Curtailing conflict can kill creativity

I know lots of people in corporations holding responsibility who just want to be liked… who would much prefer to be known as a nice manager who ‘gets along with everyone’, is a ‘real team player’, and is just ‘great to work with’. I suppose it would be fair to say most of us to some degree would like to be known in these ways…

However curtailing the potential for conflict at all costs has proven to come at the greater cost of creativity. My experience has been that the best way for getting things done often comes from constructive conflict. Most ambitious people I come across are all too quick to challenge assumptions, raise controversial ideas, and press different points of view. With these types of employees and leaders within organisations, it’s only reasonable to assume you will not get along with everyone all the time….

Finding the right balance between the need to deal with conflict, and confront it constructively, and the instinct to avoid it, is one of the toughest challenges that most managers face. Unrestrained conflict can only be toxic and lead to low morale and turnover, but not enough conflict can heighten politics, amplify apathy, and cost opportunity.

Being too nice can cost opportunity.  Curtailing conflict can kill creativity!

Here are a couple of ideas that may help strike the right balance of constructive conflict.

1. Allocate meeting time to specifically challenge the status quo… Making this clear up front will allow everyone concerned to mentally prepare constructively before the meeting begins. How many times have you been caught off guard and ended up saying something you later regretted… something that wasn’t at all creative, just outright confrontational!
2. Start the conversation with, “This isn’t personal, this is a conversation about what the business needs”. What you are trying to say is, we can disagree about ideas and strategies, and maintain respect for each other. Let’s agree to question assumptions and challenge what has previously been accepted.
3. Reinforce and commend constructive conversations. Taking moments to thank someone for their constructive comment and willingness to challenge ideas or address difficult conversations is a powerful way to build a culture around constructive conflict.
4. Set ground rules. Where possible, asking the team to start with a positive, and then raise a criticism, helps manage and balance perspectives. Perhaps even agreeing at the end of each meeting to discuss what worked successfully, and what needs to be changed for next time also fosters constructive criticism that ultimately will help the team or organisation become more creative, considered and constructive.

It is always easier to avoid conflict, especially when it involves individuals. It’s much easier for some to just be the nice guy who is willing to get along with everyone. But more often, being a little less nice might be the greatest need your team and organisation have.

Building and Breaking Trust

Over the past several years I have interviewed in excess of one thousand engineers and technical professionals. In the course of the interviews I always like to ask what characteristics or values do you look for in a manager or organisation? The responses frequently include a deep need for “trust”.

Understandably so many ask ‘how do we build greater trust in the workplace’ and ‘how do we avoid losing trust’. Let’s look at some trust builders and trust breakers:

How leaders build trust:

1. Do what is right, regardless of personal risk. When you do what is right over what is consensus or pragmatic or efficient, your will always create respect from those around you. From respect will come trust.
2. Communication, at all levels and at regular intervals through multiple channels. When you communicate vision, priorities, background behind decisions, you take the ‘guess work’ and uncertainty and insecurity out of your organisation. Telling someone ‘There is no update yet’ is still an important update for them. Consistent communication builds trust.
3. Treat people fairly, regardless of how much revenue they generate, or how often they attend your corporate or personal events, or how comfortable or uncomfortable they make you feel. Part time, high or low paid, foreign or national employees are all part of the team. They all have names, and all have ideas that can build your business. Treating them fairly builds trust.
4. Focus on shared, rather than personal goals. When everyone is pulling together towards a shared vision that clearly has shared benefits, trust results. This is the essence of teamwork.

Here are ways leaders can lose trust:

1. Tell half-truths. It is better to say nothing at all then to say something half true. Nothing breaks trust quicker than feeling like people are holding out on you or only sharing part of the story.
2. Be closed minded. When you don’t seek to understand and consider other opinions or points of view, you not only limit your own potential but also any hope of a culture of trust. Being known to be unapproachable, quick to dismiss, or head strong have significant detrimental effects of the cultivation of a trusting environment.
3. Withhold information. When communication slows, or shuts down, misinformation is believed to be real. Some people seek control by withholding information, only to find people around them frustrated, guessing, and tentatively committed to tasks. Not including people on emails can break trust…. How much more your shallow restrained conversation.
4. Seek personal gain rather than shared gain. Self seeking agendas are quickly spotted and quickly eat away at any foundation of trust. Great teams are brought undone with ego driven personal agendas.

