Article on Mentoring
I'm not a Leader she said!

This article on mentoring is about a recent mentoring session I had with a wonderful woman that I had just agreed to meet with and mentor.

The primary focus of this article is to ask yourself if you ever really think about whether you are a leader or not?

Prior to our very first meeting I asked her to consider what she felt the differences were between a leaders and a manager.

I also asked her to consider what she believed her greatest strength was, as well as, her greatest weakness.

After we began and talked for a few minutes I asked her what she would like to get out of our meetings together.

She paused for a minute and then said that she really wasn't trying to advance her career, but more importantly was trying to become a better leader of her home and personal situation.

We spoke a little more and after I asked several more questions she explained that her husband had MS and was pretty much confined to their home. Caring for him was taking more and more of her time, which was the reason she went from full time to part time work. This also put a strain on their finances.

She absolutely loved helping out at her church, but between caring for her husband and her job it was becoming harder and harder to manage.

I asked about her children. She had two young adult's that were struggling a bit because of their fathers situation.

After speaking a little more I asked her what she thought was her greatest weakness.

She hesitated a bit and said that she didn't think she was a very good leader. She didn't think that she was handling everything in her life very well and that a good leader would take charge of the situation and solve the problems she was facing.

After a little more conversation I was able to see that based on everything she had told me about, that in fact she was handling more than most people could stand, yet she was excelling at work, at her church, and most likely at home.

Her two daughters were rebounding from their fathers situation mostly because of her leadership.

She just finished a mission trip with her church, which most of us would not take the time to worry about if we had the same situation to deal with.

And finally she was making decisions now for the future of her husbands care, which meant that she was looking past today into tomorrow.

These are all signs of a very good leader if not great one!

I finished our first meeting by telling her I believed that what she thought was her greatest weakness was probably her greatest strength! That she was rising above the issue of her life and taking them on with common sense and determination. That she wasn't running from them or having a pity party! Yes she was a great leader in her own way!

I just recently got this book by John Whitmore, “Coaching for Performance”. It was recommended by some friends and I am glad I took their advice. You can pick it up at a very good price from Amazon. Because of my affiliation with Amazon I am able to offer it to you on this site. I strongly encourage it if you are a leader.

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