Keep Your Vision in Front of You

I spent some time this weekend thinking about the vision I have for myself and my 3 sons over the next number of years. There are things I see every day that remind me of what I am believing for, things that inspire me and ignite my faith.

There is a Proverb in the Bible that states: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."

With no vision, it's easy to get stuck where you are and expect nothing to happen. I know because at times with all the pressures of this world to achieve wealth and success it becomes difficult to know exactly where you fit in.

I admit my inspiration comes from some of the great mentors I have had in my life. The ones that want to make a difference and do something that will effect a change or impact someone's life.

Everyday I try to make it a goal to make a small impact whether at work, with my boys or people I meet socially.

I continue to develop and validate my own ideas of how to help others not only have a vision but a BIG vision for their lives. This includes teaching and helping people create ideas for practical, daily steps to set a vision as well as creating reminders. It's not enough to just dream it, you need to see it and let a seed take root in your heart.

If you have a big vision, then start believing in your heart that it will take root and see it come to completion. You will be amazed at what happens!

5 Lessons I Learned On Commitment From Rocky Balboa

The past few weeks I have spent a number of days in intense meetings with a company that I am involved in. It is inspiring to see the leadership’s commitment to ensure that the company is successful in the future. One of the highlights for me was the passion they have to make sure people are growing and being challenged to be the best they can be at their job. It was not just talk but they are putting together action plans so that individuals have the support and mentoring they need in order to be successful.

As I reflected on the past few weeks I could not help think of the great Rocky Balboa (2006) speech he gave his son. Everyone loves to win but only winners love the process. It's exactly about how you come back, how you deal with failures, because a person who is truly trying to succeed will always have more failures than successes.

Here are the 5 Lessons I learned from Rocky's speech on commitment:

Don't Stop Being You

Somewhere along the line in my career and personal life I pushed myself so hard toward success that I forgot how to be me. When failure struck I allowed people and the things of this world to beat me. I started scrambling and struggled to do my best to make everyone happy. Don't stop being you because somewhere the YOU and your talents will find happiness.

Stop Looking for Someone to Blame

This can be so much of a distraction and a slippery slope. Get up every day and work on how YOU can improve and be better. At the end of the day, reflect on the wins and failures and make the next day even better.

Keep Moving Forward

We have all heard of the phrase “roll with the punches”. The key to overcoming adversity is to take the punches, forgive yourself and others and become flexible when dealing with difficult issues.

Take the Hits

You are either in or you are out. If you are 100% committed to something and willing to take what life throws at you, eventually you will win and become the person you’re supposed to be.

Believe in Yourself

The fact is no one believes more in yourself than YOU do. Get up everyday believing that you are working toward achieving your goals and win.

Here's the clip from the movie if you have never seen it before...enjoy.

Building my personal brand and not trying to screw it up.

It's been awhile since I posted a personal blog as I have been finding it tough to write. It's not always easy to sit down and put "pen to paper" that people would find worth reading and helpful. I like to mostly share some of my personal journey with the hope of helping someone be better at what they do.

In my last blog post I shared some personal stories of my own failures and some points on what I am doing to find success. One of the things I am working hard on is improving my personal brand in order to fix my weaknesses. For me it's finding the right mentor(s) that are not telling me how to run my personal, career or business life based on their strengths and experiences, but understanding my weaknesses and how I can fix them.

I think a mentor should treat you like a research project. Instead of telling me his life is the blueprint of success they openly acknowledge that there is no single path to success, what is right for them may not be right for you.

 Here are some things to ensure you don't screw up your mentoring relationship:

1. As an entrepreneur or career professional don't leech life lessons from your mentor but engage in with them in order to seek the answers as they are relevant to your business or career path.

2. Help your mentor learn. Mentors should be learning as they are guiding you through the process of making you successful.

3. Mentors should be uncomfortable with the status quo. Mentors should be interested in making themselves better as they are making you better.

4.  The best mentors don't play by the rules.

What are some things you are doing to improve your personal brand?

Here is my online Prezume using Prezi. Would you use this tool to increase your brand? Do you think this would capture interest to potential hires? Recruiters?

Be Vulnerable

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto

Guest Post by Brad Feld.

We are told that leaders must be strong. They must be confident. They must be unflinching. They must hide their fear. They must never blink. They cannot be soft in any way.

