In a post last Friday, I mentioned that January is National Mentoring Month.  In that post, I discussed what you should look for in a mentor.  Today, I’d like to urge you to begin mentoring others.  Just as it’s important to find someone you respect to mentor you, it’s also important to mentor others.  You don’t have to be in a formal leadership position or have years and years of experience to mentor someone else.  It’s never too early to become a mentor.  We all have something to give, and the sooner you begin giving, the better.  If you’re in college, you can mentor high school students.  If you’re a recent graduate, you can mentor others still in school.

I take great joy in mentoring other people.  I love it when I can use my experience to help accelerate the growth of someone else.  It takes the sting out of some of the negative consequences I’ve experienced because of poor judgment.  I think to myself, “At least he or she won’t have to go through that.”

In his great book, Love is the Killer App, Tim Sanders tells the story of how he turned one of the people who worked for him from a “mad dog” into a “lovecat.”  The advice is simple: “Offer your wisdom freely… And always be human.”

Tim is right on.  Mentoring is a great way to become a lovecat by serving others.  The more you serve others, the more confidence – and success – will come your way.

Besides that, you’ll grow by mentoring.  As you reflect on your life experiences and distill them into some nuggets that you can share with others, your knowledge will become wisdom.  In addition to being better able to help others learn and grow, you will be better able to take advantage of what you know.  You never learn something so completely as when you teach it to another person.

Any mentoring relationship needs to focus on the person being mentored.  While mentoring someone will most often be a satisfying experience for you, remember that it is not about you – it’s about the other person.  Accept him or her for who he or she is.  Help him or her proceed at his or her own pace.  The best mentoring relationships are guided by the person being mentored.

Mentoring should be a positive experience for both of you.  That means that you need to avoid treating a person you are mentoring as incompetent or incapable.  Rather, think of him or her as someone lacking in experience and who needs guidance.  Don’t criticize.  Help the other person think through the consequences of his or her behavior and to identify more positive ways of handling difficult or troubling situations.

Hold the person you are mentoring responsible for his or her success.  Give him or her small assignments.  Don’t let him or her off the hook if he or she fails to complete them.  Be willing to give of yourself and your time, but make sure the other person is doing so, too.

Realize that the relationship will end.  If you’ve done a good job, the person you are mentoring will need to move on at some point.  It’s all part of the cycle.  It can be hard to let go, but feel good about seeing someone move on to bigger and better things – and another mentor.

I’ve shared an acronym to define what it takes to become a good mentor.  A good mentor…

M Motivates you to accomplish more than you think you can.

E Expects the best of you.

N Never gives up on you or lets you give up on yourself.

T Tells you the truth, even when it hurts.

O Occasionally kicks your butt.

R Really cares about you and your success.

Look for people with these qualities when you are searching for a mentor.  Embody them yourself when you are mentoring others.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Just as mentors can help you create the life and career success you want and deserve.  You can help others create their life and career success by becoming a mentor. It’s never too early to begin mentoring others.  There is always someone who needs your career advice; someone who needs to know what you’ve already learned.  Take some of your time to share what you know.  Be a positive person.  Help others achieve the life and career success they want and deserve.

That’s my career advice on furthering your career by mentoring others.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, I appreciate you taking the time to read my daily musings on life and career success.  Thanks.  Check in tomorrow to see what career success tid bits I’ll have for you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, please download a free copy of my popular career advice book Success Tweets and its companion piece Success Tweets Explained.  The first gives you 140 bits of career success advice tweet style — in 140 characters or less.  The second is a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened a membership site last September.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  You can find out about the membership site by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.

I am a MentorNet mentor.  MentorNet is an online service that matches mentors with college students.  It’s a great organization.  Check them out whether you are considering becoming a mentor or someone in search of a mentor.  This week I received an email from them telling me that January is National Mentoring Month.  Working with a mentor is some of the best career success advice I can give you.  Chapter 10 in my forthcoming book, Climbing the Corporate Ladder is titled “Find a Mentor to Help You Grow and Succeed.”  Climbing the Corporate Ladder will be out later this month.  I’ll be giving away copies here.

The term “mentor” comes from The Odyssey.  Before he set out to fight the Trojan War, Odysseus entrusted the care of his son Telemachus to Mentor.  The best mentors will help you learn and grow by sharing their knowledge and wisdom.  And you benefit from their experience without suffering the consequences of that experience  firsthand.

By definition, mentors are positive people.  It takes a positive person to give of himself or herself to help another learn, grow and succeed.

I have been fortunate to have had several mentors in my life and career.  All shared several key characteristics.  They all…

• Were willing to share their wisdom, knowledge, skills and expertise.
• Had a positive outlook on life.  They helped me through tough times and showed me how to find the opportunity in the difficulties I was facing.
• Were genuinely concerned about me and my success.  Besides being knowledgeable, they were empathic.
• Knew what they were doing.  I respected them for their knowledge and skills.
• Kept growing themselves.  They were curious and inquisitive.  Sometimes, the roles were reversed.  They asked what I was readingand then read the books themselves – so they could learn and we could discuss the ideas.
• Gave me direct, constructive feedback.  They held me to high standards.  They congratulated me when I met their expectations.  They corrected me when I failed to do so – but in a way where I learned what not to do the next time.
• Earned the respect of colleagues.  People highly regarded in their field or company make the best mentors.
• Sought out and valued the opinions of others.  My best mentor always told me to listen carefully to the people I disagreed with–so I might learn something.  He was right.

As the saying goes, a mentor is someone whose hindsight can become your foresight.

Do you want to find a mentor?  Just look around you.  Who are the people you admire and want to emulate?  Watch what they do and do the same.  I’ve had mentors who didn’t realize they were mentoring me.

