Mentor

Sustained high-performing leaders, coaches and athletes understand the value of a mentor. There are no solo explorers, and there are no solo performers.

In my research on repeat medallists and non-medallists across 7 Olympic cycles, the total number of repeat medallists (athletes, coaches or leaders) who did it alone is… so far… zero!

Performance is a partnership.  Mentoring is a partnership in exploring perspectives, uncovering assumptions, walking through challenges, (not around them), and unlocking potential.  It is about making resistance, friction, and blindspots visible and polishing the vital islands of excellence in our world.  A mentor helps leaders reframe challenges, recognise mental models that are helpful and those that aren’t, and the quiet stories we tell ourselves. 

The fish can’t see the sea. Experts are no different.  With so much challenge, obligation, expectation and ambiguity, the path is often one of busyness and back-to-back problem solving.  That may be 80% of what we do, but the remaining 20% is the key creating the impact for us and our teams.  Imagine uncovering and tuning down the 80 and tuning up the 20 to give the ‘vital few’ more space to grow and emerge.  Transformation happens in the 20!  Good mentors support experts to move there.

Anders Ericsson described in his book ‘Peak’ about world-class performance requiring deliberate practice; the same applies to reflective practice.  Without guidance, in our busy days, any reflection can look helpful.  That may produce motion with no movement.  But deliberate and focussed reflection points us quickly to the meaning of what matters most. It moves motion to momentum.

As Aldous Huxley said, ‘Life is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you’.  Mentors help us get clear on the meaning of what is happening to us so we can lift upwards and onwards with clarity and conviction!

If you’re ready to elevate your leadership and performance to the next level, perhaps it’s time to explore how mentoring can be your catalyst for transformation. There’s power in partnership, and it might just be the edge you’ve been looking for. 

If you are mentored… power to you.

If you are a mentor… power to you too.

Go well,

Richard

 Ready for Breakthrough

Here are three ways to work with me:

Speaking

Performance Mentoring

MasterSeries

Get more details in the brochure here.

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Get in touch for a chat - richard@simplify2perform.com. Let’s explore a performance breakthrough for you.

Go well,

Richard