Bullshit.

Last night, after my first public talk on the new book that Amy and I just released titled Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur, a woman came up to me afterwards and gave me two pieces of feedback. The first was that I expressed incredible vulnerability in my talk. She thanked me for that. She then suggested that I hadn’t done a good job of weaving the notion of vulnerability into the importance of the dynamics of the relationship that Amy and I have.

She was absolutely correct on both fronts. Amy and I allow ourselves to be very vulnerable with each other. We aren't afraid of each other and – by allowing ourselves to be vulnerable – we are more direct, honest, and clear about what is on our minds. It works both ways – we are more able to hear the other person, and more able to offer feedback in a constructive way, because we allow ourselves to be vulnerable.

But it doesn't stop there. I’m allow myself to be very vulnerable with my partners Seth, Jason, and Ryan. And they allow themselves to be vulnerable with me and each other. We embrace the notion of “brutal honesty” with each other – we say things as we see them, as we believe them, and as directly as we can to each other – while at the same time recognizing that the other person is open to any feedback, in any tone, in any way. Notably, we are each vulnerable to each other, which makes our communication much more powerful and effective.

I try to be bidirectionally vulnerable with every entrepreneur I work with. I try my hardest, but when I hurt someone, I want to hear why. When I let someone down, I want to hear why. When I am struggling, I talk openly about it. When I've failed, I listen to why. And I hope that every entrepreneur I work with feels the same way, or whatever their version of “being vulnerable” is.

I’m vulnerable to the broader community I engage with. I’m open about my struggles – personally and professionally. I’m not bashful about being wrong, and owning it. And, when I get feedback, my ears are always open. Sure, I get plenty of random criticism from nameless, faceless people. That used to annoy me – now I just put them in the bucked of “anonymous coward” and delete it from my brain. If they can offer me the feedback directly, in their own voice, with their own identity, I’m open to it. I’ll let myself be vulnerable in that context. But I draw the line at random, anonymous attacks, especially ad hominem ones.

The great leaders I know are vulnerable. Maybe not to everyone, maybe not all the time, and maybe not in all contexts. But the allow themselves to be, simply, themselves. Human. They allow others in. They know they can be wrong. They know they can fail. And they know they can improve. Vulnerable.

That’s part of being a great leader. And a great partner – business or personal. And it opens you up to be a greater human. Thanks to the person who reminded me of that last night.

Brad is one of the managing directors at Foundry Group, a venture capital firm that invests in early stage software / Internet companies throughout the United States. He is also the co-founder of TechStars, a mentor-driven accelerator, author of several books and blogs, and a marathon runner. Read more.

Throw Your Life a Curve

Guest post by Whitney Johnson

Our view of the world is powered by personal algorithms: observing how all of the component pieces (and people) that make up our personal social system interact, and looking for patterns to predict what will happen next. When systems behave linearly and react immediately, we tend to be fairly accurate with our forecasts. This is why toddlers love discovering light switches: cause and effect are immediate. The child flips the switch, and on goes the light. But our predictive power plummets when there is a time delay or non-linearity, as in the case of a CEO who delivers better-than-expected earnings only to wonder at a drop in the stock price.

Enter my co-author, MIT-trained strategist and engineer Juan Carlos Méndez-García, who consults with both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. According to Méndez-García, one of the best models for making sense of a non-linear world is the S-curve, the model we have used to understand the diffusion of disruptive innovations, and which he and I speculate can be used to understand personal disruption — the necessary pivots in our own career paths.

In complex systems like a business (or a brain), cause and effect may not always be as clear as the relationship between the light switch and the light bulb. There are time-delayed and time-dependent relationships in which huge effort may yield little in the near-term, or in which high output today may be the result of actions taken a long time ago. The S-curve decodes these systems by providing signposts along a path that, while frequently trod, is not always evident. Our hypothesis is that those who can successfully navigate, even harness, the successive cycles of learning and maxing out that resemble the S-curve will thrive in this era of personal disruption.

Let's do a quick review. According to the theory of the diffusion of innovations — an attempt to understand how, why and at what rate ideas and technology spread throughout cultures — diffusion or adoption is relatively slow at the outset until a tipping point is reached. Then you enter hypergrowth, which typically happens somewhere between 10-15% of market penetration. Saturation is reached at 90%+.