Since so many of my interviewees have expressed a deep desire for a trusting working environment, I hope these eight workplace suggestions will help you on your way towards a great culture.

Effectively Communicating Constantly

For leaders everything we say and do communicates. Leaders are closely watched and their words and actions are amplified. Leaders are always communicating whether they intend to or not! Leaders are always sending a message.

It is therefore important as leaders to reflect on the way we communicate. To ask ‘Am I fully aware of the meaning of my words and the way I am delivering them?’ Unless our words, tone of voice, body language and more broadly our actions are in alignment, our message will create ambiguity and confusion.

Research has found the following three elements that contribute to effective face-to-face communication:

Just over 50% of meaning from communication comes from facial expressions.

Around 40% of meaning from communication comes from the tone in which words are spoken.

Only 10% of meaning from communication comes from the actual words that are spoken.

These findings are confronting and should challenge us to review intensely how we communicate!

As leaders who by nature are constantly communicating, it is plainly clear that we cannot rely on words alone to ensure our message is conveyed. Our words only play a small part, and are reinforced or rejected by our tone of voice, body language and indeed our behaviours. When our words, tone of voice and body language don’t align, it’s unlikely that our message will be effective and able to influence and persuade. We need to live our message for people to be impacted and influenced by it.

To finalise the loop, leaders are aware of another important element of communication – feedback.

Leaders are constantly inviting feedback as to the interpretation of their message. They listen to ensure that what they have said has been received, understood, and acted upon. A lack of action could very well mean that the message was misinterpreted or miscommunicated. Leaders are always listening to ensure their message is understood. Despite the extra effort, they constantly seek feedback and do not leave interpretation of the message to chance.

‘The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.’ —George Bernard Shaw

Leaders know they are always sending messages, irrespective of their intentions. Leaders take responsibility for their communication and always seek feedback to confirm that the message sent is the message received. They live their message, listen and seek feedback, and finally make adjustments where necessary. Effective communication requires nothing less.

Great Leadership without the excuses

In my working experience, I have had some great bosses, and also some terrible ones.

Over the years, I have become attuned to common lines that alert me to the probability of another bad boss.

‘I’m so busy and under all this pressure’

It’s hard to call yourself a leader and not feel like you are in this position regularly. Every boss has employees to lead, customers to satisfy, stakeholders to accommodate and a boss or board of their own to impress. If work pulls you left and right, away from your team and being a better boss, get your employees more involved in what you do. Share your work, appoint high performers to incorporate some of your load, and in the process see how delegation can develop you and your own future leaders.

‘I am not paid enough to have to deal with this’

You may well be right. Great leaders are too often under remunerated, and underappreciated. But great leaders get significant satisfaction from more than just money. They are rewarded by the development and mentoring of others, the achievement and relationships of their teams. That is their total remuneration package.

‘My people work best when I leave them alone’

If that is really the case, you are the problem. Great employees don’t need to be told what to do, but they do need to hear they did a great job… often. They need to be informed of purpose and direction… often, and they need to be updated on their progress… often.

‘There is too much politics and/or poor processes’

Politics and processes exist in even the smallest operations. As a boss, it’s your job to realise when they aren’t right and fix them. If politics is keeping your people for doing their best work, fix it. Sorting out a process issue that helps your employees perform their best is your job. Do ignore these opportunities to be a better boss.

‘Well, that is how I learned’

Just because you were given no formal training, and thrown in into the role doesn’t mean your team should be. Your bad experiences should be the catalyst for why you want to do it better, lead better, and train better.

‘I need to manage my employees’ ego’

If you worry that praising or developing your employees might see them one day outshine you, ask yourself who’s ego needs to be managed. Praising your people is not only courteous, but highly likely to reinforce positive behaviours and see them occur more often. Praising your people and developing their talent is not only your job, but also a great way to become a successful inspiring leader yourself.

Getting your ‘cred’ back!

Porkies, fibs, white lies, exaggeration and creative licence are all too common today, in an environment where memories are long and technology has made the world is a smaller place. To be known for bending the truth or hamming up the story does little good for your reputation and ultimately your trustworthiness. Without trust, relationships will be shallow and long term success in sales will forever remain elusive. More than anything, people want to work with people they trust!

Are you quick return phone calls, on time to meet with people, honest and professional about a candidate’s prospects, accurate and transparent when dealing with customers?