I learned how to build a network of solid contacts by watching Maggie Watson.  I learned the rules of business etiquette and dressing for success by watching Bill Rankin.  I learned how to become a first-rate public speaker by watching Steve Roesler.  I learned how to become a trusted advisor by watching Don Nelson.  I learned how to carry myself with dignity in even the most difficult situations by watching JF and Carol Kiernan.  I learned how to become a better conversationalist by watching my wife Cathy.

The reverse is also true.  I’ve learned plenty about what not to do to build self-esteem, give performance feedback and treat people with respect and dignity from observing a few of my managers over the years.

And, I’ve found that if you want to have an acknowledged mentoring relationship, all you have to do is ask.  Go to the people you admire and tell them that you admire their judgment and would like to learn from them.  Ask if you can impose on their time to get answers to questions you have.  I have never had anyone turn me down when I’ve asked this way.

I’ve created a mentor acronym.  Look for these qualities in people you want to mentor you.  A good mentor…

M Motivates you to accomplish more than you think you can.
E Expects the best from you.
N     Never gives up on you or lets you give up on yourself.
T Tells you the truth – even when it hurts.
O Occasionally kicks your butt.
R Really cares about you and your success.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Mentors can help you create the life and career success you want and deserve.  You can create acknowledged mentoring relationships by asking people you respect and admire to mentor you.  You can also gain the benefits of a mentoring relationship just by observing people who embody the skills and characteristics you admire and acting like they do.  The important point is that you don’t want to go it alone.  Working with a mentor can accelerate your progress towards the life and career success you want and deserve.

That’s my career advice on mentoring.  What do you think?  Please let us know by leaving a comment.  Also, please leave a comment giving a shout out to one of your mentors.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, please download a free copy of my popular career advice book Success Tweets and its companion piece Success Tweets Explained.  The first gives you 140 bits of career success advice tweet style — in 140 characters or less.  The second is a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened a membership site last September.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  You can find out about the membership site by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.

If you read this career success blog with any regularity you know that I love SUCCESS Magazine.  I read it cover to cover as soon as I get it every month.  As usual, the September 2011 issue had some great career advice.  Check out what it had to say about honoring your mentors…

List three people who have contributed to your success.  Not jot down an idea for honoring each then – and do it!

I am a big believer in the power of mentoring.  Tweet 51 in my career success book Success Tweets says, “Find a mentor.  Mentors are positive people who will help you find the lessons in your experiences and use them to move forward.”

The term “mentor” comes from The Odyssey.  Odysseus entrusted the care of his son, Telemachus, to Mentor when he set out to fight the Trojan War — and as you know, he didn’t get back for quite a while!  The best mentors will help you learn and grow by sharing their knowledge and wisdom with you.  In this way, you can benefit from their experience without having to suffer the consequences of gaining that experience firsthand.

Mentors are positive people by definition.  It takes a positive person to give of himself or herself to help another learn, grow and succeed.

I have been fortunate to have had several mentors in my life and career.  All of them shared several characteristics.  They all…

• Were willing to share their wisdom, knowledge, skills and expertise.
• Had a positive outlook on life.  They helped me through tough times and showed me how to find the opportunity in the difficulties I was facing.
• Were genuinely concerned about me and my success.  In addition to being knowledgeable, they were empathic.
• Really knew what they were doing.  I respected them for their knowledge and skills.
• Kept growing themselves.  All of my mentors were curious and inquisitive.  Sometimes the roles were reversed.  They asked what I was reading, and then read the books themselves – so they could learn and we could discuss the ideas.
• Gave me direct, constructive feedback.  They held me to high standards.  They congratulated me when I met their expectations.  They corrected me when I failed to do so – but in a manner where I learned what not to do the next time.
• Were respected by their colleagues.  People who are highly regarded in their field or company make the best mentors.
• Sought out and valued the opinions of others.  My best mentor always told me to listen most carefully to the people with whom I disagreed – in that way I might learn something.  And, he was right.

As the old saying goes, a mentor is someone whose hindsight can become your foresight.  This is great career advice.

Do you want to find a mentor?  Just look around you.  Who are the people you admire and want to emulate?  Watch what they do, and do the same.  I’ve had several mentors who never even realized they were mentoring me.

I learned how to build a network of solid contacts by watching Maggie Watson.  I learned the rules of business etiquette and dressing for success by watching Bill Rankin.  I learned how to become a first-rate public speaker by watching Steve Roesler.  I learned how to become a trusted advisor by watching Don Nelson. I learned the importance of attention to detail by watching Howard Sohn.  I learned true courage by watching Sylvia Montero.  I learned how to carry myself with dignity in even the most difficult situations by watching JF and Carol Kiernan.  I learned how to become a better conversationalist by watching Cathy, my wife.  This blog post is one way I am honoring them.

The reverse is also true.  I’ve learned plenty about what not to do to build self-esteem, give performance feedback and treat people with respect and dignity from observing a few of my managers over the years.

I’ve found that if you want to have an acknowledged mentoring relationship, all you have to do is ask.  Go to the people you admire and tell them that you admire their judgment and would like to learn from them to build your career success.  Ask if you can impose on their time to get answers to questions you have.  I have never had anyone turn me down when I’ve asked this way.

Just as it’s important to find someone you respect to mentor you, it also important to mentor others.  You don’t have to be in a formal leadership position or have years and years of experience to mentor someone else.  It’s never too early to become a mentor.  We all have something to give, and the sooner you begin giving, the better.  If you’re in college, you can mentor high school students.  If you’re a recent graduate, you can mentor others still in school.  The best way to honor your mentors is to mentor others.