With Facebook for example, assuming an estimated market opportunity of one billion, it took roughly 4 years to reach penetration of 10%. Once Facebook reached a critical mass of a hundred million users, hypergrowth kicked in due to the network effect (i.e. friends and family were now on Facebook), as well as virality (email updates, photo albums for friends of friends, etc.). Though we could quibble, depending on our inputs, over when Facebook will reach saturation, there is no question the rate of growth has begun to slow and is now limited, if for no other reason, by the number of people who can access the service. (Here's some more on Méndez-García's Facebook and S-curve math.)

One anecdotal example of how the S-curve model can help us better predict the future is the experience of golfer Dan McLaughlin. Never having played 18 holes of golf, in April 2010, McLaughlin quit his job as a commercial photographer to pursue a goal of becoming a top professional golfer through 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. During the first 18 months, improvement was slow as McLaughlin first practiced his putting, chipping, and his drive. Then, as he began to put the various pieces together, improvement accelerated, consistent with hypergrowth behavior. While he didn't track how quickly his handicap decreased, making it impossible for us to build an S-curve, 28 months into the project, he has surpassed 91% of the 26 million golfers who register a handicap with the US Golf Association (USGA) database. Not surprisingly, his rate of improvement (if measured as handicap) is now slowing as he faces competition from the top 10% amateur golfers.

Just as understanding the S-curve can keep discouragement at bay as we build new knowledge, it can also help us understand why ennui kicks in once we reach the plateau. As we approach mastery, our learning rate decelerates, and while the ability to do something automatically implies competence, it also means our brains are now producing less of the feel-good neurotransmitters — the thrill ride is over.

As our learning crests, should we fail to jump to new curves, we may actually precipitate our own decline. That doesn't necessarily mean a financial downfall, but our emotional and social well-being will take a hit. Saul Kaplan, Chief Catalyst at Business Innovation Factory, shares: "My life has been about searching for the steep learning curve because that's where I do my best work. When I do my best work, money and stature have always followed." Or paraphrasing James Allworth, "Steve Jobs solved the innovator's dilemma because his focus was never on profit, but better and better products." Forget the plateau of profits: seek and scale a learning curve.

The S-curve mental model makes a compelling case for personal disruption. We may be quite adept at doing the math around our future when things are linear, but neither business nor life is linear, and ultimately what our brain needs, even requires, is the dopamine of the unpredictable. More importantly, as we inhabit an increasingly zig-zag world, the best curve you can throw the competition is your ability to leap from one learning curve to the next.

This post was co-authored with Juan Carlos Mendez-Garcia, managing director of 8020world. Born in Colombia, he has lived and worked in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Juan Carlos holds an MBA from MIT Sloan, a Masters in Systems Engineering and Bachelors on Electrical Engineering.

Images copyright 2012 Juan C. Mendez and Whitney Johnson. All rights reserved.

More blog posts by Whitney Johnson
More on: Career planning, Disruptive innovation, Managing yourself

WHITNEY JOHNSON
Whitney Johnson is a co-founder of Rose Park Advisors, Clayton Christensen's investment firm, and the author of Dare-Dream-Do: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream (Bibliomotion, 2012). Ms. Johnson is available for speaking and consulting. Follow her on twitter at @johnsonwhitney.

12 Lessons I Learned in 2012

1. A mentor is looked uponas a Giant. 4 Characteristics of a great Giant:

1.     Be a great communicator

2.     Use your words to encourage

3.     Master Criticism

4.     Discipline to build character

2. Trust is a function of two things: Credibility and Behavior*.

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it." -- Warren Buffet

*Footnote: Screwed this up more than a few times this year. Ouch!

3. People don't buy what you do, they buy WHY you do it. Build something that solves a problem.

4. If you want to have a great career, pursue your passion. Passion is your greatest love, not your interest. Passion is beyond your interest. Many people don't pursue their passion because they feel they are going to fail. You have to say, “I might fail UNLESS”...  Say “UNLESS” to yourself more often.

5. "The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do." -- Richard Branson. I think I'm crazy, butI’m not sure if I’ve changed anything yet.

6. I am passionate about business, including marketing and product development, but when I get a chance to invest in someone's life it's payback like no other.

