Picture this: It’s early morning in July in Snowbird Utah, not a
cloud in the powder blue sky. The air is crisp as it brushes your
cheeks, skimming off the vast expanse of crystal white before you. Your
lungs drink in the air like a sweet elixir. One gentle push with your
poles and your skis are skimming the mountainside. It’s a bracing run,
and you feel like you’re on rails. What a great day to be alive!
And then it hits you: “I never thought I’d be celebrating my 100th birthday this way. Where have the years gone? What a gift!”
Sound impossible? Not for George Jedenoff. That’s exactly how he celebrated his century mark—with a downhill run.
But this outing wasn’t a one-time thing for George. He exercises regularly as part of his routine, like it’s his main meal. He refers to skiing as “dessert.”
For me, skiing is an area of passion. I’ve loved it since learning to ski at 13 years old. George, however, took up the sport when he was 43, which some would call late in life. Now he’s been skiing for 57 years, and clearly, he’s still going strong. I’ll bet I could learn a few things from him, both about skiing and about life. We all could.
What George has to say about his longevity amounts to a handful of common sense perspectives about love, health, and professional involvement. As a publisher, I’m sure his sage advice could fill several volumes based on his life experience. What a legacy! That’s a story I’d love to publish.
In the final analysis, that’s what mentoring is all about—offering guidance through perspective based on experience. Teachers instruct; mentors guide.
Mentors offer their protégés the benefit of their wisdom based on the sum total of their wins and losses. It can be a happy scenario, given the right set of circumstances. The key is to find a protégé who is a good match with your desired outcomes.
The reverse is true as well. If you tend toward the intellectual side of the scale, find a protégé who understands your natural bent. Meet mind with mind, spirit with spirit. Having a personal Vision Statement is a great help in this area.
A Vision Statement is a concise declaration about your objectives. Creating a Vision Statement helps you stay focused on your goals during your mentoring relationship. You’re less likely to get off track. You can tailor the guidance you offer your protégé to align with your vision.
Your personal Vision Statement can be a powerful tool for defining your goals and helping you stay focused. It also helps you get clear about what you hope to accomplish in your career, your life in general, and the legacy you leave through your protégé. When you have clarity here, you can more effectively choose the right protégé to guide toward your common objective.
Defining your vision takes concentration. Give serious thought to your goals and your desires. Discover for yourself the most crucial qualities to find in a protégé.
Choose a quiet place where you can have uninterrupted time to outline your answers to the following handful of questions.
And then it hits you: “I never thought I’d be celebrating my 100th birthday this way. Where have the years gone? What a gift!”
Sound impossible? Not for George Jedenoff. That’s exactly how he celebrated his century mark—with a downhill run.
But this outing wasn’t a one-time thing for George. He exercises regularly as part of his routine, like it’s his main meal. He refers to skiing as “dessert.”
For me, skiing is an area of passion. I’ve loved it since learning to ski at 13 years old. George, however, took up the sport when he was 43, which some would call late in life. Now he’s been skiing for 57 years, and clearly, he’s still going strong. I’ll bet I could learn a few things from him, both about skiing and about life. We all could.
What George has to say about his longevity amounts to a handful of common sense perspectives about love, health, and professional involvement. As a publisher, I’m sure his sage advice could fill several volumes based on his life experience. What a legacy! That’s a story I’d love to publish.
In the final analysis, that’s what mentoring is all about—offering guidance through perspective based on experience. Teachers instruct; mentors guide.
Mentors offer their protégés the benefit of their wisdom based on the sum total of their wins and losses. It can be a happy scenario, given the right set of circumstances. The key is to find a protégé who is a good match with your desired outcomes.
Aligning Your Goals & Attitudes with the Right Protégé
When it comes to professional guidance, you and your protégé need to have common interests and attitudes. This means finding a match with your temperament and energy level, not just your career goals.For example, if you want to disrupt your industry, you would do well to work with someone who has the same forward-thinking mindset as you—not a traditionalist. If you lead an active lifestyle, it would be prudent to select a protégé who also is reasonably active rather than completely bookish.The reverse is true as well. If you tend toward the intellectual side of the scale, find a protégé who understands your natural bent. Meet mind with mind, spirit with spirit. Having a personal Vision Statement is a great help in this area.
A Vision Statement is a concise declaration about your objectives. Creating a Vision Statement helps you stay focused on your goals during your mentoring relationship. You’re less likely to get off track. You can tailor the guidance you offer your protégé to align with your vision.
Your personal Vision Statement can be a powerful tool for defining your goals and helping you stay focused. It also helps you get clear about what you hope to accomplish in your career, your life in general, and the legacy you leave through your protégé. When you have clarity here, you can more effectively choose the right protégé to guide toward your common objective.
Sharing Your Window on the World
Your vision includes the things you’d like to gain for yourself as well as the world around you. Finding a protégé who’s a good match for your vision means the two of you can hone your efforts toward a single purpose. A well-defined vision helps you and your protégé determine where best to expend your time and energy during the mentoring process.Defining your vision takes concentration. Give serious thought to your goals and your desires. Discover for yourself the most crucial qualities to find in a protégé.
Choose a quiet place where you can have uninterrupted time to outline your answers to the following handful of questions.
- Why do you want to share your knowledge and experience with a protégé?
- What’s the main benefit you expect to gain from the experience?
- What benefits do you expect to offer your protégé?
- How much time will you spend with them in a given week?
- What’s your vision for your protégé after mentoring them?
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