Quips & quotes

5-minute Contest: Mentorship and Onboarding

/ Susan Hendrich / 2 Comments

Mentor Me…

Here’s an easy contest to win!

In his article, “Mentoring and On-Boarding: Two Peas in a Pod,” Talent Management’s Frank Kalman makes a compelling case for mentorship as a game-changing onboarding tool. I’m going to take a leap by extending Kalman’s theory, and say that I believe that you (yes, you, dear reader) are an expert in onboarding mentorship. Curious? Read on…

 

You Are an Onboarding Expert

Since you’re reading this post, I’m guessing you’re interested in the topics of mentoring and onboarding (either that, or you’re my mom, who reads all my posts – because that’s what mentors do – invest in their peeps). No doubt you’ve been “onboarded” in an organization before – be it your workplace, your place of worship, or your neighborhood association. And I’m betting that somebody helped you with the ropes when you joined that organization. That mentee experience in itself gives you a certain amount of mentoring mavenship. You know what good (or not good) mentorship feels like.

Let’s now transform this expertise of yours into a reward. It’s time to get you published in the blogosphere!

Contest Guidelines

Take five minutes to participate in this Mini-Mentoring Contest and you could win a featured “Guest Author” spot on the Leadership and Learning Innovation site.  Here’s how:

  1. Take a quick read of Kalman’s brief article, Mentoring and On-Boarding: Two Peas in a Pod.
  2. Answer one or more of the following questions:
    • What role has mentorship played in your own onboarding experiences?
    • What kind of mentorship did/do you provide in helping others to onboard?
    • How can you “pay it forward” for future members of your organization?
  3. Submit your ideas/stories here.
  4. Submission Deadline: Tuesday, July 24th

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Winning Entries

Compelling mini-stories, theories of mentorship, or even 3-word mantras on the secrets of onboarding mentorship will be considered for publication in the next Leadership & Learning Innovation article in this series, “There’s No Ship Like Mentorship.”

Are You Resilient?

/ Susan Hendrich / 5 Comments

Cast light every day…

Everything can be taken from a man or woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.  – Victor E. Frankl

re·sil·ience

noun \ri-ˈzil-yən(t)s\

  1. the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress
  2. an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change

Throughout my adult life, for various reasons, I have been told that I am resilient. But my story isn’t relevant today. Oh, believe me, I’d like for you to know all the joys and challenges, triumphs and struggles I’ve experienced. But when I’m practicing resilience, sometimes that means casting aside wounds, wonders, worries and woes in order to allow the simplicity of a message to shine through. So in the spirit of simplicity, all I will say right now about my discovery of the power of resilience is that I believe it is important to cast light, every day.

Cast your light

By shining our inner light outward toward the world, we brighten all that we see. So if you are reading this, it is because you were willing to let this light be cast upon you for a moment.

Your turn…

How will you cast your light? Post a comment here to share how you will demonstrate your resilience today.

Take a chance

/ Susan Hendrich / 4 Comments

Leap and The Net Will Appear…

Two weeks ago I began taking my first formal art class. The self-portrait I’m showing here is my first completed piece. I am a little scared to share it here, but I’ve decided to do so in the spirit of taking chances. Is it a Rembrant? No. But it’s progress. And that’s all I’m after for now.

Take a Chance

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.”  What a lovely invitation to take purposeful risks in the hopes of making yourself…better. A better friend. A better partner. A better leader. A better person. By intentionally choosing to expose yourself to the possibility of reward in the face of failure, you are saying to the world, “I am worth the risk.”

Leap and the Net Will Appear

Although the saying, “Leap and the Net Will Appear” is sometimes attributed to an unknown Zen source, it is, in fact, a quote by American naturalist John Burroughs. This blog is an example of taking a leap. When I began writing three years ago, I only had a general idea of what I wanted to talk about, namely: leadership, learning and innovation. I almost didn’t start because I only had ideas – ideas, not even content – for a few posts. What I found was, as long as I tried to be consistent, over time the material for posts naturally began to take shape. I didn’t need to plan or figure it out. The net just appeared.

The concept of taking a chance does not encourage recklessness. But it does make the important point that you must eventually act, believing that the resources you need will show up when you need them. This is simply faith in its purest form.

Special thanks to Tom Hendrich for taking a risk and inspiring me with his courage.

Your turn

 What commitment have you been waiting to make? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
 

What’s your key to success?

/ Susan Hendrich / 1 Comment

Create change with a 3-word mantra…

Change gurus often borrow from Hindu tradition to tell us that in order to create change in our lives, we need a mantra. 

According to Wikipedia, a mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of “creating transformation.”

By adopting a mantra, we can focus our mind and heart toward a single, simple message of change. With all the busyness and business that crowd our world each day, having the focus of a targeted mantra can help us to filter out the “noise” and stay connected to a goal. A plan. A dream.

What’s your mantra?

Using just three words, describe the key to your next success.

Here are a few examples:

  • Try something new
  • Always be yourself
  • Do what’s right
  • Finish the book

Your turn:

Choose three words to adopt as your next goal for success, add those words below in a “comment,” then make a plan to execute on  your mantra.

It’s your thing

/ Susan Hendrich / Leave a comment

Place your own oxygen mask on first…

Here’s a simple question for you: “How much of your day do you spend doing what is best for you, as opposed to doing what other people want you to do or think you should do?” Put another way, “How closely do you follow your inner voice?”

If your answer is anything like, “Not enough,” then read on.

It’s amazing how conditioned we can become to living our lives according to the plans, ideas, expectations and unwritten rules of others. Many of these externally-established messages are well-intended, positive and helpful. But sometimes the script that others would have us follow in life isn’t exactly what’s best for us. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that as parents, leaders, coaches or caretakers we should abandon the needs of those for whom we are responsible. In these roles, we’re obliged to consider and focus on the well-being of others. But there simply must be room in each dayto tune in to our own needs. Our own voices.

We’ve all heard the familiar mantra of the airline flight attendants during their pre-flight instructions, “…make sure to put the oxygen mask on yourself first before attempting to help someone else put on theirs.”  If you’re traveling with a child or elderly person, you naturally may want to ensure their safety first, before helping yourself. But the idea is that if you ignore your own need for oxygen, you may be unable to help your loved one and, if that happens, you may put both yourself and your loved one in danger of serious injury or worse.  The moral of this message is, “If you don’t take care of yourself first, you’ll be unable to care for your loved ones in their time of need.”

Your turn

_______________________

So, what is one thing you could focus on for yourself that would build up your own “oxygen” and allow you to better attend to the needs of others?

Thanks to my classmate, Valarie Irons-Poppiti for inspring me with her Haters photo post.