I take great joy in mentoring other people.  I love it when I can use my experience to help accelerate the growth of someone else and help them become a career sucess.  It takes the sting out of some of the negative consequences I’ve experienced because of poor judgment.  I think to myself, “At least he or she won’t have to go through that.”

In his great book, Love is the Killer App, Tim Sanders tells the story of how he turned one of the people who worked for him from a “mad dog” into a “lovecat.”  The advice is simple: “Offer your wisdom freely… And always be human.”

Tim is right on.  Mentoring is a great way to become a lovecat by serving others.  The more you serve others, the more confidence – and life and career success – will come your way.  Besides that, you’ll grow by mentoring.  As you reflect on your life experiences and distill them into some nuggets that you can share with others, your knowledge will become wisdom.  In addition to being better able to help others learn and grow, you will be better able to take advantage of what you know.  You never learn something so completely as when you teach it to another person.

Any mentoring relationship needs to focus on the person being mentored.  While mentoring someone will most often be a satisfying experience for you, remember that it is not about you – it’s about the other person.  Accept him or her for who he or she is.  Help him or her proceed at his or her own pace.  The best mentoring relationships are guided by the person being mentored.

Mentoring should be a positive experience for both of you.  That means that you need to avoid treating a person you are mentoring as incompetent or incapable.  Rather, think of him or her as someone lacking in experience and who needs guidance in order to create his or her career success.  Don’t criticize.  Help the other person think through the consequences of his or her behavior and to identify more positive ways of handling difficult or troubling situations.

Hold the person you are mentoring responsible for his or her career success.  Give him or her small assignments.  Don’t let him or her off the hook if he or she fails to complete them.  Be willing to give of yourself and your time, but make sure the other person is doing so, too.

Realize that the relationship will end.  If you’ve done a good job, the person you are mentoring will need to move on at some point.  It’s all part of the cycle.  It can be hard to let go, but feel good about seeing someone move on to bigger and better things – and another mentor.

I’ve created an acronym to define what it takes to become a good mentor.  A good mentor…

M Motivates you to accomplish more than you think you can.

E Expects the best of you.

N Never gives up on you or lets you give up on yourself.

T Tells you the truth, even when it hurts.

O Occasionally kicks your butt.

R Really cares about you and your success.

Look for people with these qualities when you are searching for a mentor.  Embody them yourself when you are mentoring others.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Mentors can help you create the life and career success you want and deserve.  Successful people follow the career advice in Tweet 51 in Success Tweets.  “Find a mentor.  Mentors are positive people who will help you find the lessons in your experiences and use them to move forward.”  You can enter into a formal mentoring relationship.  Or you can just observe people you admire.  They can mentor you without even realizing that they are doing so.  And, it’s never too early to become a mentor yourself.  There is always someone who needs your career advice; someone who needs to know what you’ve already learned.  Be a positive person.  Help others achieve the life and career success they want and deserve and you’ll be helping your own career success.

That’s my career advice on mentoring.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

If you read this career success blog with any regularity you know that I love SUCCESS Magazine.  I read it cover to cover as soon as I get it every month.  As usual, the September 2011 issue had some great career advice.  Check out what it had to say about honoring your mentors…

List three people who have contributed to your success.  Not jot down an idea for honoring each then – and do it!

I am a big believer in the power of mentoring.  Tweet 51 in my career success book Success Tweets says, “Find a mentor.  Mentors are positive people who will help you find the lessons in your experiences and use them to move forward.”

The term “mentor” comes from The Odyssey.  Odysseus entrusted the care of his son, Telemachus, to Mentor when he set out to fight the Trojan War — and as you know, he didn’t get back for quite a while!  The best mentors will help you learn and grow by sharing their knowledge and wisdom with you.  In this way, you can benefit from their experience without having to suffer the consequences of gaining that experience firsthand.

Mentors are positive people by definition.  It takes a positive person to give of himself or herself to help another learn, grow and succeed.

I have been fortunate to have had several mentors in my life and career.  All of them shared several characteristics.  They all…

• Were willing to share their wisdom, knowledge, skills and expertise.
• Had a positive outlook on life.  They helped me through tough times and showed me how to find the opportunity in the difficulties I was facing.
• Were genuinely concerned about me and my success.  In addition to being knowledgeable, they were empathic.
• Really knew what they were doing.  I respected them for their knowledge and skills.
• Kept growing themselves.  All of my mentors were curious and inquisitive.  Sometimes the roles were reversed.  They asked what I was reading, and then read the books themselves – so they could learn and we could discuss the ideas.
• Gave me direct, constructive feedback.  They held me to high standards.  They congratulated me when I met their expectations.  They corrected me when I failed to do so – but in a manner where I learned what not to do the next time.
• Were respected by their colleagues.  People who are highly regarded in their field or company make the best mentors.
• Sought out and valued the opinions of others.  My best mentor always told me to listen most carefully to the people with whom I disagreed – in that way I might learn something.  And, he was right.

As the old saying goes, a mentor is someone whose hindsight can become your foresight.  This is great career advice.

Do you want to find a mentor?  Just look around you.  Who are the people you admire and want to emulate?  Watch what they do, and do the same.  I’ve had several mentors who never even realized they were mentoring me.

I learned how to build a network of solid contacts by watching Maggie Watson.  I learned the rules of business etiquette and dressing for success by watching Bill Rankin.  I learned how to become a first-rate public speaker by watching Steve Roesler.  I learned how to become a trusted advisor by watching Don Nelson. I learned the importance of attention to detail by watching Howard Sohn.  I learned true courage by watching Sylvia Montero.  I learned how to carry myself with dignity in even the most difficult situations by watching JF and Carol Kiernan.  I learned how to become a better conversationalist by watching Cathy, my wife.  This blog post is one way I am honoring them.

