Re-thinking your mentoring approach

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Re-thinking your mentoring approach” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:left|color:%2345731f” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]My mentoring relationship with Mercy (not her real name for confidentiality purposes) is unique because it’s neither one of those I planned for nor is it under a structured program. Mercy had just come back from the UK after being there for about 10 years. During this time she undertook a HR course and worked in the same line before deciding to come back home. As she was wondering where to go to church and find a mentor, her friend who is known to me invited her to our church and that is how we met. Young, pretty and educated Mercy was determined to find a footing in her own country. She further informed me she was looking towards achieving three things;

 Secure a job immediately
 Grow spiritually- be grounded in the word of God
 Get into a relationship that would lead to marriage.

I realized that what I was about to commit to was not easy but being one who is naturally driven when it comes to helping someone achieve what they are capable of, I was determined to do it. It is during this unplanned, unstructured mentoring relationship that I appreciated the following rules of mentorship;

Sacrifice; I set aside one hour every Sunday after service to meet with Mercy. This was a sacrifice considering that Sunday is a family day meaning I had to momentarily deny myself this family time. I was not going to help Mercy if I was not ready to sacrifice.

Confidentiality; The issues that Mercy needed us to address were sensitive, so sensitive that she could often breakdown during our meetings. If it’s not a relationship gone sour it’s a turn down by a potential employer, a family member who‘s a nuisance or just feeling at her lowest. The best I chose to do for Mercy during this time was to hold all information shared with high level of confidentiality. Even when I needed to refer her for help in areas that I was not an expert, I avoided sharing any information to a third party without her consent.

Motivation; Though I do mentoring at a fee, this one was among the unique ones that I do not charge. Two things that motivate me; 1. Gratitude; as a young girl in my Church school class, we used to sing this song; ‘What do you have that you were not given X2, Do not behave like you were not given, Glorify God with what you have’. I am motivated to share what God has freely given me. 2. Love; I cared deeply for Mercy and I took it as my responsibility to help her unleash her potential. I loved to see her make small & major steps towards her desired goal. These two (gratitude & love) are my motivation in any mentoring relationship whether paid or not. They are fulfilling.

Transparency; At first I noticed that Mercy was shy and cautious, she could say little and leave it for me to fill out the blanks. That was frustrating because I wanted her to be as open as possible. I asked God to help me through this set back and He quickened something in me- the need to make the relationship less formal and share my life with Mercy. I started inviting Mercy into my life; sharing my own experiences; good or bad, introducing her to my work & family, praying together and so forth. This took our relationship to another level just because Mercy realized that I am also human.
Paul says; “so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well”. 1 Thessalonians 2:8. I doubt if I would have had the kind of breakthrough I had in helping Mercy if I never shared my life with her.
While it is true that different mentoring relationships require different approaches, I am convinced that as a mentor you will not help much unless you stir up your awareness and understanding of these four; Commitment, Confidentiality, motivation and transparency. Please take time and consider how you apply the four.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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entrepreneur-leader

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]entrepreneur-leader[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Becoming “The Leading Entrepreneur”

“Entrepreneurship is not even an option, it is a national necessity. It is the only way through which we can strengthen our currency, cure joblessness and uplift our standards of living”, Edwin H. Dande CEO Cytonn Investments. This is close to what Nicole Martins, an e-commerce Entrepreneur, says “An entrepreneur is the person who sees a problem in the world and immediately focuses on creating the solution. They’re the leaders that strike out on their own to improve society. Whether they’re creating jobs or a new product, they constantly take action to ensure world progress. As a result entrepreneurs create jobs, create change, give to society and add to the National income” While I couldn’t agree more, I thought, ‘leadership is a skill that an entrepreneur must have in order to succeed’ or simply put a successful entrepreneur must ‘lead’. We explore a few characteristics of “The Leading Entrepreneur’.

Focus;The leading Entrepreneur must focus on something. Steve Jobs returned to lead Apple in 1997. Upon his return, Jobs found that Apple had widely diversified its product lines. He concluded, “Apple is in serious financial crisis and we can’t afford to do anything extra…we have got to focus and do something we can be good at.” Under his direction the company reduced its offering to just four computers; two desktops and two laptops. This narrowed focus contributed to Apples remarkable turnaround. Could it be time for you to be honest and say, “we cannot afford to do anything extra…we have got to focus”

Influence;The leading entrepreneur influences. “The true measure of leadership is influence-nothing more, nothing less” John Maxwell.  As an entrepreneur your measure of leadership is determined by their ability to influence the resources at your disposal. Key among these resources is people and they include; customers, employees, suppliers, investors, directors, family and friends. Your success is dependent on all or most of these resources.