When your words and actions don’t align, you have fallen into the Credibility Gap. When you have a credibility gap, it is damaging to your reputation and to your career. And if you’re in a customer service role, a lack of personal credibility is most likely also hurting the company your work for.

Bridging the credibility gap takes time and effort, and it is much easier to lose credibility than to gain it back. Once a word has been spoken, it can’t be recalled!

The most effective way to start bridging the credibility gap is to be more aware of what you say……. Are your words being perceived as promises?
‘I’ll call you next week.’
‘I can get you that salary’
‘I’ll have a proposal to you today.’
‘I’ll be able to help you with that.’
‘I can meet that deadline.’

These are the little conversations that many of us are guilty of…….. When we over-promise and under-deliver.

If you make a promise in the moment, or if you do not have the capability to follow through with your word, don’t avoid the issue — make every effort to seek forgiveness. By acknowledging that you made a promise you couldn’t keep, you actually make yourself more credible.

To get back your ‘cred’, ask yourself:

What kind of credibility do I currently have with my family, my company, and my community?

What kind of credibility do I want?

Am I saying something that implies a promise? Will I actually follow through?

How can I communicate this in such a way as to not raise false expectations?

Where or with whom do I have special difficulty bridging my credibility gap?

Who can support me in keeping my word?

;

Do you need to get your ‘cred’ back?

;

“Trust is like te air we breathe. When it’s present, nobody really notices. But when it’s absent, everybody notices.” – Warren Buffet

Answers to the tough questions……

Customers can often be sceptical when you are talking to them or calling them for the first time. So understandably, you should expect some tough questions. The key however is not in the planning of what you might need to say, but rather in how you handle the tough questions when asked. How you handle tough questions will determine if you progress or not.

Here are some suggestions to help handle the tough sceptical questions that will come your way:

Seek clarification: Customers tend to ask two basic types of questions. The first type can be specific around capabilities, features, price or an issue, while the other type are more general in topic, or even just your opinion. Whatever the type, be sure to understand the question before answering it. You might want to rephrase the question to your customer in your own words, or ask for further detail before answering. Many times questions are too eagerly answered, unfortunately resulting in an answer to a question that wasn’t even asked.

Show competence. If you really know your industry, specialisation, products or services, and how they compare against the competition, no specific question is too tough. Where possible, frame your answers by beginning with statements that confirm your competence and credibility. Citing sentences like, “Based upon my experience working with this company” or “I’ve been asked that many times over the years.”

Share specialisation. Your customer is seeking a business partnership, someone they can trust who really knows their stuff. Just knowing how something works will never be enough to win the heart and mind of your customer. Know your craft, and also know where you aren’t an expert. Then apply yourself to becoming a trusted advisor by intently listening to the questions the customer asks, the motives behind them, and then apply your expertise to solving that customer’s business problems. In fact, in this position you won’t actually feel like you are selling anything.

Shift subjectivity. There will always be the inappropriate question, the inane generalisation, the reference to the lowest denominator, bad past experience or subjective banter. Don’t get flustered when you’re asked such questions. Simply shift it by saying something like, “The question you really should be asking is … ”

Share your stories. The most important stories you can share are those about your customers who are successfully using or benefiting from your products and services. Instead of drumming into the customer all the facts and figures, illuminate your answer with a real life example that is memorable and has impact.

Say it strong. It is not just what you say in answering the tough questions. It’s also how you say it. Saying calm and confident is so important, and it can be noticed just as easily over the phone. Start by taking a deep breath, avoid defensive conversation where you feel you need to justify yourself, and stay positive with solutions in mind. It’s okay to disagree with someone without fear of losing the relationship. Finish your sentence confidently, peaking in tone as you close the sentence. The last thing you want is for your voice to trail off at the end, suggesting uncertainty or lack of conviction.

Remember, behind every question customers ask is an ulterior motive. They may want to validate a bias or throw you off track. That’s why you shouldn’t be too eager to answer or say yes to every question you are asked.

Therefore, clarify and rephrase tough questions, respond with industry and business expertise to ensure credibility, shift inappropriate questions to different topics, and maintain your composure at all times.

An old philosophy holds true here: “Not will the other person believe it. The real test is, do you believe it?”

Non Commission…. are you crazy?

It often comes as a great surprise when I advise my customers for the first time, ‘We are non-commission’….. As they gasp for air wondering how then am I motivated, I like to say, ‘Don’t be surprised 1, 2, or 5 years from now when it’s still you and I partnering together to meet human resource needs….. Well the years have now passed since I first started saying that, and the proof is truly in the pudding.