The reverse is also true.  I’ve learned plenty about what not to do to build self-esteem, give performance feedback and treat people with respect and dignity from observing a few of my managers over the years.

I’ve found that if you want to have an acknowledged mentoring relationship, all you have to do is ask.  Go to the people you admire and tell them that you admire their judgment and would like to learn from them to build your career success.  Ask if you can impose on their time to get answers to questions you have.  I have never had anyone turn me down when I’ve asked this way.

Just as it’s important to find someone you respect to mentor you, it also important to mentor others.  You don’t have to be in a formal leadership position or have years and years of experience to mentor someone else.  It’s never too early to become a mentor.  We all have something to give, and the sooner you begin giving, the better.  If you’re in college, you can mentor high school students.  If you’re a recent graduate, you can mentor others still in school.  The best way to honor your mentors is to mentor others.

I take great joy in mentoring other people.  I love it when I can use my experience to help accelerate the growth of someone else and help them become a career sucess.  It takes the sting out of some of the negative consequences I’ve experienced because of poor judgment.  I think to myself, “At least he or she won’t have to go through that.”

In his great book, Love is the Killer App, Tim Sanders tells the story of how he turned one of the people who worked for him from a “mad dog” into a “lovecat.”  The advice is simple: “Offer your wisdom freely… And always be human.”

Tim is right on.  Mentoring is a great way to become a lovecat by serving others.  The more you serve others, the more confidence – and life and career success – will come your way.  Besides that, you’ll grow by mentoring.  As you reflect on your life experiences and distill them into some nuggets that you can share with others, your knowledge will become wisdom.  In addition to being better able to help others learn and grow, you will be better able to take advantage of what you know.  You never learn something so completely as when you teach it to another person.

Any mentoring relationship needs to focus on the person being mentored.  While mentoring someone will most often be a satisfying experience for you, remember that it is not about you – it’s about the other person.  Accept him or her for who he or she is.  Help him or her proceed at his or her own pace.  The best mentoring relationships are guided by the person being mentored.

Mentoring should be a positive experience for both of you.  That means that you need to avoid treating a person you are mentoring as incompetent or incapable.  Rather, think of him or her as someone lacking in experience and who needs guidance in order to create his or her career success.  Don’t criticize.  Help the other person think through the consequences of his or her behavior and to identify more positive ways of handling difficult or troubling situations.

Hold the person you are mentoring responsible for his or her career success.  Give him or her small assignments.  Don’t let him or her off the hook if he or she fails to complete them.  Be willing to give of yourself and your time, but make sure the other person is doing so, too.

Realize that the relationship will end.  If you’ve done a good job, the person you are mentoring will need to move on at some point.  It’s all part of the cycle.  It can be hard to let go, but feel good about seeing someone move on to bigger and better things – and another mentor.

I’ve created an acronym to define what it takes to become a good mentor.  A good mentor…

M Motivates you to accomplish more than you think you can.

E Expects the best of you.

N Never gives up on you or lets you give up on yourself.

T Tells you the truth, even when it hurts.

O Occasionally kicks your butt.

R Really cares about you and your success.

Look for people with these qualities when you are searching for a mentor.  Embody them yourself when you are mentoring others.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Mentors can help you create the life and career success you want and deserve.  Successful people follow the career advice in Tweet 51 in Success Tweets.  “Find a mentor.  Mentors are positive people who will help you find the lessons in your experiences and use them to move forward.”  You can enter into a formal mentoring relationship.  Or you can just observe people you admire.  They can mentor you without even realizing that they are doing so.  And, it’s never too early to become a mentor yourself.  There is always someone who needs your career advice; someone who needs to know what you’ve already learned.  Be a positive person.  Help others achieve the life and career success they want and deserve and you’ll be helping your own career success.

That’s my career advice on mentoring.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

I did a blog post last week about an article I saw in the July 2011 issue of SUCCESS Magazine providng some great career advice on the importance of being a learner.  I followed that up with another post on learning yesterday.  As you know, I love SUCCESS, and I encourage everyone I know to subscribe at http://www.success.com.

I found some more career advice in that same issue that I would like to pass on here.  Check it out…

“Connect with a power partner to stay focused on your goals.  How do you find a power partner?  Look for a colleague or friend who:

1. Lives out similar values and priorities as you.
2. Understands what’s necessary to make you and your business profitable.
3. Is focused on improving his or her business.
4. Cares about you enough to hold you accountable for your word.”

I have found a great power partner in J.T. O’Donnell.  J.T. runs two really cool career success sites: www.Careerealism, and www.CareerHMO.  I met J.T. a while back when I became a Careerealism approved expert.  I’ve found that I have a lot in common with her.  When I told her that I was considering creating a membership site to provide laser focused career success coaching to folks who want to go one step beyond what they read on my blog, she immediately offered to help.

I’m happy to say that my membership site, “My Corporate Climb” will be launching very soon.  My Corporate Climb is a membership site devoted to helping people create career success inside a corporation.  J.T. has really helped me with this site.  She exemplifies the four characteristics of a power partner.

1) J.T. and I are both in business.  We want to make a profit.  But both she and I are really interested in and passionate about helping people create the life and career success they want and deserve.  We have the same values and priorities.

2) J.T. understands how to set up and operate a membership site.  She has taught me a lot about the best way to get my ideas on life and career success in front of the most people in the most economical way.  While she is way more than 20 years my junior, she is a true mentor for me.

3) J.T. is focused on improving her business.  She is always trying something new.  She is actively engaged in finding the best ways to make her content available to the most people possible.

