I think it is meaningless and have had this opinion for several years. But my opinion is NOT based on a “inaccurate” belief that my professional successes have been based solely on my work. I know that my career and leadership have benefited from the input, advice and tough love of others. I think its meaningless because I don’t understand:
What does “mentoring” mean?
The word is meaningless because similar to leadership it gets used so often and can mean so many different things. Additionally , it suffers from having 8 million definitions. (Okay: that number may be a little inflated.)
The definition that resonates with me is ” someone who gives a sense of perspective and history, offers advice and shares contact or influence.” ~Working Across Generations – Kunreuther, Kim, Rodriguez
It is simple and hits upon all of the major points that I think mentoring relationships( either as the mentor or the mentee) should encompass. But it is still too broad. I think to truly benefit from a mentoring relationship, you have to be strategic and give thought to what type of input you want and from whom. This brings me to my second question: Continue reading
