To the Protege: It's Mentoring Month!
It's "National Mentoring Month" in the United States. Since 2002, mentoring has been a focal point for US presidents, leading nonprofit organizations, and community and civic agencies. Every January, these folks partner to say one thing: be a mentor.
That's why this site exists as well. All through the year, I want to encourage mentors and protégés to seek out one another, form something together that will cause each to extend their legacies well into the future.
In keeping with the community spirit, the national movement suggests participants do at least two things during this month:
1. Thank Your Mentor. Buy a card, send a note or email, or make a call. Better yet, take your mentor to lunch or dinner. Do something in their love language that says "thank you."
2. Tribute to Mentoring. Go to the National Mentoring Partnership webpage, and post a tribute to the role of mentoring in your life. Leave a clear message that you have not come this far on your own and encourage others to gain in the ways you have as well.
But to these national emphases, I would propose a couple more steps you might take during this time.
3. Evaluate Your Mentoring. Look at your intentions, your process, and your satisfaction with the mentoring experience you have been having. Make intentional adjustments. Get the most from this complementing relationship by getting the benefit of good design.
4. Evaluate Your Periphery. Who around you needs to find or become a mentor? Schedule a courageous conversation to invite those around you into the mentoring lifestyle. The best testimonial to mentoring is to vouch for its value and fruit in your life, and to show others how to get this working for them as well.
Any time is a good time to initiate and refine mentoring practices in your life. As the month of January concludes, renew your investment in the people around you.
Do you have a mentoring story that you would like to share here? We are all ears.
