Hoping my experience of mentoring may be paid forward through something like this!
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The chapter Connecting in How Remarkable Women Lead threw up some challenges for me. I'd always though of myself as a good connector, in that I place value, and therefore time and energy, on building relationships and nurturing friends (in the best way I know how - not saying I am perfect at it) is something I work hard at. As I read the chapter though, it was clear that there was an element of connection that was absent from my life - that of people from whom I draw energy, support and wisdom from in my professional life in a formal way.
At first, this made me really uncomfortable. I don't like asking favours of others and I like relationships to be reciprocal - so the concept of a mentor felt too one way for me. However, reading more about mentoring, the benefits for both parties as well as how it belongs to the pay-it-forward model I believe in, I began to rethink. I also began to feel that the act of 'taking' from others would actually be good for me too, as life is give and take. So, in February, when I began a process of finding my 'what next', I set out to find myself a mentor, someone who could help m develop and have a positive impact. I brazenly approached a woman who I had only once met before, but who a) energised and inspired me by who she was in that meeting and b) whose career path and job also inspired me and made me think if or how I might make similar moves. To my delight she agreed. All other things being equal (talent, education, drive), we now saw it is the centred man or woman who sustains a successful leadership journey. These leaders thrive when things go well and adapt to significant change without losing their way, because they are centered. Not just emotionally but also intellectually, socially and physically. A strong core gave our women leaders the courage to embrace new situations and adapt, to learn. A strong core helped them preserve and build physical energy. And the confidence that comes from a core belief in who you are and what is meaningful to you made them more open. They could listen to their social instincts. What's more, they liked themselves. Since reading How Remarkable Women Lead, my journey has been focused on developing the 'centredness' that the book describes in its introduction and then lays out a road map for. I have read and reread the book, as well as other books referenced in the text, making notes on what I need to do to develop a strong core, preserve and build social, emotional, physical and intellectual energy and thrive.
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