You are the product; The leading Entrepreneur makes ‘People buy into them’. “People at first don’t follow worthy causes. They follow worthy leaders who promote causes they can believe in” John Maxwell. This is true in entrepreneurship-people will need to believe in you before they believe in your product or service. You are the product-sell yourself first!!Give people a reason to ‘buy into you’ before buying what you are offering.

Character; The leading entrepreneur exhibits character. “The only thing that walks back from the tomb with the mourners and refuses to be buried is the character of a man. This is true. What a man is survives him, it can never be buried.” J.R. Miller. Character communicates consistency, potential and respect. As an entrepreneur you need to deliver what is expected day after day. It is important to note that talent, passion, great idea and commitment must be reinforced by character.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Right path towards destination

by with One Comment Life
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Steve Covey calls it; ‘Beginning with the end in mind’, that is Habit 2 in his Book ‘7 Habits of Highly effective people’, Chuck Blakeman calls it ‘Your Big why’ in his Book, ‘Making Money is Killing your Business’ and my all-time life manual, the Bible, calls it ‘Vision’; ‘Where there is no vision people perish’ Prov 29:18.

As an entrepreneur you need to figure out ‘Your destination’, ‘Your Big Why’ or ‘Your vision’ as Steve, Chuck and The Bible puts it respectively. Until this is clear you are not in a position to understand where you are so that the steps you take are always in the right direction. One of the steps is creating a Business system which is your pathway towards your destination. This is a simple process that helps connect all activities of the business into one harmonious operation.

A business system is not a preserve for the large enterprises but for the small ones as well. The basic necessities to reach your destination are the same whether a small entrepreneur or not. For instance you can’t ignore how and where you source your raw materials since that has an implication on the overall cost of production, neither can you ignore how you handle and store the materials once they are procured. You need to pay attention to every step of production making sure you have skilled workers and are keen to minimize wastages. Once the product is ready; how does it get to your target customer? Attention goes to your marketing approach and customer engagement techniques. Others include financial management and administration which are key support pillars for the others to function. All these are activities that form a Business system and they create for you a highway towards your ‘Big Why”. It is upon you to ensure that this highway is not full of potholes rest you take ages to reach your destination, also to see to it that you have built bumps and put road signs in place to caution yourself against dangers that could hinder you from getting to your destination.

I advise every business owner to have an effective Business system. The main reason why Businesses are struggling to grow is because of gaps in the system. It is your responsibility as the Business owner to identify and take the necessary measures to close these gaps. For example until you know that staff negligence and lack of skills is the reason you are incurring material wastages you will not address that problem (gap). The gap, if left unattended, will either bring your Business to a close or slow you down significantly.

One of our entrepreneurs has this to say after a session with us on the ‘Importance of a Business System’; “As Meatmatt ltd we applied what we learned from M_OliveS .We have put systems in place to ensure quality products and timely deliveries to our clients .We installed a refregerated system and acquired a refrigerated van for preservation purposes. We have skilled staff and we pay attention to segregation of duties. I doubt if we would be where we are now if it were not for the systems that we have put in place. We supply meat to major organizations in Nairobi and Kiambu and I can say that our customers are happy. I am confident that very soon we will be the leading supplier of meat and meat products in Nairobi and beyond” Says Godwin a director at Meatmatt. Meatmatt is on the right path towards its destination. Are you?

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”620″ label=”” title=”MARY KAMORE: Director and Lead Consultant, M_OliveS Mentoring Consultants”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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Why I will always come back

by with No Comment LifeUncategorized

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”lead mb-xl”]Why I will always come back[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] 

Nancy has been my hair dresser for more than 10 years but with a few attempts to change, not because I don’t like her services but because I find her a bit expensive.  While the change has costed me less I have always walked away disappointed; needless to say, then, that each attempt has been with a different hair dresser. Nancy  has never been offended by  this and when I return to her, after each unsuccessful try, she gives me a warm welcome going out of her way to make sure she has dressed all the ‘wounds’  I  bring from my wanders.

I took time this week to reflect on what is so unique about my hair dresser of more than 10 years. Mark you I am not the only client who has tried to abandon her with no success; we are a number of us. These few points came to mind and they stand out as key Business lessons for you as an entrepreneur; Value proposition, Value delivery, Market focus and the Customer buying criteria.

Value proposition; Nancy has set herself apart from others.  She understands what I want, when and how. It is not once she has behaved like a ‘doctor’; “Mary ‘our’ hair feels a bit tired, I am going to treat it gently for the next two visits”, “Please check your diet Mary, what you eat affects your hair too”. No matter how comical it may sound, she helps me realize how much she knows what I value. She is in synch with my wants and needs something that every customer yearns for.

Value delivery; When you propose value you must work at delivering it.  I met Nancy at a time when I was desperate to get a good hairdresser. She promised me a list of ‘good things’; a unique touch (“each one’s hair is different and must be treated as so”, she says), quality & safe hair products, cleanliness and availability. This was value proposed and I decided to test if she will deliver on the proposal, she did!