7. Life is a process. It's a series of steps. Whether it's your career profession, business, startup, or personal journey it's all about the steps you take to achieve your highest potential. I have gone through enough adversity to look back and say that it's only making me stronger and preparing me for the things to come. That's what makes me getup everyday and continue to explore, dream and discover. Take the STEPS!

8. Doing a startup is hard. PERIOD. I spent over a year planning The Mentor+ Project and waiting for the best time to launch Mentor+ME. No time is the perfect time. JUST DO IT!

9. Stop the fear of asking for advice. People are willing to help.

10. Don't do what you love. Do WHAT YOU ARE based on you strengths and personality.

11. Successful people may not always be the smartest individuals but it's the people,community and opportunities around them that may determine their extraordinary accomplishments.

12. "Center yourself around those that are going to lift you higher." -- Oprah Winfrey

Share something you have learned in your life: it just might help someone. No matter what happens along the way it's important to finish well.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wishing you the best year ever.

Coming up my goals for 2013!

3 different ways to tell a good story.

I love to listen to people's personal stories. A good story is something that defines who we are. It makes us memorable. We all have experienced something in our life that makes a lasting impression. If you understand how to talk about yourself, it's a opening for you to connect to others in a meaningful way. It's a way that you can be used to help others that might be going through similar things. 

Here a 3 different ways you can tell your story.

1. The Challenge. You overcame an obstacle to get where you wanted to go.

2. The Eureka. An idea that came to you that changed everything.

3. The Connection. A time when you met someone or a group that had similar skills and experiences that helped you get where you wanted to go.

For me sharing those meaningful experiences with someone that might need help makes life more rewarding.

What's your story? Everyone has one so don't keep it to yourself. Share something you have learned in your life it just might help someone. 

Join in our I AM Forum at Mentorplus.me

My DNA

I have learned so much over the past little while about generations and how one can influence the other.  I believe to achieve happiness and success, our professional and personal life must be aligned to reach our highest potential. There are so many people all over the world in a career, job training, business or startup crisis that they need to be given hope and help. We must find the most simple and easiest ways to get people connected with the help and expertise they need to be successful.

Melanie Pinola from LifeHacker states in her artice "Don’t Do What You Love. Do What You Are."
"You've no doubt heard this career advice before: "Do what you love." Brazen Careerist founder Penelope Trunk calls this simple and idealistic advice absurd. Instead of trying to figure out what you love most and then find the perfect matching career, do what you are, based on your strengths and personality."

For me, I have a genuine passion to serve others, a desire to make things work above the status quo, and a conviction is that simpler is better. It's in my DNA.

What's in your DNA in order to achieve your highest potential?

New Thinking.

Many people continue to not achieve success. The problem is, they don’t know what is their problem. 

Most people are limited to their own experience and knowledge.

Are you SO VERY SURE of your real problem that’s obstructing you for success?

Chances are, unfortunately, you don’t.  You need a different point of reference in order to solve your “problem” to success. That’s it. That’s why you read books. Talk to people. And be humble of other people’s feedback.

Albert Einstein said it well… “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

If you need help and a new point of reference check out Mentorplus.me. It just might be the "New Thinking" you need to solve your problem. 

10 excuses why we fear giving and getting advice

I have been doing a lot of soul searching over the past year in regards to my personal and professional life. One thing that always draws me to making decisions is the importance of asking for help, advice, guidance and assistance from someone, a mentor, who has gone through similar experiences. It's has not always been easy for me to do this and at times I become very fearful of it. But as human beings we must help each other, it's in our nature to share our life experiences in order to get better at what we do.

Asking for advice begins when we start to understand the teaching on the subject. We are blessed with these tremendous online tools and resources that allow us to get information and advice at our finger tips. We are all dependent on each other for help and when we overcome that fear of asking, it opens doors to get us where we want to go.

