Mentorship INSIGHTS from Al Petersen, Petersen Pontiac Buick GMC (Alta) Inc.

What does it take to succeed in the automotive business?   What does it take to succeed in any business?  Our Featured Mentorship Video for this month is with Al Petersen, of Petersen Pontiac Buick GMC (Alta) Inc.   Al has been a great supporter of business and the community for many years.  I was very pleased to have had the opportunity to speak with him in his office in Sherwood Park, Alberta.  

While we talked about many things, it was very clear that this business leader has build his business on a solid foundation of customer service excellence and developing the business skills of their people over the 25 plus years they have celebrated as an automotive dealership. 

Enjoy the discussion as Al Peterson share his insights related to Mentorship!  Alternately, use the direct link at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRhML-VwPnw

NEW Business Mentorship Program Announced (Strathcona County, Alberta)

Here’s a quick “Shout Out” ... for my friends with Strathcona County Economic Development and Tourism and the Sherwood Park and District Chamber of Commerce who have recently announced a pilot mentorship program for entrepreneurs in Strathcona County. 

The program is available to all business owners at any level of experience.  The pilot program launched on November 1, 2011 and runs for one year.  Mentees and mentors can sign up any time during the first 6 months in order for completion of partnerships by year end (November 2012).

More information is available at:  
http://www.strathcona.ca/departments/Economic_Development_and_Tourism/Business/Business-Mentorship-Program.aspx

Immigrant Entrepreneur Mentorship Program (Alberta, Canada)

The Business Link and its funding partners Alberta Employment and Immigration (AEI) and Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) recently announced an Alberta-wide initiative to promote immigrant entrepreneurs in Edmonton, Calgary, Grande Prairie and rural areas – the Immigrant Entrepreneur Mentorship Program!

 
This comprehensive program features mentorship, business education and networking opportunities to support immigrant business owners in meeting their business goals.

The program launch took place on September 30th and the pilot will run until June 2012. More information is available at: http://iemp.ca/

Learning from Others ...

It's amazing to realize how much we can learn simply from watching others. We see what they do, and frequently try to replicate those actions. But the learning process doesn't always result in perfection after the first attempt!  Practice, observation, feedback and improvement all have a role to play in our efforts to master the skills that we wish to acquire.

Mentorship provides us with an opportunity to gather important feedback - feedback that is so critical to our improvement. It's not that the Mentee will do things exactly the way that the Mentor has done it, but rather that the experience of the Mentor can act as an outside source to compare with or contract against the direction, decision and discovery made by the Mentee.

We mentioned on our "Business Success" BLOG, that we recently had opportunity to take in the now world-famous production, STOMP.  I had some preconceived ideas of what the show was going to be like, so I went to it prepared!  I had a set of ear plugs, just in case the volume became too overwhelming, and I also brought a couple of extra sets of ear plugs that I could pass along to others in our little group ... you know, just in case they were needed!  :)

Well ... with respect to the show, let me say that the ear plugs were NOT required. In fact, the entire evening was a very pleasant surprise and totally enjoyable. I found it to be VERY INTERACTIVE with the audience, funny, and in a word, captivating.  I would recommend it as a definite production to take in - and I was really surprised to see so many children in the audience. 

NOW ... coming back to MENTORSHIP ... the point that I wanted to make is simply this ... MENTORS can add great value and perspective to those they would Mentor. It's important to remember that the decisions being made are the responsibility of the person being Mentored - the Mentee/Protege. As was evident in the production of STOMP, we interact with many different people in our lives.  We can always learn from others, and others can learn from us. Some will learn from us and do well - others will learn and do better (than us).  That's okay.

We invite your suggestions in a comment to this POST, on HOW CAN WE BETTER LEARN FROM OTHERS?

REGARDING "STOMP": (from http://www.stomp.co.uk/about/)

STOMP is a group of people, with very strong personalities, who work together using simple building blocks to create something complex , something everyone can identify with: everyone has, at some time, to engage in group activity, whether they like or know the people they are working with or not. It’s the little idiosyncrasies, the differences between people, and the games of one-upmanship that ensue, which define the group dynamic.

STOMP has no words – everyone can understand it. It has little or no melody in the traditional sense, so it doesn’t matter if your taste in music is jazz, classical, dance or pop. STOMP is about rhythm, which is common to all cultures. Everyone knows rhythm, if only from the beating of their own heart – it is the basis of all music.

BTW - there is a very funny sketch on NBC's Website from Saturday Night Live that I recommend you watch. It was referenced on the STOMP Website and comes with their endorsement!

Link to the SNL Digital Short: Stomp

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/snl-digital-short-stomp/1359562