I saw this post recently about the importance of having someone believe in you.
Ultimately, it’s about the impact that can have on what you do, how you do it and what you go and achieve.
Amazing eh?
But it’s important to know how it works.
Because it’s certainly not by having people pander to you. In fact, in my experience, it’s the opposite.
But it’s never expressed with distain or abuse… it’s always through questions designed to better understand what you want to do.
Or make you think about where you want to go.
Not because they disagree with you – they always remember this is about your choices, not theirs – it’s just because they wish to witness whatever they see in you, go as far as it can go.
I’ve been very fortunate to experience this.
Not just with my parents, but with different people over the years.
Lesley. Lee. Simon. Mark, Rupert. Charlie. Paula. To name but a few.
For me, that is what real mentorship is …
Wanting the best for you rather than telling you what to do.
But what I particularly liked about this clip is that it reminded me of Bazza – who, in his early teens – wrote to Kofi Annan, Bill Clinton, Steve Jobs and Nelson Mandela. [I think that’s who it was, I may have added/missed one. Baz?]
And over a period of years, he somehow got to meet every one of them.
Then asked them for a reference.
Which they gave him.
Not because he was a cheeky bastard, but because they saw something in him that they believed in.
A desire to do something good with whatever they thought was special about him.
And while ‘good’ is personal rather than – as many think – universal, the role of their encouragement is to increase the odds in your favour a little.
It’s a generous gift.
Of course, what happens next is up to you and luck.
But for all the ‘thought leadership’ being shoved down our throats, maybe the most valuable thing we can do is let someone know we believe in them.
In who they are so they can see, where they can go.