Good morning everyone,
I hope you are all enjoying your Saturday morning in your quietness and coffee (if you are a coffee drinker)
Today I wanted to write a bit more about the mentor group I am in. I think I should call it more of an advisory board. They are mentoring me on different areas of business, but more importantly they are there to listen to my questions, comments, concerns, ideas, etc. Where I get the most bang for my buck is the fact that they are there to speak into me in areas that I need.
This week I met with the group and was discussion a few items and where I felt like I was lacking. They in turn were nice enough to speak into a few of those areas and hold my feet to the fire. One of the areas was where my yearly goal was to cook with my step daughter once a month and that I had yet to do it. I guess I should have said once a quarter. When I was going over my next months goals with the group, one of the members was able to stop me and tell me that instead of further missing the goal I had set out to do, that I make an effort to do the cooking with my step daughter this month and to catch up. Keep in mind that we have to pay when we miss goals so now I am on the hook for cooking twice with my step daughter this month. Keep in mind that I am not an award winning chef so the meals will probably be pancakes and grilled chees sandwiches. We are not setting out to do four course meals neither she nor I have the attention span for that. Well maybe she does…
When I left the group, I was frustrated by the discussions and was needing to sit and reflect as well as cool off! Once I did cool off and reflect I noticed that my friends and family typically don’t do this service for me. I would guess that most of your friends and family do not as well. During a message at Cedar Creek church the lead pastor stated that need for having spiritual advisors that ability to speak into your life and that everyone especially lead pastors must have them. People that will speak into you and call out areas that need to be called out. These people also cheer you on, but more importantly help you up and tell you how it is.
Even though I was not very happy when I walked out of the meeting and felt more emotionally beat up than anything, but it was good for me to hear. These people are there to help me without any gain for themselves and yet they are fine with that. Most people in this world only want something in return. These people are there to help if they can any way they think will help. It is great to have that group there. I just hope that I am also giving back to them and helping them like they are helping me.
My family is one that calls it like it is and then states that you need to do this and that… instead of encouraging me to look inside and find the answer. They give their insight like I do, but most of the time it is how they would handle the issue and not how I would. On the flip side, the advisors get me digging deeper into the area to find the answer. They bounce questions off of me about the idea to understand where I am at. These advisors also suggest others that might specialize in an area that I am having an issue with.
I have had advisors in the past for various personal and social aspects of my life, but it has been this year that I have also asked to have advisors in my business. When I ask for help on items they are there to help. Most of them I only see once a month, but they are there outside as well. It has been great growth for me, mostly from them asking me questions that I never would have thought of which gets my brain working the way it should to grow whereas in the past I would have gone from my own questions that I typically ask.
This week I would challenge you to start thinking about who you have in your life that can act as advisors that can speak into you personally as well as in your business. If you do not have one there are a great wealth of opportunities to gain some. John Maxwell has the JMT certification and they have groups, Dave Ramsey offers Financial Peace University which ends up with groups of people that you can use as advisors for finances. Truth at work is a group that I am in of business professionals. There are also meet up groups where you can meet others as well as different clubs one can join to expand their network and advisory board.
There are groups everywhere, but I would also preface that just getting into a group will not likely net you the affect you are looking for. Having a couple people that will help you in your relationships, one or two people for your fitness goals, a few for your professional career goals, etc. The key is to develop a group of advisors that you can turn to and get help. This will take time to develop and some people will enter and leave your group of advisors at different times of your life. They may even come back into your group of advisors in the future.
No one is perfect and can always use others to bounce ideas off of as well as be open without fear of rejection. I have yet to see someone that is successful that has not had a coach, mentor, or advisors helping them grow. While you are sitting this morning scrolling through Facebook or Instagram set the phone down and make a list of people that you typically go to and who might also be able to help you in areas you don’t currently have represented. Maybe it is even an old boss, colleague, favorite professor, or someone else that you may have lost contact with. The key is to be intentional about this group and constantly review to see how you can get better.
That should be enough for now, but if you would like to discuss further comment below and we can start the conversation!
Time to get the griddle out and start preparing for pancakes!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
Sales and Leadership Enterprises