Many people fail to seek out experts for advice because of various misunderstandings and excuses:

1. They think the concept of mentoring doesn't apply to them.

2. They don’t believe it works today.

3. They’re too embarrassed to admit that they need help.

4. They’re too proud to ask for help.

5. They’re afraid to help others because their advice might not be accepted.

6. They’re too embarrassed to confess their mistakes or failures to someone else.

7. They’re so consumed with their own needs and don’t have time to sympathize or provide help for others.

8. They have problems in their own lives and doubt that can help anyone else.

9. They don’t feel worthy to be used.

10. It’s easier to send a card or email than to engage in serious help for others.

Are you allowing to be used as an agent of help? Many people are going through difficulties and need someone to listen and give them great advice. You don’t have to be a leader or senior to be used. If you’ll allow yourself to make an effort and find someone who needs your expertise, your effective advice will accomplish much.

If your looking for great self-help, career, business,or startup advice, Mentorplus.me is a community that offers online mentoring with a social purpose by helping you do what you do... only better. Join us to EXPLORE, DREAM and DISCOVER.

What's holding you up?

Online Social Mentoring - connecting for a purpose

5 reasons to give and get great advice.

Today people and business startups are hustling to make connections and network on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but what we are discovering is even though it’s nice to have a great list of friends and colleagues to develop outposts, there is a better way to get the answers you need than these larger social networks are able to provide. 

Special-interest communities like Mentor+me attract members who know that being successful is more about quality than quantity. Users looking for solutions and resources seek out advice from others with answers which is often a great starting point in developing a longer term mentor relationship. This is the easiest and most efficient way to establish an informal relationship with someone who wants to really help. 

Here are 5 reasons to give and get great advice:

1. Connecting for a purpose 

Special interest-based social sites like Mentor+me give you all the networking tools that we know and love like publishing your profile. Your profile can be found in searches by typing in a word such as “startup advice”, “need help with a career change”, “should I get an MBA?”, “what do I need to do to become a manager?” Instead of connecting with people randomly, you connect with people on specific issues in a community whose sole purpose is to help its members. This is social networking for a specific social purpose. 

2. People are experts in their own life experiences 

People tend to want to speak to individuals they understand or who speak their own lingo. If people have had experiences like: having a great career in marketing; a career change; a personal crisis such as a health issue; or had success with a a startup business, then this gives people an opportunity to connect with the things that are important to them. 

3. Raise your personal stock 

Members are rewarded for engaging in the community, whether you are a Mentee earning a way to “Mentor” status based on your contributions to the community, or you are a Mentor who engages in online relationships and is recognized as a thought leader in your area of expertise. 

There are all kinds of benefits to this, some of which include: professional advancement, speaking opportunities, self-promotion or just plain bragging rights. Sometimes you might not get the respect you deserve in the workplace or your personal life, but among your Mentor+me peers you will be given the respect you appreciate. 

4. Personal and Professional Referrals 

Tapping into an online community like Mentor+me  is the most efficient and effective way to find peers who are similar, enabling a wealth of useful information to be shared. 

This type of support group can keep peers up-to-date on a news article or latest technique for accomplishing a task. Peer recommendations carry a lot more weight then a Google search result. 

5. Advice you can trust 

Face it, when making a decision we often seek out advice from people who have gone down the same path. Mentor+me focuses on the people you want to reach and engage. 

Mentor+me is online mentoring with a social purpose by helping you do what you do... only better!

Why you will fail to have a great career...unless?

It was a Thursday night a few weeks ago and I was heading to Toronto to my first advisory board meeting regarding The MENTOR+ project. This was a very important meeting  as I really wanted to dissect our next moves and have a game plan over the next few months.

I have had the privilege working with these great mentors/advisors the past number of months. They are generous, kind and brilliant individuals but what has made them so successful is their passion. My mentors at the meeting spent a great deal of time talking to me about options, being flexible and the sacrifices I have to make in order to be successful. Some people would have left this meeting discouraged and given up because of the fear of failing. But what made me feel good was that I left the meeting more encouraged and motivated to keep moving forward. A confirmation that I wasn't afraid even the slightest to fail.

I think about The MENTOR+ project 24/7 and love to talk to individuals who are passionate in helping others reach their highest potential. So it's fitting that I found this TEDx talk by Larry Smith who shares on one of the key aspects of having a great career.

Here's a small bio of Larry Smith:
Throughout his three-decade career at the University of Waterloo, Larry Smith has inspired legions of students to take up the mantle of economics with his passionate and homespun tales of economic wizardry. A renowned story-teller, teacher and youth leadership champion, Larry has also coached and mentored countless numbers of students on start-up business management and career development strategies.

