A Reason, a Season, a Lifetime

We recently came across some great tips that can be used for finding Mentors using Social Media.  Here is one of several tips suggested by Nicole Williams, in her October 25, 2011 article called:   Women and Mentoring in the U.S.

We encourage you to read her entire article when you have a moment. 

< http://blog.linkedin.com/2011/10/25/mentoring-women/ >

A Reason, a Season or a Lifetime:  Start with the goal in mind. While typically referring to friendships, I find this is one of the most effective ways of wrapping your head around what you’re looking for in a mentor.  Before you can address the where and how of it all, it comes down to having a very clear view of what you’re looking for.  Whether it be the insight of an expert to help answer a specific question that’s haunting you, or finding someone you want to emulate for their poise and integrity; the better you’re able to define what you’re looking for, the more apt you are to find it.

Additional opportunities to learn more about Mentorship are available for you right NOW, on our YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ProvisionMentorship 

Mentorship and the Link to Success

We recently received an email from someone exploring our Mentorship BLOG and appreciated the kind comments he provided. 

Let me share some of our reply, because it gave us opportunity to reflect back on the many wonderful people we've spoken with over the years. It's been great to interview these successful business owners and professionals. And many of them simply enjoy giving back to their communities - sharing what they have learned in business and in life with others.  

Reflecting for a moment, SUCCESS in virtually any field of endeavour is more likely to come only after years of dedication and discipline.  We sometimes hear of the 'overnight success', but the reality is that this "success" has often taken years for these individuals to achieve. And if we want to be totally honest, there are very few success stories that are truly 'solo efforts'. The work that we do, and the work of other successful people has almost always involved others who have had a part in the advancement of that effort. 


And on that note, I close with the words that are inscribed on Andrew Carnegie’s tombstone: “Here lies a man who knew how to enlist in his service better men than himself.”  
(More related to Andrew Carnegie can be seen on our Business Success BLOG at:  http://businesssuccessblog.blogspot.com/


Mentorship can be one of those important relationships that helps people to more quickly and more fully develop into their full potential.  That's why we've added these resources and made them FREELY AVAILABLE for anyone who is looking at developing their potential. 

View some of the video clips that we've put together.  We trust that you will enjoy and learn from our many interviews with people spanning a wide variety of careers and industry sectors.  

Visit our YouTube Channel at:
    http://www.youtube.com/user/ProvisionMentorship

Please feel free to comment on, and pass along the URL for our Mentorship and Business Success BLOGs.

Engaging your Employees through Mentorship

One of the frequent comments that I hear from business owners, particularly in times of growing economic prosperity, is the challenge that they have in retaining quality staff within their organizations.  Many feel that their front door has been replaced by a ‘revolving door’, one that they wish they could slow down!  One successful business owner told me over coffee of how his competitors would frequently be seen just outside the gate of his plant.  He said that their intent was to chat with the workers coming off shift, hoping to lure some of them away with slightly higher wages.  Another business owner seemed near desperation as he searched for ways to stem the exodus of people from his firm.

Elisa Birnbaum, a freelance journalist, producer, and communications consultant living in Toronto, touches on this issue in her June 14, 2011 article, “The Mentor Within”. Elisa’s article can be seen in full on the Charity Village Website at http://www.charityvillage.com/cv/archive/acov/acov11/acov1128.asp

Here is a brief introduction to Elisa’s article, provided to whet the appetite of our readers!  Thank you once again Elisa for your permission to quote from your work.

The Mentor Within  - By Elisa Birnbaum Retention has become the cause célèbre for many organizations. With a particular focus on the younger generation, ideas abound on how to create a working environment that is welcoming, engaging and supportive. An engaged staff is a satisfied one, after all.

But now the question becomes: how best to achieve those goals.

Some are looking to mentorship for answers. Helping one's staff develop skills and acquire knowledge will help move them into leadership roles, develop long-term engagements and take a good swipe at succession issues in the process. That's the theory, anyway. But while informal mentorship opportunities are prevalent, the number of organizations implementing formal, in-house mentorship programs is difficult to estimate and they are admittedly hard to find. Thankfully some were willing to share their experiences running — and developing — formalized programs.

Elisa’s full article goes on to provide examples from the Canadian Red Cross, the YWCA and Vantage Point, to illustrate how mentorship can assist organizations in more fully engaging the people they employ.

Be sure to read Elisa Birnbaum’s full article on the Charity Village Website at: http://www.charityvillage.com/cv/archive/acov/acov11/acov1128.asp

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