4) Finally, J.T. keeps me on my toes.  We speak regularly and she lets me know if I’m delinquent or tardy in getting her information she needs to help me get my membership site up and running.  She holds my feet to the fire and gets me off the dime when I am procrastinating.

Who is your J.T. – your power partner?  If you have one, good for you.  Meet with him or her once a week for 30 minutes to an hour.  If you don’t have a power partner find one.

A while back I created an acronym for the word “mentor.”  This is the kind of person you need to look for as a power partner….

M Motivates you to accomplish more than you think you can.

E Expects the best of you.

N Never gives up on you or lets you give up on yourself.

T Tells you the truth, even when it hurts.

O Occasionally kicks your butt.

R Really cares about you and your success.

Look for people with these qualities when you are searching for a power partner.  Embody them yourself when you are acting as a power partner for others.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Power partners can help keep you moving in the direction of your career success dreams and help you create the life and career success you want and deserve.  To my way of thinking, power partnerships are reciprocal mentoring relationships.  The career advice in Tweet 51 in Success Tweets applies here.  “Find a mentor.  Mentors are positive people who will help you find the lessons in your experiences and use them to move forward.”  A power partner relationship, like the one I have with J.T. O’Donnell, is to move your drive toward your life and career success forward.  And, power partnerships are great because they are reciprocal mentoring relationships.  You both give help and get help.  Be a positive person.  Become a power partner.  Help yourself and others achieve the life and career success they want and deserve.

That’s my career advice on power partnerships.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily thoughts on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.  I hope you think of me as a power partner who is helping you create the life and career success you want and deserve.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

I did a blog post last week about an article I saw in the July 2011 issue of SUCCESS Magazine providng some great career advice on the importance of being a learner.  I followed that up with another post on learning yesterday.  As you know, I love SUCCESS, and I encourage everyone I know to subscribe at http://www.success.com.

I found some more career advice in that same issue that I would like to pass on here.  Check it out…

“Connect with a power partner to stay focused on your goals.  How do you find a power partner?  Look for a colleague or friend who:

1. Lives out similar values and priorities as you.
2. Understands what’s necessary to make you and your business profitable.
3. Is focused on improving his or her business.
4. Cares about you enough to hold you accountable for your word.”

I have found a great power partner in J.T. O’Donnell.  J.T. runs two really cool career success sites: www.Careerealism, and www.CareerHMO.  I met J.T. a while back when I became a Careerealism approved expert.  I’ve found that I have a lot in common with her.  When I told her that I was considering creating a membership site to provide laser focused career success coaching to folks who want to go one step beyond what they read on my blog, she immediately offered to help.

I’m happy to say that my membership site, “My Corporate Climb” will be launching very soon.  My Corporate Climb is a membership site devoted to helping people create career success inside a corporation.  J.T. has really helped me with this site.  She exemplifies the four characteristics of a power partner.

1) J.T. and I are both in business.  We want to make a profit.  But both she and I are really interested in and passionate about helping people create the life and career success they want and deserve.  We have the same values and priorities.

2) J.T. understands how to set up and operate a membership site.  She has taught me a lot about the best way to get my ideas on life and career success in front of the most people in the most economical way.  While she is way more than 20 years my junior, she is a true mentor for me.

3) J.T. is focused on improving her business.  She is always trying something new.  She is actively engaged in finding the best ways to make her content available to the most people possible.

4) Finally, J.T. keeps me on my toes.  We speak regularly and she lets me know if I’m delinquent or tardy in getting her information she needs to help me get my membership site up and running.  She holds my feet to the fire and gets me off the dime when I am procrastinating.

Who is your J.T. – your power partner?  If you have one, good for you.  Meet with him or her once a week for 30 minutes to an hour.  If you don’t have a power partner find one.

A while back I created an acronym for the word “mentor.”  This is the kind of person you need to look for as a power partner….

M Motivates you to accomplish more than you think you can.

E Expects the best of you.

N Never gives up on you or lets you give up on yourself.

T Tells you the truth, even when it hurts.

O Occasionally kicks your butt.

R Really cares about you and your success.

Look for people with these qualities when you are searching for a power partner.  Embody them yourself when you are acting as a power partner for others.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Power partners can help keep you moving in the direction of your career success dreams and help you create the life and career success you want and deserve.  To my way of thinking, power partnerships are reciprocal mentoring relationships.  The career advice in Tweet 51 in Success Tweets applies here.  “Find a mentor.  Mentors are positive people who will help you find the lessons in your experiences and use them to move forward.”  A power partner relationship, like the one I have with J.T. O’Donnell, is to move your drive toward your life and career success forward.  And, power partnerships are great because they are reciprocal mentoring relationships.  You both give help and get help.  Be a positive person.  Become a power partner.  Help yourself and others achieve the life and career success they want and deserve.

That’s my career advice on power partnerships.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily thoughts on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.  I hope you think of me as a power partner who is helping you create the life and career success you want and deserve.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

Saturday morning I got into my car and turned on the radio.  The “Walk of Life” by Dire Straits was playing.  I thought, “How appropriate.  I’m heading off to the Women’s Vision Mentoring Walk in Denver’s City Park.”  I had a great time.  I volunteered as a mentor.  I had a chance to share my life and career success advice with the two women with whom I had been paired as we strolled around what, in my opinion, is the most beautiful of Denver’s parks.

Following the walk, all mentors and mentees were treated to a great breakfast – fruit, bagels and burritos – and a talk by a Denver motivational speaker, Lori Bachman.

Lori made some great points about mentoring.  The most important of which is that mentoring is an active process that should be done not in a conference room but during real work.  She suggested that there is a four step process to being a good mentor….