Highlights of Larry's talk and why I want a great career:

• Good jobs are now disappearing.
• Good jobs are high workload, blood sucking, high stress, soul destroying jobs and then there are those in between.

If you want a great career you have to pursue your passion but most decide not to do it because:

1. In order to have a great career people use the excuse that its a matter of luck.
2. Great careers are made for geniuses.
3. People with great careers are weird. So nice and normal people don't have passion?
4.  If I work hard I will have a great career and success. Are you sure? As all the evidence says the contrary.

Passion is your greatest love not your interests. Passion is beyond your interests. 

• You need 20 interests and then you might find your one passion. 
• Your passion engages you more than anything else in comparison with all your other interests.
• You must look for alternatives so that you find your destiny. Find the highest expression of your destiny. Does that scare you? If you settle for interesting then it's a missed opportunity.
• You will FIND your passion and still fail because your not going to DO IT. 

Larry uses an example of an excuse on human relationships...

• I want be a great friend, great parent but I will not sacrifice them because of great accomplishments. So suggesting you want a great career sounds somewhat unrealistic.
• Do you think it's appropriate to take children as a shield? What about if your son or daughter came to you, who is great in math, but says he wants to be magician. You say to them that is tough life, not much money, no security, etc.
• Are you going to say to them, I had dream to but I was afraid to pursue it? Do you want to use your family and see them as your jailers.
• Instead you could say go for it son... just liked I did! So the sins of the parent are visited on the children.
• Many seek refuge on their kids preventing them from pursuing their passion.

Some closing thoughts on "UNLESS":

Many are afraid to pursue their passion because they are going to fail. Instead of saying unless...

Or there are those that say..If only I had? Instead of saying unless...

Enjoy the video below, I hope it finds you more passionate than ever about your career! It did for me.

New Level… New Devil

Dealing with our fears of judgment + building a trusting Mentoring relationship

Co-authored by Greg Johnston and Chris Sherwood

I must admit that I have struggled with feelings of intimidation being around teachers, leaders, authority figures or anyone in a position of influence or power or who may have more knowledge than I.The main reason is that I have feared others’ judgment - judgment of my experiences; my successes, as well as my failures; my knowledge (or lack thereof); my clothes; the cars I have driven... pretty much any aspect of me as a person (or who I am not) or my character. It has taken me years – a lifetime, in fact – to overcome these fears… and at times I still have them.

And yet, with having my own fears of judgment, one might think that I would be sensitive to others who may consider me to be their teacher, leader or authority figure and who may struggle with the same fears. Sadly, I cannot make this claim. At times, it is I who has been the one to judge – something for which I am ashamed to have to admit and something that I find difficult to understand about myself.

Whether knowledge, power or influence actually exists in hierarchies or not, it is the perception that they do and that we may reside on a rung lower than another that is the impetus for such fears. Irrespective of whatever rung we may consider ourselves to be on (assuming that we do), it is the belief that there are rungs and that they do in fact exist in levels that drives our behaviours one way or another… hence the focus of this blog "New Level… New Devil".

What are your thoughts on power and authority? 

 Do you perceive yourself to be near the top of the ladder, and if so, how does it feel being there? Does it evoke feelings of superiority? Conversely, do you perceive yourself to be near the bottom and if so, do you struggle with feelings of inadequacy? Either way, have you ever stopped to think about where you are on your hierarchical ladder and the feelings that you have with being there? Perhaps it is more important to ask whether there is a ladder at all? For if there were no ladder, could we even be capable of generating feelings such as superiority or inadequacy?

Irrespective of where any one of us may be, do we not all need support from others and do we not all have responsibility to serve others who also need our support? If you just answered “no” to the preceding questions and you are not a plumber, perhaps you may answer them differently the next time your pipes are leaking water into your home. The bottom line is that none of us can get through life on our own – an axiom that is simply undeniable.

So that we can be more aware of our actions and the driving forces for them, it is important that we stop to reflect on what our individual experiences are regarding the various social hierarchies that exist around us and how we perceive ourselves to fit within them… if we do at all, perceive ourselves to fit within them, that is. It is also interesting to consider what the impact is on our society with respect to our collective experiences of both judging and being judged. If fears of judgment can hold us back individually, how might we be held back collectively by the same?

