Came across this great caption
on LinkedIn today and had to have a chuckle. It’s a reflection of the
perspective of the newbies on the block. “
Entrepreneurs Suck at
Relationships
I will be forever grateful to
three key mentors who helped me see that there are particular and specific ways
of dealing with life on all levels. My first mentor introduced me to personal
development books and the power of learning from others experience. The
introduction was to a personal and professional development system.
I’ll never forget that afternoon
sitting in his gazebo as he shared some life changing insights. A couple of
phrases were so pertinent that they are written out and placed in prominent
places for regular reflection.
The first made perfect sense at
the outset.
“Where you will be five years
from now will be determined by the people you associate with and the books you
read.”
The second took a while to
digest, but has become a mantra.
“in becoming a part of this
system of learning and mentorship you will become the best at whatever field of
endeavour your choose to engage in. “
Those prophetic words have
changed my life in ways profound and amazing ways. They have led to lifetime
friendships and respect, opened trains of thought that have impacted on
relationships both personal and professional.
To say it has enriched my life would be a massive understatement.
It led to the phrase that ‘the
price paid for personal growth is that there is no going back.’
The second mentor arrived quite
a bit later and is a consummate marketer. The concepts he develops are
imaginative and lead to a rapid, exponential growth of business ventures.
He shared these concepts while
ago and they now form an integral part of my business plans for 2015. Not only
is he a mentor he and his wife have become very close personal friends.
The third mentor I met late in
my radio career and by his presence, encouragement and example indirectly led
to the development of the Economic Vision™ platform.
There is a mutual respect for
the endeavours we’ve each chosen to undertake and for the challenges we’ve been
dealt and learned to overcome. It’s a great lesson to understand that
challenges generally are like question marks. They are something that will
benefit us when we find the answer.
This third mentor is someone who
fits the title of gentleman perfectly. Giving, caring, compassionate and always
seeking to find better ways of being, doing and understanding.
There’s a fourth mentor who many
would overlook. This mentor is one who is a giver, an encourager and an
enlightener. Some would use the word teacher and would in part be right. It is
the qualification and not that application of it.
Enlightener is more fitting
because no detail is spared, no creative process discounted out of hand and
brings to the table not only the qualities of the previous three mentors, but
adds dimensions that they could not.
She brings to the table those
qualities that only a woman and mother could. In gently sharing the things that
are precious to her she showed me the amazing beauty of a woman’s heart.
Enabling me to have an amazing quality of relationship with three important
women. The first my elderly mother in her final years and just as importantly to
understand and meet my grand daughters at a heart level. To genuinely
understand them.
Those two young women have
become mentors in their own right.
As an entrepreneur and as a man
it’s important to never lose sight of the fact that a little over half of the
worlds population are girls and women. Any man who is ‘man enough’ to learn
about them will have a life that is so enriched it will be astounding. A couple
of question are often asked when this discussion comes up and I always manage
to answer them with a smile.
“Have you become less of a man
since becoming aware of this.”
Simple answer, “No!”
Many of my friends have
daughters and are probably the most compassionate and well rounded people you
could want to meet. Has the fact that they have daughters disempowered them? If
anything they’ve been more empowered as raising a daughter means tempering
their masculine competitive natures with a gentler yet more assertive approach.
“Do you now prefer the company
of women to men?”
This is a bit of a leading
question which generally comes from those who are not in the know. Not being
‘in the know’ generally means that there is that phenomena of fear of the
unknown. As a counsellor friend says
information or knowledge resolves many problems.
Apart from the mentors mentioned
above we can learn something from anyone. As with the line from Desiderata
says, “even the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story.”
What we learn from each mentor
will be determined by our level of aspiration and our desire to reach new and
exciting levels of life. Preferably with the benefit of learning from others
experiences.
New mentors should be on the
goals list for 2015.