1. The mentor performs a task until he or she is proficient.
2. The mentor shows the mentee how to perform the task.
3. The mentee performs the task while the mentor watches and gives feedback.
4. The mentee performs the task on his or her own.

I like these four steps.  They follow the basic principles of adult action learning and are much better than just talking about how to do something.  Modeling and feedback always develop career success skills faster than does conversation.

I ended up volunteering as a mentor because of Danielle Perrin of Duo Marketing and PR here in Denver.  Danielle was volunteering her time as a PR rep for the Mentor Walk and asked if I would be willing to blog about it.  I did, and I signed on as a mentor.

Self confidence is one of the keys to success that I discuss in many of my career advice books including Success Tweets.  One way to build your self confidence it to surround yourself with positive people.  In my book, mentors are positive people by definition.

The term “mentor” comes from The Odyssey.  Odysseus entrusted the care of his son, Telemachus, to Mentor when he set out to fight the Trojan War.  The best mentors will help you learn and grow by sharing their knowledge and wisdom with you.  In this way, you can benefit from their experience without having to suffer the consequences of gaining that experience firsthand.

As I’ve said, mentors are positive people by definition.  It takes a positive person to give of himself or herself to help another learn, grow and create the life and career success they want and deserve.

I have been fortunate to have had several mentors in my life and career.  All of them shared several characteristics.  They all…

• Were willing to share their wisdom, knowledge, skills and expertise.
• Had a positive outlook on life.  They helped me through tough times and showed me how to find the opportunity in the difficulties I was facing.
• Were genuinely concerned about me and my success.  In addition to being knowledgeable, they were empathic.
• Really knew what they were doing.  I respected them for their knowledge and skills.
• Kept growing themselves.  All of my mentors were curious and inquisitive.  Sometimes the roles were reversed.  They asked what I was reading, and then read the books themselves – so they could learn and we could discuss the ideas.
• Gave me direct, constructive feedback.  They held me to high standards.  They congratulated me when I met their expectations.  They corrected me when I failed to do so – but in a manner where I learned what not to do the next time.
• Were respected by their colleagues.  People who are highly regarded in their field or company make the best mentors.
• Sought out and valued the opinions of others.  My best mentor always told me to listen most carefully to the people with whom I disagreed – in that way I might learn something.  And, he was right.

As the old saying goes, a mentor is someone whose hindsight can become your foresight.

Do you want to find a mentor?  Just look around you.  Who are the people you admire and want to emulate?  Watch what they do, and do the same.  I’ve had several mentors who never even realized they were mentoring me.

I learned how to build a network of solid contacts by watching Maggie Watson.  I learned the rules of business etiquette and dressing for success by watching Bill Rankin.  I learned how to become a first-rate public speaker by watching Steve Roesler.  I learned how to become a trusted advisor by watching Don Nelson.  I learned how to carry myself with dignity in even the most difficult situations by watching JF and Carol Kiernan.  I learned how to become a better conversationalist by watching Cathy, my wife.

The reverse is also true.  I’ve learned plenty about what not to do to build self-esteem, give performance feedback and treat people with respect and dignity from observing a few of my managers over the years.

I’ve found that if you want to have an acknowledged mentoring relationship, all you have to do is ask.  Go to the people you admire and tell them that you admire their judgment and would like to learn from them to build your career success.  Ask if you can impose on their time to get answers to questions you have.  I have never had anyone turn me down when I’ve asked this way.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.   Self confidence is an important key to life and career success.  Surrounding yourself with positive people is one way to build to your self confidence.  Mentors are positive people who can not only help you build your self confidence, they will help you create the career success you deserve.  Follow the career advice in Tweet 51 in Success Tweets.  “Find a mentor.  Mentors are positive people who will help you find the lessons in your experiences and use them to move forward.”  You can enter into a formal mentoring relationship.  Or you can just observe people you admire.  They can mentor you without even realizing that they are doing so.  And, it’s never too early to become a mentor yourself.  There is always someone who needs your career advice; someone who needs to know what you’ve already learned.  Be a positive person.  Help others achieve the life and career success they want and deserve.  I had a chance to watch this in action on Saturday.  I saw about 50 mentors helping 150 women interested in creating their career success at the Women’s Vision Mentor Walk.  I was really happy to participate in such an uplifting and energetic event.  I plan on continuing the mentoring relationships I developed Saturday.  Do you have a mentor?  If not, what are you waiting for?  Find one and you’ll be on an accelerated path to career success.

That’s the career advice I took from my participation in the Women’s Vision Mentor Walk of Saturday.  What do you think?  Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  Do you have a mentor?  If so, please tell us about the relationship and how it has helped you toward you career success goals.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

Saturday morning I got into my car and turned on the radio.  The “Walk of Life” by Dire Straits was playing.  I thought, “How appropriate.  I’m heading off to the Women’s Vision Mentoring Walk in Denver’s City Park.”  I had a great time.  I volunteered as a mentor.  I had a chance to share my life and career success advice with the two women with whom I had been paired as we strolled around what, in my opinion, is the most beautiful of Denver’s parks.

Following the walk, all mentors and mentees were treated to a great breakfast – fruit, bagels and burritos – and a talk by a Denver motivational speaker, Lori Bachman.

Lori made some great points about mentoring.  The most important of which is that mentoring is an active process that should be done not in a conference room but during real work.  She suggested that there is a four step process to being a good mentor….

1. The mentor performs a task until he or she is proficient.
2. The mentor shows the mentee how to perform the task.
3. The mentee performs the task while the mentor watches and gives feedback.
4. The mentee performs the task on his or her own.

I like these four steps.  They follow the basic principles of adult action learning and are much better than just talking about how to do something.  Modeling and feedback always develop career success skills faster than does conversation.