There is nothing more rewarding to a sales consultant than a long term trusted business relationship. Where experiences and successes have forged the both of you together despite the various roles you have played, and locations you have worked.

To start the commission analysis, it is important to understand what non-commission is not:

It is not a salary and bonuses paid to consultants quarterly based on personal sales….. that is still commission

It is not a salary and bonuses paid to consultants quarterly based on team sales …. That too is commission

Just because a commission is not calculated and paid monthly, doesn’t make it exempt from being a commission.

Commissions are fees of which a salesperson will receive upon the closing of sales….

It is understandable that customers always wonder when dealing with commission consultants…. Am I being sold what is best for me, or best for you? All sales consultants want to make sales, and recruiters are no different. Commission rewards placing a person, but non-commission rewards placing the right person – a different driver, a different result.

So what is the mindset for a commission based sales consultant:

‘I have a financial target that I want to meet by this time, so I need to sell Y amount to get $Z.’

The resulting mindset of the customer with a commission based sales consultant is:

‘Tell me about your product, give me your lowest price and go away.’

The final folly of all this is in the time management waste figuring out who and what to pay; with the sales people spending their time calculating their commissions, plotting how to glean extra credit, and checking with head office to ensure they get everything they are entitled to…….

So what is the mindset for a non-commission based sales consultant:

‘I have financial consistency, so I can focus on my customer and meeting their needs’

Therefore the mindset of the customer with a non-commission based sales consultant is:

‘You have stayed with us through thick and thin, what is your advice on this, share your expertise on that.’

Instead of excessive scheming and calculating, time can be better spent discovering improved solutions for their customers, establishing loyalty, and embedding their services….. not chasing another sale.

With that said, not everyone is best suited for non-commission. If you are only in sales because of the money, then non-commission will never work for you. If you are only in sales as a means to pay the bills, again non-commission won’t work for you. You need to find intrinsic value in what you do and actually like it to really thrive in a non-commission environment. Only then can you maintain the motivation and enjoy the rewards of your efforts. Interestingly, the statistics are very clear on this, non-commission sales teams have lower employee turnover and longer term customer relationships. My personal experience has also been that non-commission recruitment teams have higher placement stay rates, greater repeat business opportunities, and ultimately higher sustainable salary packages.

“Put not your trust in money; put your money in trust.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

Sharing my recruitment secrets

I was really humbled to be selected as the recipient of the 2012 RCSA Young Recruitment Professional Award. Working in the recruitment industry has allowed me great opportunities to develop professionally and focus on what I am passionate about – partnering with and empowering people to realise their full potential.

Since winning the award, I have had the opportunity to speak and comment on the experience many times and more importantly, share the joy of the journey that has brought me to where I am now.

It seems that most people are interested in knowing what it takes to become a great at recruitment and what it takes to ensure you make the most of your career as a recruitment consultant?

• You must love working with people
• You must love sales
• You must love pace
• You must love succeeding
• You must have energy and resilience!

If you have those innate qualities, then you need to develop effectiveness to ensure you focus on doing the right activities, and efficiency to ensure you continue to deliver enough of the right activities. We all have the same finite number of hours in a day, however with those same number of hours, some recruiters bill over $800,000, and others don’t!

What are the activities that matter?

• Meet with people face to face
• Listen to people
• Keep your word and call people back
• Stand your ground on rates and terms of business (Value the service you offer or no one will)
• Walk away from customers that don’t respect your service
• Constantly communicate and deliver exceptional results to customers that do value your service
• Continue to learn and develop your capabilities and industry knowledge (Read, be mentored, and be a mentor)
• Offer and share your expertise to your industry (Speak at conferences or help people write better resumes)
• Build a team around you
• Start work early
• Never eat alone
• Build relationships with other recruiters
• Encourage someone every day
• Stay away from pessimists
• Work really hard
• Never give up! (So many opportunities have come my way because I stuck at it longer than most others wanted to)

During my career I have worked next to both big billers and average billers, all working in the same office, with the same technology under the same leadership. Although many things were the same, the results generated were vastly different. Great recruiters do things differently.

I hope the insights I have shared will help you reach your potential and allow you to find fulfilment in recruitment the same way I have.