Personal Experience

Over the past few months I have had the privilege of meeting a number of individuals regarding The MENTOR+ project, many of whom are or have been Senior Directors within Fortune 500 companies. For people in these positions to succeed in growing their billion dollar businesses, they have to be able to lead large numbers of employees – in some cases hundreds or more. Simply put, these are people who define overachievement, so was little ol’ me intimidated to meet them? You betcha… I was petrified! Would they like my ideas or would they laugh at them and think them to be stupid? Before each meeting, I had to wrestle my fears of judgment to the ground and make the conscious choice to not give in to them. If I didn’t and chose to forgo the opportunity to meet, my fears would have gotten the better of me… and this MENTOR+ Project in which I believe so passionately may have gone nowhere. However, I have had to get to the point of asking myself "What's the worst thing they are going to say? NO?" So, what's there to worry about… in this case, nothing.

However, there are other cases where the answer to the question, “’What’s the worst thing they are going to say?’ isn’t just a simple ‘No!’” In some cases, as in some employment situations, one’s fears of judgment from asking this question may be realized in negative ways and thus, a cycle of intimidation is often perpetuated and at times opportunities for both employee and employer may be lost.

Judgment affects us all… it affects people at both the top of the so-called hierarchical ladder and also the bottom. With judgment comes fear of failure, but also fear of success. What is the solution? Mentoring relationships built on trust. Having these provides opportunities for us to deal with both our individual, but also our collective fears.

So, here are 4 things to consider:

• With respect to the position(s) you hold, consider where you fit in the hierarchy and how it feels being in that spot. Do you feel powerful or powerless… or, depending on your circumstance, do you feel both? 
• Reflect back to a time when you felt judged and how it felt to be so. Now consider whether you could be judging someone(s) else. 
• Do you have any good ideas that you haven’t taken action to implement? If so, what is stopping you? Would sharing your ideas put your well-being at risk? If so, are there other options?
• Are you in a role with decision-making authority for others? If so, how do you approach it? Do you consider the role a privilege or a right; an opportunity to serve, or an opportunity to be served? 

JUST ASK...because:

• everyone has the capacity to be a mentor; and 
• we were born with the inherent need for support (a.k.a. mentorship) from others; and
• we often fear being open with our real thoughts and feelings; and
• sometimes our fears are based on legitimate risks to our well being; and
• none of us exist in isolation; and
• we have access to information, but so often it is hard to know what is accurate and what is not; and
• we live in a world where it can be difficult to know whether someone is truly qualified to provide the support we need; and 
• even if we do know how to tell if someone were qualified, being able to access them could be impossible; and
• all too often, people in positions of authority use their position to serve themselves and not others and so good ideas are often squelched before they ever have a chance to see the light of day; and
• collectively, we all – and I mean ALL – suffer from peoples’ unrealized opportunities; and
• there is a huge need for systems that can help to fill the huge gaps just identified… hence the MENTOR+ Project.

MENTOR+ Project Update

Searching for and pulling together individuals who would be willing to serve as advisors to The MENTOR+ project or as members of the inaugural Board of Directors has been somewhat of a challenging task, but we are making big strides. At first I thought I am never going to get the people I need to take this project to the next level, but as I met with people and discussed with them my passion for this project, many individuals said “YES!”...and of course some said “NO!” I am thankful to everyone who took time to meet with me and especially so to those who have agreed to be involved more formally to help move this project to the next stage of its development. I will be announcing very soon who these individuals are, so keep your eyes peeled.

Please sign up on the website at The MENTOR+ project so you can get updates on the status of our development and announcements on how we are doing. M+ will be a platform where people can be more open, more creative, more courageous, more supported, more helpful, more interconnected, more democratic… more… MENTOR+ more…

M+ will help individuals achieve their full potential and together it will help us all achieve our collective potential. Make the decision today to become a part of breaking down the barriers that hold you back and that hold us all back.

Don't worry about being judged just ASK and move forward!

PEOPLE - PROCESS - PASSION

Rolling in the deep? Be a Giant to someone.