I ended up volunteering as a mentor because of Danielle Perrin of Duo Marketing and PR here in Denver.  Danielle was volunteering her time as a PR rep for the Mentor Walk and asked if I would be willing to blog about it.  I did, and I signed on as a mentor.

Self confidence is one of the keys to success that I discuss in many of my career advice books including Success Tweets.  One way to build your self confidence it to surround yourself with positive people.  In my book, mentors are positive people by definition.

The term “mentor” comes from The Odyssey.  Odysseus entrusted the care of his son, Telemachus, to Mentor when he set out to fight the Trojan War.  The best mentors will help you learn and grow by sharing their knowledge and wisdom with you.  In this way, you can benefit from their experience without having to suffer the consequences of gaining that experience firsthand.

As I’ve said, mentors are positive people by definition.  It takes a positive person to give of himself or herself to help another learn, grow and create the life and career success they want and deserve.

I have been fortunate to have had several mentors in my life and career.  All of them shared several characteristics.  They all…

• Were willing to share their wisdom, knowledge, skills and expertise.
• Had a positive outlook on life.  They helped me through tough times and showed me how to find the opportunity in the difficulties I was facing.
• Were genuinely concerned about me and my success.  In addition to being knowledgeable, they were empathic.
• Really knew what they were doing.  I respected them for their knowledge and skills.
• Kept growing themselves.  All of my mentors were curious and inquisitive.  Sometimes the roles were reversed.  They asked what I was reading, and then read the books themselves – so they could learn and we could discuss the ideas.
• Gave me direct, constructive feedback.  They held me to high standards.  They congratulated me when I met their expectations.  They corrected me when I failed to do so – but in a manner where I learned what not to do the next time.
• Were respected by their colleagues.  People who are highly regarded in their field or company make the best mentors.
• Sought out and valued the opinions of others.  My best mentor always told me to listen most carefully to the people with whom I disagreed – in that way I might learn something.  And, he was right.

As the old saying goes, a mentor is someone whose hindsight can become your foresight.

Do you want to find a mentor?  Just look around you.  Who are the people you admire and want to emulate?  Watch what they do, and do the same.  I’ve had several mentors who never even realized they were mentoring me.

I learned how to build a network of solid contacts by watching Maggie Watson.  I learned the rules of business etiquette and dressing for success by watching Bill Rankin.  I learned how to become a first-rate public speaker by watching Steve Roesler.  I learned how to become a trusted advisor by watching Don Nelson.  I learned how to carry myself with dignity in even the most difficult situations by watching JF and Carol Kiernan.  I learned how to become a better conversationalist by watching Cathy, my wife.

The reverse is also true.  I’ve learned plenty about what not to do to build self-esteem, give performance feedback and treat people with respect and dignity from observing a few of my managers over the years.

I’ve found that if you want to have an acknowledged mentoring relationship, all you have to do is ask.  Go to the people you admire and tell them that you admire their judgment and would like to learn from them to build your career success.  Ask if you can impose on their time to get answers to questions you have.  I have never had anyone turn me down when I’ve asked this way.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.   Self confidence is an important key to life and career success.  Surrounding yourself with positive people is one way to build to your self confidence.  Mentors are positive people who can not only help you build your self confidence, they will help you create the career success you deserve.  Follow the career advice in Tweet 51 in Success Tweets.  “Find a mentor.  Mentors are positive people who will help you find the lessons in your experiences and use them to move forward.”  You can enter into a formal mentoring relationship.  Or you can just observe people you admire.  They can mentor you without even realizing that they are doing so.  And, it’s never too early to become a mentor yourself.  There is always someone who needs your career advice; someone who needs to know what you’ve already learned.  Be a positive person.  Help others achieve the life and career success they want and deserve.  I had a chance to watch this in action on Saturday.  I saw about 50 mentors helping 150 women interested in creating their career success at the Women’s Vision Mentor Walk.  I was really happy to participate in such an uplifting and energetic event.  I plan on continuing the mentoring relationships I developed Saturday.  Do you have a mentor?  If not, what are you waiting for?  Find one and you’ll be on an accelerated path to career success.

That’s the career advice I took from my participation in the Women’s Vision Mentor Walk of Saturday.  What do you think?  Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  Do you have a mentor?  If so, please tell us about the relationship and how it has helped you toward you career success goals.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

Last week I did a blog post about the Mentors Walk in Denver on June 18.  If you want to sign up, go to http://www.womensvision.org.  I’m participating as a mentor.  If you read this career advice blog with any regularity, you know that I am a big believer in the power of mentoring.

Yesterday, I receive an email from Scott Dinsmore in which he listed eight steps for finding and working with a mentor.  I asked Scott if I could post his thoughts here, and he graciously agreed.  Check it out…

8 Steps to Creating the Perfect Mentor, by Scott Dinsmore

Start close to home. Your mentor is likely to be someone who’s already close to you. Think of who you count on for advice. Those you trust for opinions. Who do you look up to and hope to be like one day? Who do you admire? Make a list of these people – I’m grateful to say my parents top this chart.

Look at the people around you. If no one jumps out in your existing circle then look at the relationships that people have around you. Who are their mentors and advisers? See if you can get out to a meal or event with all of you together. Add these people to your list.

Tell them the impact they’ve had. Take them out to coffee or a dinner and open your heart. Let them know how much you respect what they’ve done and appreciate their advice. People are often too embarrassed to tell someone how they feel.  Don’t be one of them. Do you have any idea how amazing it is to know that someone looks up to you? It’s as high as honors come. If you feel that way about someone, tell them. You’re connection will be all the stronger as a result. And you’ll give them a relationship to live up to as you seek their advice in the future.

