationmonday

Don’t Take Selling Personal

Selling may be one of the most lucrative and exciting careers in the world when you’re closing sales and hitting your sales targets. However, if sales are down and prospects aren’t returning your calls, you may begin to doubt yourself and take it personally. So, let’s look at what it takes to stay motivated in order to bring in additional clients.

In order to get more clients and expand your business, follow these three steps.

1. Identifying and cultivating new customers.

2. Investing more time and effort into existing customers to increase referrals and business.

3. Making contact with higher-level decision-makers in order to gain larger deals.

As a sales professional, we recognize the significance of reaching these goals. Why, then, do so many sales professionals struggle to get over the first hurdle? It appears that, as much as we want to succeed in sales, we also want to avoid rejection while calling on prospects and customers.

Let’s take a look at how rejection affects sales performance. Fear of rejection and failure might make you lose your excitement, confidence, and initiative. When you are rejected, it can be damaging to your ego. You may get disillusioned, upset, and defensive if you take the negativity personally.

We may take rejection personally for three reasons. Each of them is linked to one of the three goals. They are as follows:

Frequency: Studies have shown that reaching decision makers takes at least five attempts or more. You may be irritated, disheartened, and uncertain of yourself if you’ve been calling prospects all week and they haven’t responded. It’s difficult not to take it personally and believe you’ve done something wrong.

Emotional Involvement: You’ve had a long-term business relationship with a client. You put a lot of effort into building the relationship. You want to ask for referral business from them, but you’re terrified of putting them on the spot or getting a negative response. You’re worried that this may harm the connection you’ve fought so hard to build.

Perceived Importance: You may choose to call on prospects with whom you are most familiar. You may be hesitant to contact decision makers higher up the ladder in a company because you believe you lack the experience and confidence to engage with a seasoned senior executive. If you believe you have nothing in common with a company’s CEO, you are unlikely to contact him or her.

If we believe that in order to feel good about our work, we must be accepted by others, we will be vulnerable to failure and rejection. Because self-esteem is built on ones own sense of self-worth, successful sales professionals see failure as a chance to learn and improve. They feel that failure may teach them more than success, and that every mistake is an opportunity to learn and grow. This is why successful sales professionals are generally in a positive mind-set, whether they achieve or fail, whether they are liked or rejected.

So, what’s the secret to coping with rejection in a constructive way? It can be summed up in five terms… “Don’t take anything too seriously.” Shit happens Things take place. People get overworked. Customers are possibly having a rough day. The economy rises and falls. You have a decision to make. You may either take it personally and use it as an excuse for failure, or you can concentrate on the four things you have control over: your beliefs, attitude, emotions, and performance. Take care of those four things, and the rest will fall into place.

Change your thoughts to “My customer is extremely satisfied with my service and is eager to suggest me to others with similar challenges!” the next time you have a limiting thought like “I can’t ask for referrals because I don’t want my client to think I’m too pushy!” Shifting your thoughts is the first step toward changing your beliefs, but it’s not the end of the process. Begin by stating it out loud to yourself and then sharing it with others. It will become more real for you if you do so.

ASSIGNMENT:

Choose one of the three objectives in which you’d want to make a breakthrough:

1. Identifying and cultivating new clients.

2. Investing extra time in customers in order to earn referrals or new business.

3. Obtaining larger orders or contacting higher-level decision makers.

Cut a 3″ x 5″ index card in half. On one side of the card, put down all of your negative thoughts regarding achieving that goal. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind.
Reverse the negative thinking and write good thoughts on the other side of each index card. This is the first step toward changing a negative belief.
Begin by speaking the new affirmation aloud to yourself and sharing it with others to practice changing that thought.

Make a list of action items to take, and take one step toward achieving the goal today!