Political Intrigue, Drama, Uncertainty, and Suspense
... all cast within a framework of high-stakes regional and international geo-political unrest. Strong, Forceful Personalities, Influence, Money, Position and Power, combined with Personal Honour, Integrity, and Reputation. (WOW!)Although it contains many of the same ingredients that can be found in today's news, this post is actually going to take us back in time, and touch on the Roots of Mentorship!
One of the oldest stories to address the ability of Mentorship to shape and develop a young life is found within, The Odyssey - Homer's epic tale, written around the end of the 8th Century BCE.
The story follows the wanderings of Odysseus and his ship's crew in their many valiant attempts to make their way home after the Trojan War.
The Odyssey is a fascinating, 'action-packed' adventure complete with chaos, craftiness, and helpful interventions when needed! Much transpires over this 10-year journey. Yet, as amazing as this is for Odysseus, so too is the transformation that takes place within his son, Telemachus.
Mentorship is very much 'at play' back in Ithaca where it can be seen as a developmental tool helping Telemachus grow from a young lad into manhood. Throughout this process Telemachus is guided by the goddess Athena, disguised and revealed to us in the character known as Mentor. Through Mentor's insightful and timely council, Telemachus grows in wisdom, strength and maturity. With the whereabouts of Odysseus unknown, all but a few now presume him to be dead. In his absence, many sought the opportunity to wed Penelope (faithful wife to Odysseus) and step into the position of power created by his absence. Ultimately, Telemachus stands side-by-side with his father and is seen more as an equal in a climactic confrontation with Penelope's would-be suitors.
There are so many wonderful lessons that can be learned from this classic story. And we were delighted to speak with and video record comments provided by Marilynne Miles Gray, Co-Owner of Corporate Mentoring Solutions Inc. in Victoria, British Columbia (Canada). Website: http://www.mentoring-solutions.com/
Marilynne is an educator and writer with a life-long interest in many disciplines and Mentorship. She is currently developing a line of STEAM-based (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math) educational products for young learners, in the form of 5-day, team adventure camps. Her products aim to help students learn how to solve problems in a multi-facetted world, better understand the relevance of what happens in the real world when different fields intersect, and encourage young learners to consider careers in the rapidly-growing STEAM fields.
We enjoyed meeting with both Marilynne Miles Gray and her husband, Dr. William A. Gray on one of our trips to British Columbia. They have contributed some very valuable work and research in areas of mentorship and education. Below is a link to our video upload that came from our conversation with Marilynne. Other videos from that meeting on the topic of Mentorship are also on our YouTube Channel.
One of the key observations made by Marilynne relates to the important distinction between holding a position of authority VS fulfilling the role of leadership.
QUESTIONS - Your comments on this post would be appreciated to the following questions, after viewing the video that follows:
1) In what ways do you see Mentorship being helpful in the development of leaders?
2) Marilynne talked about some of the examples she's seen of variations of Mentorship that people may have experienced. What other forms of Mentorship have you experienced? (Perhaps from an advisor, counsellor, instructor, teacher, guide, supervisor)
3) When we think of the early beginnings or "Roots of Mentorship", what examples would you suggest?
4) How would you describe the difference between holding a position of authority VS fulfilling the role of leadership, without mentioning the specific names of individuals or organization.
CLICK HERE to view our VIDEO and
the valuable perspectives provided by
Marilynne Miles Gray in our interview.
FYI - For those interested in a valuable refresher on Homer's story of "The Odyssey" we enjoyed going through the rich details found in "Cliff's Notes".
* A good starting point might be the summary that can be found by CLICKING HERE.