Ask. It goes something like this (after expressing the above) “I realized I’m really missing that support and advice to do the big things I’m working on like… (list them). I could really use a trusted mentor. Would you be up for it?” Don’t beat around it. Tell them what you want and make a big deal about it. Not only will they be honored but they’ll really want to deliver!

Constantly reinforce their value. I sometimes send ten hand written thank you notes in a week. Sometimes for something specific, but just as often as a reminder of how much someone’s relationship means to me. Keep yourself in the front of their mind. Do it with gratitude above all else.

Help. Relationships only work if both do their part. Even if someone is your guru, that doesn’t mean you can’t return a favor. Maybe you know someone they should meet or you find a book or article that they’ll love. Buy the book and send it with a note. Better yet, drop it by their house. There is a way to help any and everyone. It will not go unnoticed.

Weave them into your story. Invite them places. Go on workouts. Do things you both enjoy. They might not have time but at least they know you’re interested. The more interactions, the more powerful the relationship. The more in-person the better.

Ask for help. Giver’s high is addictive. People love helping others, especially with things they’re good at. You chose the mentors you did because they can help you do the things that matter. Don’t go too long without asking them a question or for help; maybe every month or two at the least. Asking for help strengthens the relationship. Let them know they’re needed.

I love all of Scott’s suggestions – especially the fifth one: Help.  Mentoring goes two ways.  My best mentoring relationships were reciprocal.  All of my mentors were curious and inquisitive.  Sometimes the roles were reversed.  They asked what I was reading, and then read the books themselves – so they could learn and we could discuss the ideas.  These folks kept growing themselves.  Just because someone is your mentor, that doesn’t mean that you can’t help him or her in his or her career success journey.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  We all need mentors to help us create our life and career success.  Scott Dinsmore has some great ideas about how to build a strong mentoring relationship.  Put them into play and you’ll not only be able to create great mentoring relationships, you’ll be on your way to the life and career success you want and you deserve.

That’s the career advice I take from Scott Dinsmore’s ideas on creating the perfect mentor.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily thoughts on life and career success.  I appreciate it.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

For me, the Memorial Day weekend is more than a US holiday and the unofficial start of summer.  Memorial Day weekend is always the middle weekend of the French Open — one of the four tennis majors.   If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I often find career advice in sporting events.  This year’s French Open presents another opportunity to connect career success with sports.

One of the biggest upsets so far this year was Kim Clijsters loss in the second round to Arantxa Rus, the 114th ranked player in the world.  Kim Clijsters was seeded second in this year’s French Open.  She won the two previous tennis majors, the 2011 Australian Open and 2010 US Open.  If I were a betting man, I would have bet heavily on her to beat Arantxa Rus.

Last week Kim Clijsters lost two match points and 11 of the last 12 games to Arantxa Rus.  After the match she said..

“I starting doubting a little bit.  When you start doubting yourself on any surface – but for me definitely on clay – it’s the wrong attitude to have.” 

In other words, Kim Clijsters was eliminated from this year’s French Open because she lost her confidence.   Arantxa Rus, on the hand gained confidence as the match went on.  Kim Clijsters said, “She obviously starting building up more confidence, started playing a lot better, and was really putting me on my back foot all the time.”

Confidence is important in sports.  It’s also important if you want to create the life and career success you want and deserve. 

There are five keys to building the self confidence that will help you create the life and career success you want and deserve…

First, you have to become an optimist.  Optimism is the key to self confidence.  If you aren’t optimistic about your chances of creating your career success, you will never do it.  Optimism is a choice.  Optimistic people believe that today will be better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better yet.  Choose optimism and you’ll be on your way to being more self confident and creating your life and career success.

Second, you have to face your fears and act.  We’re all afraid sometime.  If you want to become a career success, you have to overcome your fear of failure and move forward.  I find that procrastination is the physical manifestation of fear.  The next time you find yourself procrastinating ask yourself a simple question, “What am I afraid of here?”  Once you identify your fear, do something.  Take action.  The worst thing that will happen is that you’ll learn what not do in similar situations in the future.

Third, surround yourself with positive people.  Positive people will help you become more self confident and help you on your way to career success.  Avoid negative people.  As Tweet 50 in my career advice book Success Tweets says, “Jettison the negative people in your life.  They are energy black holes.  They will suck you dry; but only if you let them.”  Cynics are negative people.  They may seem to be good company at first because they are witty.  However, in the long run, you’ll find that they humor usually comes at the expense of others.  They are negative people in disguise and will drag you down if you spend too much time with them.

Fourth, find a mentor to help you on your way to life and career success.  Mentors are positive people by definition.  They are willing to give of themselves to help others create their life and career success.  You can learn a lot from your mentors.  But I think the best thing you can learn is how to deal with setbacks and disappointments and keep moving forward in a self confident manner.

Fifth, become a mentor.  It’s never too early to become a mentor.  There is always somebody who needs to learn what you already know.  You never learn something as well when you teach it to others.  Becoming a mentor will help you cystalize the career success lessons in your experiences.  This will help you build your self confidence.  Also, as you watch the people you help grow and move toward their career success, your self esteem – and self confidence – will grow.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  If you want to create the life and career success you deserve, you need to be self confident.  There are five keys to building your self confidence: 1) choose optimism; 2) face your fears and act; 3) surround yourself with positive people; 4) work with a mentor; and 5) mentor others.  If all else fails, follow the career advice in Tweet 52 in Success Tweets.  “Identify the self confident people you know.  Pay attention to how they act and carry themselves.  Watch what they do.  Act like them.”

That’s my career advice on self confidence.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily thoughts on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.