MENTORING: AN EXPONENTIAL LEVERAGE FOR YOUR WEALTH AND SUCCESS
Dear
friend, I’m sure you still remember our discussion on leverage as the best kept secret of the rich and the
most successful people in the world. They are able to multiply themselves,
their efforts, their money, and their success in all fields, so many times over,
because of using leverage to magnify their little efforts. Mentoring is another
form of leverage every average person who is smart employs to scale heights
unimaginable. Let’s see how this is possible.
A mentor is somebody who is much more
experienced, and in most cases older, than the person or persons he advises, guides,
and supports. Mentoring, therefore,
is serving as an adviser, guide, teacher, and source of inspiration to a
less-experienced and perhaps younger person or persons. Mentees are the less-experienced persons who are humble enough to accept
tutelage and learn from mentors.
On
January 18, 2018 I was fully occupied in an Economic and Political Summit (as a
member of the Planning Committee) that was organized by Uyo Local Government.
Uyo is the capital of Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria, West Africa. In the Keynote
Address delivered by the Executive Chairman, Elder Imo Okon, and other papers
delivered by eminent scholars, particularly Dr. Aniekan Brown, an associate
professor and Dean of Students Affairs at the University of Uyo, the issue of
mentoring was sufficiently highlighted as a vital missing link in today’s
matrix of both personal and corporate success.
Truth
is, mentoring is one of the shortest cuts to wealth, career success, fame,
popularity, and whatever else you can think of. Isaac Newton, one of the greatest
scientists who ever lived, and the scientist who discovered the law of
universal gravitation, said that, if he had seen better and clearer, or known better
and much more, it was because he stood on the shoulders of others who had gone ahead
of him.
Good
news is that most persons who are accomplished in various fields of human endeavour:
business, investment, academics, civil and public service, sports, preaching, agriculture,
ICT, etc, are willing and eager to share their wisdom, knowledge, and skills with
others. But the challenge is this: how many
less-experienced, young or middle-aged persons, whether male or female, are eager,
hungry, desperate, and determined enough to take initiative to seek association
with their potential mentors?
The world is in dire need
of mentees. Riches are in urgent need of average people who
are willing and desperate to understudy the wealthy persons of the world, so that
they (riches) can be assessed. This applies to all fields of human endeavour.
When
you understudy mentors, you gain within a far shorter time the ideas, knowledge,
skills, they used years to acquire. Besides, not only do you avoid many mistakes
they made by learning from their experiences, but you also learn the skills and
models that worked best for them and know what to focus on for multiplied results.
Aliko
Dangote, the richest black man in the world as at today, says “I inherited my business
skills from my grandfather.” His late grandfather, Alhaji Sanusi Dantata, was his
mentor in business. Andrew Carnegie mentored Napoleon Hill, the author of Think and Grow Rich. Jim Rohn mentored Anthony
Robbins. Earl Nightingale mentored Denis Waitley. We can go on and go.
Personally,
I am a product of mentors over the years. I humble myself to learn so much from
their wealth of knowledge and experience. Principal among them are Dr. David Oyedepo,
Obong Paul Ekpo, and Pastor Nkereuwem Onung. They have greatly shortened my access
to success.
Who
are your mentors? If you don’t have any, find at least one today. If you already
have any, service the lines of communication very well. Don’t ever fight them or
stay out of tune with them. But note this, mentors
don’t give you a fish to eat, they teach you how to fish. Knowing the difference
between the two will empower you to discover mentoring as an exponential
leverage for your wealth and success.
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