early career
Mentoring is a great way to acknowledge and analyse the challenges you face and to create a plan to untangle you from them. You will feel the relief of sharing your problems whilst knowing that you are actively working out a way to cope, and ultimately, to develop.
A trusted ally and advisor A mentor's purpose is to help you succeed, having discussed and decided on the right path together. It is one thing to have family and friends to support you, and quite another to have someone in your corner whose job is to hear your issues and help guide you. They understand the business landscape that you are in and can pose challenging questions that your relations might not know to ask.
Discovering more about yourself We rarely set aside dedicated time that is designed to reflect on our desires and actions. A mentor will ask you questions to help uncover your strengths and weaknesses – both those that you knew about and those that you didn’t - and help you to develop these into valuable character traits that will help you to excel.
Goal setting and accountability Having regular check-ins with your mentor means showing your actions as the weeks go by. Stagnation stops and progress begins. You become accountable for the goals that you set yourself. It’s very easy to ignore our own goals if we are the only person that knows about them – but the very fact that you are investing time and money with a mentor means you are dedicated to progress.
based on my books
Using material from my experience, The Excellence Book (co-authored with Kevin Duncan for the 5th year edition) and The Early Career Book (out Nov 2023)
Examples of what we can work through together
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Your Values
1. WHAT ARE VALUES?
2. WHAT MAKES YOU TICK?
3. WHAT TURNS YOU OFF?
4. WHAT TO COMPROMISE ON
5. WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE YOU?
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Your Behaviours
1. VALUES VS. BEHAVIOUR
2. TAKING POSITIVE ACTION
3. WHAT NOT TO DO
4. YOUR PERSONAL MANIFESTO
5. CHECKING YOUR ALIGNMENT
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Game Plan
1. THE POWER OF A PLAN
2. GOAL SETTING
3. MANIFESTATION
4. SELF-SABOTAGE
5. SUSTAINING ENTHUSIASM
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Rejection & Resolution
1. HANDLING REJECTION
2. TRIGGERS
3. IS IT PERSONAL?
4. PERSPECTIVE
5. RESOLVING CONFLICT
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Boundary Setting
1. INTERFERENCE
2. OVERWORKING
3. ENERGY VAMPIRES
4. EMOTIONAL DUMPING
5. WORK DUMPING
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Finding Your Stride
1. ENTHUSIASM CYCLES
2. RECOGNISING YOUR GOOD BITS
3. WORKING ON THE BAD BITS
4. COMMUNICATING HOW YOU WORK BEST
5. A HEALTHY ATTITUDE
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How To Get Promoted
1. MEASUREMENT
2. BE KEEN
3. BE SEEN
4. BE HEARD
5. STAND OUT
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When Things Get Tough
1. WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU SCREW UP
2. BULLYING BOSSES
3. BEING OVERWHELMED
4. WHEN LIFE GETS IN THE WAY
5. BEING HONEST WITH YOURSELF
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Staying or Going?
1. % JOY vs % NOT
2. IS IT YOU OR IS IT THE JOB?
3. WHAT WOULD CHANGE?
4. RISK VS. REWARD
5. YOU DON’T LIKE YOUR NEW JOB
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Continuous Self Improvement
1. PERSONAL PROGRESS
2. POSITIVE SELF-TALK
3. HAVE A SYSTEM
4. GET A SECOND OPINION
5. THERE'S MORE TO LIFE THAN WORK