Optimistic Scepticism – getting the balance right

Many professions have ups and downs, and recruitment is certainly one of them. Things can be fantastic and ecstatic one moment, and dry or gut wrenching the next. So it sure helps if you have sufficient resilience and fortitude to weather the storms of a recruiter’s life; so you can also enjoy the sunshine. I can’t stress it enough, staying positive and optimistic remains one of the essential mindsets if you are going to succeed in recruitment. However we all know that not every cloud has a silver lining. In fact, careless optimism in some situations is not only unwise, it can be irresponsible, and it will ultimately make you unsuccessful.

So where is the line to be drawn? Where is the balance struck? How does optimism as well as a healthy level of scepticism work for us? When should we act with unwavering confidence and when should we tread with caution?

Positive recruitment consultants have the mindset that says:

• I’m a specialist and expert in what I do – I make things happen!;
• The next candidate I call could be ideal for my client;
• The last several clients have said ‘no’ however the next very well might say ‘yes’;
• Today might have been tough but tomorrow is going to be better;
• Saying no to low margin work will give me more time to build a more profitable client;
• When I do more of the right activities, the right results will follow;
• One more call might make the difference;

I often find myself thinking of great words by Frank Bettger when he said, “Force yourself to act enthusiastically, and you’ll become enthusiastic!” This mindset has a natural flow on effect, when I get excited, my customers get excited, and I get business!

I have found time and time again that acting with positive optimism will ultimately help me achieve my desired outcomes far more frequently than those that are pessimists. It is because being overly pessimistic prevents you from taking action – and without action, nothing is possible. Pessimism won’t help you work hard, turn up after a setback, learn from your mistakes, and want to beat your previous year’s results.

A healthy level of confident optimism is essential in the role of a recruiter. With all the ups and downs, it can be lengthy periods of time before a victory can be enjoyed – and all too often the pessimist has not had the heart to go the distance so they can enjoy that victory.

On the other side of this argument, it is important to know when it is appropriate to be sceptical.

While there is no room for pessimism, to be cheerfully optimistic, always believing the best in people, and carrying out your activities assuming they will be returned in kind, is a sure recipe that you will end up becoming frustrated, disillusioned and ultimately unsuccessful. I have always remained optimistic, however I have tried to balance that with a healthy level of scepticism.

Healthy scepticism in a recruitment consultant’s mind rises up when:

• Your candidate says they are happy to take a pay cut or commute more than an hour each way if they get this job;
• Your candidate has finally received the offer however now wants to take the entire working week to consider it;
• Your candidate sights ‘personal reasons’ for why they left their last role;
• Your candidate all of a sudden can’t be contacted…….
• Your client says, everyone else has signed these terms and accepted this rate;
• Your  client says that if you drop your margin, then you will get more opportunities in the future;
• Your client has said the role is urgent, however has no specifics on what the position involves or when it might start;
• The client wants you to go onto a preferred supplier agreement with 10+ other agencies;
• The client says they will get to paying their bills, but have just had to attend a funeral;

Optimism and scepticism are essential ingredients in the life of a successful recruitment consultant, and having the right balance makes the world of difference.

Further to that, pessimism and cynicism, found at the other ends of the scale, have no place in recruitment and will never make you successful.

We have probably all met someone like that, they leech your energy, stop you opening up new opportunities by saying, “We tried it before, it didn’t work” and they ruin the industry of its fun and excitement.

So to be your best, be optimistic, with a healthy level of scepticism, and ensure the company you keep have the same successful mindsets!

Great recruiters have great mentors

Great recruiters have great mentors. It goes with the territory. In fact great people in any profession are known for the great people they have kept around them… guiding them, advising them, supporting them and inspiring them. We are not designed to reach our full potential alone. We only reach our very best by being trained and mentored by the very best.

Gates had Buffett, Jordan had Jackson, Alexander had Aristotle and Timothy had Paul. Who do you have? Who is on your team, giving their very best to help you become your very best?

Check yourself – where are you as a mentee?

