Mentoring

When you sow a handful of unmarked seeds, you have no way of knowing how it will turn out – will it be a quick-growing colorful annual plant or a late bloomer that lasts through seasons? One of the joys of interacting with young people in the workplace is the satisfaction of seeing them do well as they progress in their careers.

I have firmly believed that aptitude is God-given, the rest is up to us. The big step is in recognizing our talents and figuring out where and how we want to use them. But the path is not always smooth. Doubts abound. Sometimes well-meaning friends, family and acquaintances point out the futility of marching to the beat of your own drummer. More often it is self-doubt that stalls.

Whenever I have come across youngsters who are full of potential but lacking in self-confidence, I have tried my best to give them a hand. It is not advice they need, they need an example. I try to show them a glimpse of what they can be, not what they currently are or where they came from. Quite often they talk of hurdles, real and imagined. The intention is there, buried under a cloud of misgivings. If action does not match intention, there is no movement. And that is the greatest failure for those who sense their latent potential. It is here that I intervene, in figuring out the tiny steps they need to take towards their goal. Breaking it down to manageable pieces, making the necessary minor actions required so that journey is not a momentous earthquake but a purposeful movement to self-realization.

Recently a newly-married young woman called to tell me she was moving to a new city to be with her husband and had resigned from the job; the job at which we had met. She was diffident and anxious about her ability to manage a house, live in another city away from all that was familiar and more importantly, concerned about starting afresh in a new job. I had no doubts about her competence and ability to handle this change. But she needed to hear that, from someone who had helped her with change on a professional level, worked with her through those inevitable sticky spots and moments of despair. I told her what she needed to hear. And she told me what I wanted to hear – that she considers me her mentor who had guided her so far. She said she hoped to be able to consult me for the rest of her life.

I must confess that she made my day. Not by the compliments she showered but by giving me a chance to see how the seed of confidence that I had sowed would turn out.