Mentoring-leadership's key ingredient.

• Author: Wiesner, Pat

WE DON'T REALIZE THE INCREDIBLE EFFECT WE CAN HAVE on those around us without really doing much.

Mentoring is the first job of an effective leader.

If you ask people to recall teachers from their lives who were real mentors to them they almost always come up with one or maybe two names.

We all seem to remember a couple of people who have had a big influence on our development.

And it's interesting to note that almost all the others are nameless in our memories (except the really worst).

Think now of one person who really helped you and what it has meant.

The first sort of mentor I can remember was a hockey coach from high school. He thought I could be a good hockey player and he kept telling me so. I would have tried to skate through the sideboards for that guy (and probably did so one or two times more than I should have). But I just couldn't let that man down. And it helped me to be a better player.

The first business mentor I remember was my first sales manager in Chicago. Much of how I do things to this day came from him, and most of the underlying philosophy of selling began with him. He was tough and demanding yet he kept telling me about my strengths and how I was going to be great.

But it wasn't all just rosy reinforcement; many times he told me to "dynamite and rebuild" after a presentation or sales call. But it was always from the point of view that it was just another one of the hard-won steps on the way to becoming the salesman I really wanted to be.

Had this particular person not happened into my life I would probably never have gone into sales, or at least I never would have been successful at it.

Most of us are pretty unsure of ourselves and we get so little feedback on the subject that we listen intently when we get some from a source that is important...