• When thinking about your development, which statement best represents you:
  1. Things are constantly changing so it is best to go with the flow
  2. If you work for good managers, they will take care of your development
  3. I am responsible for initiating my own growth and development
• What do you believe an effective mentor’s role should be:
  1. Teach me what they know
  2. Tell me what I need to do
  3. Facilitate me clarifying my thoughts and actions
• When considering your expectations of the mentoring relationship should they:
  1. Depend on what the mentor wants and needs
  2. Be clearly defined and communicated at the beginning of a mentoring relationship
  3. Emerge as the relationship develops
• How aware are you of yourself, you values, the talents that make you unique and your limitations?
  1. I sort of have some general impressions about myself
  2. I haven’t really thought about these things
  3. I am continually trying to refine what I understand about myself
• What do you think are the benefits to the mentor from the relationship:
  1. A good feeling of helping someone like me
  2. Not much, they are already pretty success and accomplished at what they do
  3. They should learn as much from me as I do from them
• Which statement best represents your stance on ideas and actions you and your mentor discuss:
  1. I would need to think about these for some time before taking any action
  2. I would be willing to take action only if it involved taking very little risk
  3. I need to be willing to take action, implement, and put things into effect
• How will you respond to advice and feedback from your mentor?
  1. Listen, but remember it is just one person’s perspective
  2. Accept the things that affirm what you believe but reject that the things that my mentor obviously doesn’t understand the complexities of
  3. Be open-minded, willing to change and coachable
• What actions should you take in finding a mentor?
  1. Sign up to a program and wait for someone to be assigned to you
  2. Want for someone to want to help you
  3. Watch and observe people who inspire you and then ask them to be your mentor
• What should be your responsibility in maintaining the mentoring relationship?
  1. The sponsors of the mentoring program should define and monitor how often and for how long we meet
  2. It is my responsibility to keep in touch and request time for us to meet
  3. Since the mentor is giving me their time they should define when and how often we meet.

Having asked yourself these questions should highlight your current frame of mind towards a mentoring relationship. Answering 3 to all of the above 9 questions suggest you are best positioned to take full advantage of a mentoring relationship.

Now it is time to ask another set of questions……. When uncovering a suitable mentor there are some great attributes you should look for in the ideal relationship.

Check your mentor – where are they at as a mentor?

• Honest With You

Will they tell you your breath stinks, your teeth still have lunch in them, your shirt needs an iron…. Great mentors cross interpersonal barriers and engage deeply into your life. They are honest, awkwardly honest! It’s a little like being a loving uncle or aunt, someone who will take you aside on occasion and tell you things you need to hear but frankly don’t necessarily want to hear.

• A Model for You

We are influenced most and learn best from those we admire and respect. Your mentor should be someone or have something you aspire to be like someday, in some way .Thomas Carlyle’s words are worth repeating: “Be what you would have your pupils to be.” Mentors replicate who they are, so be sure to identify someone you would be comfortable becoming.

• Open and Transparent

It is no good only hearing you mentor share their successes. They must be willing to hear share their failures.  Every mentor has struggles that the mentee never sees. To have a mentor willing to share her/his struggles, along with their success stories makes for the great learning and development.

• A Teacher (ENFJ)

Many people do things well, but don’t know how to tell another person how they did it. Look for a mentor who can tell you how and why s/he did, or didn’t, do something. ENFJ personality type mentors are driven by their desire to help others reach their fullest potential. They are gregarious, talkative and assertive. They love people and social gatherings. They are energized by interaction, are expressive and enthusiastic. ENFJs are Intuitive. They are imaginative and deep. Their thought process is abstract and focused on possibilities. They are Feelers that make decisions with their heart. They are passionate and profoundly empathetic, caring and warm. ENFJs are decisive, organized and structured. They like to complete tasks and they seek closure.

• One who believes in your potential

Your ideal mentor needs to be the kind of person who looks at you and says, “Yes, I think this person has tremendous potential. I think if I invest some of my life in this person, she/he has what it takes to make a real difference.

• One who can help you define your dream and a plan to turn your dream into reality

Ideally, you are looking for a mentor who can help you clarify things that are in your head and in your heart. The mentor helps you answer the “dream question”: “How can I make the most significant difference?”

Once the realism factor has been established, she/he can help you develop a plan to move from where you are to where you ultimately dream of being.

• Sees mentoring as a two way learning street

A great mentor knows that you can learn from everyone. Some of the greatest rewards and experiences come for learning from those you are teaching. When you mentor remains teachable, then s/he is modelling teachability to you. A sign of a suitable mentor for you is someone who is always willing to learn.

Final word

A good mentor is a person who you naturally enjoy being with, who has more experience than you have, who would be happy to help you win in life, to help you grow in sensitive areas most other friends simply “put up with” on a day to day basis. If you have found this person you have found a mentor.