From watching the Grammys, I wanted to find out what “Rolling in the Deep” means, so I did a little investigation. The following description was the one I liked best, one which is based on old fashioned and poetic language: "Rolling in the Deep is what a ship far out at sea does. The image is a small ship tossed on a very deep, dark ocean". The lyrics conjure an image of the man alone in a deep sea of despair like a lonely ship rolling in the waves of the deep ocean - Rolling in the Deep. I know that I have been in many situations where I was rolling in the deep and it wasn't until I asked for help from a Giant – a mentor – that I could begin to make decisions that would help me to get to calmer waters.

Watching ADELE take home six Grammys reminded me of how much of an impact one person can make when they share themselves and their life issues with others. Through the music on her album “21”, Adele shared how she was so deeply affected by a personal loss that so many others of us have also experienced – the loss that happens when breaking up with one’s partner. Through her own pain and the power of music, Adele was able to help others cope with their pain. And although she did not necessarily have this intention at the time she wrote her music, she nevertheless became a powerful force for others who needed this.

In my life, both personally and professionally, when I have been down, I have had some great Giants come along and pick me up off my feet to help me get back on track. They may have observed in me and my situation things that reminded them of circumstances they had previously been in. By sharing their own stories with me, they tried to help me, not by telling me what to do, but instead by getting me to see things through a different set of lenses – the lenses of experience. The value of this support to me has been immeasurable.

Most mentors are passionate about helping others, especially when they see people suffering and when they believe that they can do something that can help to relieve it. In these situations, a mentor who shares their journey with a person demonstrates empathy and compassion, which reminds them that they are not alone. This simple act can change a person’s life forever.

Here are 4 characteristics of a great Giant:

Be a great communicator.
Cultivate a mastery of language and expression. You have the ability to be an effective communicator and to use it in a way that can entertain, educate, and inspire people every day.

Use your words to encourage.
At one time in my life, criticizing others and launching attacks on my opponents was the only way I could stay in control of situations, but invariably, the consequences were negative. No doubt this approach left others feeling unhappy, but it also did the same to me, causing an inner turmoil that was difficult to resolve. Giants need to be highly attuned to the feeling of others, but also to themselves so they can measure their responses by remaining calm in stressful situations.

Master Criticism.
Being a Giant means tapping into the "better angels of our nature", to use our strengths in service for others – a purpose that is much higher than ourselves and whatever personal gain we may think we will achieve. This means being able to listen to others and what they think and feel about us.

Discipline to build character.
To actually be a true Giant or Mentor requires actively engaging in a process of self-reflection and a willingness to sculpt one’s character into one that focuses outside of itself. It first means taking an honest look at yourself and being able to acknowledge both your strengths and the areas that need work. By acknowledging your strengths, you can use these to help others who could benefit from them. Helping others is one of the most powerful ways to shape your character and to finding your true purposes in life.

One of the objectives of The MENTOR+ project is to bring Giants – aka mentors – together with individuals or organizations that are in need of exactly this type of guidance. We are currently building an online social community platform that will make that much easier.

Please join me in helping build a life story for yourself and others. I am excited and passionate about the M+ community and what it will have to offer. Sign-up and be one of the firs beta-testers. BE A GIANT!

Helping to release people to their highest potential.

Why the MENTOR+ project?

Greg Johnston, M+ 

Becoming successful at anything takes dedication and hard work, but even then sometimes it helps to have guidance from others who have been there - people who have achieved the things you want to achieve.

Through his own personal and professional journey to find success, Greg Johnston has truly come to understand the importance of positive intentional mentoring relationships. Looking back, when Greg needed the support of others who could relate to his issues, provide answers to his questions, or just offer wisdom to help him get to the place he wanted to go, Greg found solutions from his mentors... a advocate... a Champion!

So, Greg thought to himself, “Why shouldn't everyone be able to find the support of a mentor(s)?” This led Greg to create The Mentor+ Project – a disruptive social online community that matches mentors with mentees through a truly innovative social networking platform that is professional and informative, while also being simple and fun to use! "It is unlike any other mentoring platforms out there today."

Whether you feel that you are the mentor someone could be looking for or the potential mentee who is seeking knowledge from others, you need to visit The MENTOR+ project and become a member! Sign-up today so that we can keep you updated on our upcoming BETA launch and any other future developments. As an added incentive over the next while we will be holding contests that will be open to all the members or followers.Winners will receive prizes that could even include a special introduction to our Mentor Mogul.

Join us in the journey it's going to be AMAZING!