Market focus; “The secret to failure is trying to please everybody” Bill Cosby. One day I asked Nancy, ‘how comes you don’t get offended when I try other hairdressers.  She confidently answered; “I work hard to make sure that I serve you to your satisfaction so that in case you try someone else you will have a reason to come back”, “ My plan is not to have very many customers, I have few who I serve well and that is how I keep them” she adds.

Customers’ purchase criteria; Having been with one hairdresser for more than a decade and with failed attempts to ‘runaway’  I can confirm that she totally understands why I  go to her(buying criteria); personalized treatment, quality and safe products, clean services and availability of the person/service.

Can you take some time to reflect on your Business? Think about your Value proposition, Value Delivery, Market Focus and your Customer’s Buying Criteria. What needs to change? Can that ‘wandering’ customer find a reason to ‘come back to you’?  Thank you Nancy for giving me a reason to ‘always come back to you’![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Market focus

by with No Comment business
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”lead mb-xl”]Market Focus[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
We decided to celebrate our entrepreneurs during this Customer service week (csweek2019), those who we have mentored over the years. The ones who helped us realize that the word ‘mentor’ just like the word ‘mummy’ is not just any other word but it comes with responsibilities. Those we can look back to and say, “We raised them” and they can equally look at us and say, “Here is our ‘mentor’ (‘mummy’). For us to ‘LIKE WHAT WE GET’ we realize that we have to pay attention to some key aspects of Mentoring. The first one is the Empowering aspect of mentorship; a mentee in the end needs to be proud of their positive growth after a mentoring journey with us. This positive growth can and should be measured. Second is uniqueness; a mentor should never ‘cut and paste’ a mentoring approach. Each mentee is unique to us and we therefore treat them as such when designing our mentoring methods. The third one is ‘Relationship’; being a value adding relationship our mentoring is driven by honesty, respect for each other, clarity of goals as well as being a win-win for both the mentor and the mentee. The last one and not the least is commitment; We will go out of our way to support our mentees not so much because of the value of the currency but because of the ‘personal satisfaction and shared accomplishments’ that comes with this commitment.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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Our mentoring “we like what we get”

by with No Comment business
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”lead mb-xl”]We like what we get[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Last month one of my nephews turned 14 and being a first born his mum (my sister) wrote down a sweet birthday message with a part of it saying.” You introduced the word mummy to my life” and I thought ‘how sweet and how true’?  For those of us who are parents you agree with me ‘mummy’ or ‘daddy’ never meant much until you became one. You also agree that it is one thing to be called a ‘mummy’ and another thing to take up the responsibilities that comes with being one. There are needs that a child has which only you as a mummy or daddy can meet and hence they become our responsibilities. However, whether you take up these responsibilities or not the child will still grow and you will still be called ‘mummy’.  My friend and a sought-after speaker on the subjects of marriage and parenting, Dr Stanley Mukolwe, writes in his Book ‘Rising Future Parents’”. …you may choose when to have children, you may even choose how many children to have. But once you have these children, you cannot choose when to raise them. Your choices are gone! If you do not raise them, they will still grow. But you may not like what you get!” We decided to celebrate our entrepreneurs during this Customer service week (csweek2019), those who we have mentored over the years. The ones who helped us realize that the word ‘mentor’ just like the word ‘mummy’ is not just any other word but it comes with responsibilities. Those we can look back to and say, “We raised them” and they can equally look at us and say, “Here is our ‘mentor’ (‘mummy’). For us to ‘LIKE WHAT WE GET’ we realize that we have to pay attention to some key aspects of Mentoring. The first one is the Empowering aspect of mentorship; a mentee in the end needs to be proud of their positive growth after a mentoring journey with us. This positive growth can and should be measured. Second is uniqueness; a mentor should never ‘cut and paste’ a mentoring approach. Each mentee is unique to us and we therefore treat them as such when designing our mentoring methods. The third one is ‘Relationship’; being a value adding relationship our mentoring is driven by honesty, respect for each other, clarity of goals as well as being a win-win for both the mentor and the mentee. The last one and not the least is commitment; We will go out of our way to support our mentees not so much because of the value of the currencybut because of the ‘personal satisfaction and shared accomplishments’ that comes with this commitment. We desire to be like Paul in the Bible who committed time to mentor Timothy his ‘true son in the faith’ (1 Tim 1:2). Through their close relationship Paul empowered Timothy by giving him direct input and many opportunities so that he could grow personally and develop in Ministry. It is our prayer that each one that comes to us for mentorship will experience an empowering, unique relationship driven by our commitment to see them grow personally and develop in what they do. And they are right. As an entrepreneur, you have to be prepared to give it your all – energy, time, and attention at any time of the day or night. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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