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Mentor-A Catayst For Change
Jayasree Ramani, The Business Workshop

Do you know who your mentor is? A mentor is someone who helps you bring about a positive change in your life. And the relationship you share with this person is generally an informal one.

Ever thought about it? If you are like most of us you may not have thought about it consciously. Or maybe you just do not refer to them as mentors. But do you know, all of us either consciously or unconsciously have mentors-people you have learnt valuable lessons from. For instance, your mentor could be one of your parents, a professor at college, your boss, your colleague, or for that matter even your spouse. It could be one or all of them.

Many a successful people attribute their success to their mentors. This is what Max DePree, chairman of Herman Miller had to say about his mentors - "Defining moments evolved in my own career around two things. One was a group of mentors-one of whom was Carl Frost, a wonderful industrial psychologist and professor at Michigan State University for years. I wouldn't be here today if he had not been active in my life. My mother was a mentor, my wife was a mentor and Peter Drucker has been one of my mentors. And I'm grateful to those people."

Realise Your Potential
A mentor believes in your capacities thereby helping you tap the potential you never knew existed. Take the case of Kim Woo Choong, founder and chairman, Daewoo Group, who says he was greatly influenced by a high school teacher, Mr. Lee, who is now Chairman and President of the Daewoo Foundation. In his book "Every Street is Paved with Gold", he shares an instance of how being appointed as the sergeant-in-arms at high school proved a turning point in his life.

"I was one of the worst students in the class. My life suddenly changed when I became sergeant-at-arms. I knew it was important for me to set an example for the other students-- I began to study hard and began to change in order to prove to him that his recognition was not groundless. No one likes to let down the people who believe in you."

Adapt to Change
Growth typically involves change. And even more challenging than the actual process of change is adapting to it. Let's look at a case of an executive, who is promoted, and the change in his relationship with his line manager. Previously, they have had serious differences in the past, but the executive realises that they will now need to work closely as his job could be at stake. The executive was initially reluctant to take on the promotion, but his mentor, knowing what is beneficial for him guides him to take up the challenge and build on the relationship.

Realise Your Vision
Most successful people are visionaries and most of them generally owe it to their mentors. Is this a matter of pure coincidence? A visionary is a person who looks far ahead into the future. But caught in the whirl of everyday life, even the best visionaries amongst us could lose sight of our vision. Going back to your mentor helps keep the focus on your vision. He encourages you by helping you set specific targets and monitoring your progress towards realising your vision.

Personal Development
A mentor is not only interested in your professional growth, but takes a keen interest in helping you grow as a person. In this respect, a mentor acts as a counselor and confident, with whom you can not only share your problems and concerns but also realise your strengths and weaknesses. In short he is a sounding board as well as a critic.

In short, a mentor is essentially a catalyst working as the latent force to help you push yourself to achieve what you might have under ordinary circumstances thought impossible. This relationship can be quite an enriching one. So, now that you have realised the scope for your own potential, identify and work with a mentor to start a relationship that could last a lifetime!