As you navigate through life, you need people who can play the role of guide. They have experience and insight that you can learn from. They offer perspective as someone who has traveled the path before. You may have one key person who plays this role for your whole life. But most likely, you will have a team of people who each play different roles in different seasons.
Some of these relationships will be more casual and form through the connections you have, while others will be more formal as you seek them out and may even compensate them for their guidance.
Let’s look at three kinds of guides: advisors, coaches, and mentors.
An advisor offers guidance based on their expertise. It tends to be focused on one area, such as family, career, finances, health, or relationships. Most of these won’t be regular, ongoing relationships but will help you in a specific area for a particular season. While you can google anything, you can’t become experts in everything. That is why you want to develop a network of people who can advise you in their area of expertise. That’s why I would even put real estate agents, doctors, and lawyers in this category.
Examples of advisors you want to build proximity to:
I find it helpful to go to an advisor when I’m starting something new, making a big decision, or correcting a problem.
Most advisors will cost money, which can feel like a barrier leading you back to just googling for answers. Consider the return on investment. I can spend a few nights reading blogs and articles about investing and then trying my hand at the stock market. But I’m probably better off paying $100 for an hour of guidance to someone who has thousands of hours of experience. I find it helpful to go to an advisor when I’m starting something new, making a big decision, or correcting a problem.
Have you ever watched a video on YouTube and decided you could fix the leaky toilet? Only to later be sitting in the bathroom with water spraying everywhere, thinking, “This is not how it looked in the video!” Advisors have experienced when things go off the rails, and they can offer great advice for you to get back on track.
Often, the advisor helps you establish a healthy baseline and take the next step in a given area. When I think of a financial advisor, I’m not trying to become the next Warren Buffet, but I would like to establish our finances so that our family can make memories through annual vacations. Similarly, I might seek someone to advise me on fitness or nutrition to maintain a healthy weight and strength. If I wanted to win a marathon, I might need something more, which brings us to the next role, the coach.
Like advisors, coaches have deep expertise in a specific area, and your proximity to them helps you grow. Coaches tend to be more hands-on, and your engagement with them is more ongoing than with an advisor.
One way to think of coaches is as personalized consultants.
If I’m looking to make a career change, I may go to an advisor and get help identifying good career options and updating my resume. And that may be all I need. But what if I want to practice and feedback to improve my interviewing skills? Or if I want help adapting my resume to specific jobs? That sounds more like a coaching role. One way to think of coaches is as personalized consultants. Which does mean you’re likely paying for them. And there can be some sticker shock here, but again consider the return on investment. If that career coach helps you land the right job, they more than pay for themself through your increased salary, not to mention your improved job satisfaction!
Common types of coaches:
The line between advisors and coaches has blurred a bit over the past ten years. Many of those who have traditionally been advisors have upped their game and taken more of a coaching approach. But I still believe there is a distinct role of a coach, positioned between an advisor and a mentor. If you're thinking you want to try out having a coach, I'm currently offering a handful of coaching opportunities each month.
While a coach or an advisor can look similar, a mentor is different. It is usually a longer-term relationship, but the interaction isn’t as dense. It’s spread out over time. Your mentorship may be focused on a particular aspect of your life (family, career, spiritual, economic), or it may be more broad, flowing through all these areas. Also, you usually aren’t paying for a mentor!
One change that catches people off guard is that the mentee actually does more to guide the process than they do when working with a coach or advisor. While the relationship is mutual, the mentee is likely to drive the process to establish a regular cadence when connecting, as well as what content they’ll connect on. It’s essential to have good communication early on to set expectations for both the mentor and mentee.
While the relationship is mutual, the mentee is likely to drive the process to establish a regular cadence when connecting, as well as what content they’ll connect on
As you’re establishing expectations, you’ll want to identify what will be the right cadence to connect with your mentor. It could be weekly, monthly, or quarterly. It can also change in certain seasons of life where more guidance is needed.
What if you don’t know anyone who would be a good mentor? Where do you find one? Finding a mentor can feel like a daunting task. Here are three steps.
It’s easy to spend our day reacting to what comes at us. What if you could be proactive, intentionally making decisions based on your priorities? It is possible!
Our five-day short course guides you through the process of identifying your life priorities and scaling them day to everyday decisions. You’ll learn how to establish a rhythm to build good habits and grow a team that will be with you in the journey.
We’re all on a journey in our leadership. As you consider who you’re following, take time to reflect on who you’re guiding and who you’re journeying with. Want to try having a coach? Check out an opportunity to have a free coaching appointment.
Team leadership is a management approach focused on leading and guiding a group of individuals working together towards a common goal. A team leader is responsible for providing direction, support, and guidance to the team members, while fostering a positive and productive work environment.
Team leadership involves setting clear goals and expectations for the team, communicating effectively, and building trust and relationships with team members. It also involves empowering team members to take ownership of their work and contribute their unique skills and perspectives to the team's success.
Some key characteristics of effective team leadership include:
Overall, team leadership is a collaborative and empowering approach to management that values communication, trust-building, and results-driven performance.
There are several different styles of team leadership, including:
Overall, each style of team leadership has its own strengths and weaknesses, and effective leaders may use a combination of different styles depending on the situation and the needs of their team.
There are several key skills required for effective team leadership, including:
Overall, effective team leadership requires a combination of interpersonal, decision-making, and management skills, as well as the ability to inspire and empower team members to work collaboratively towards shared goals.
Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy and management style that emphasizes the importance of serving others first before considering one's own needs and desires. It's an approach to leadership that focuses on the well-being and growth of others, rather than solely on achieving organizational goals.
A servant leader prioritizes the needs of their followers or team members, providing them with support, guidance, and mentorship. They are committed to empowering their team members to reach their full potential and achieve their goals.
Some common characteristics of servant leaders include:
Overall, servant leadership is about creating a supportive and empowering environment for others to thrive. By prioritizing the needs of their followers, a servant leader can inspire trust, loyalty, and commitment, ultimately leading to better outcomes for the organization as a whole.
Learn more about how to cultivate servant leadership.
Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy and management style that emphasizes the importance of serving others first before considering one's own needs and desires. It's an approach to leadership that focuses on the well-being and growth of others, rather than solely on achieving organizational goals.
A servant leader prioritizes the needs of their followers or team members, providing them with support, guidance, and mentorship. They are committed to empowering their team members to reach their full potential and achieve their goals.
Some common characteristics of servant leaders include:
Overall, servant leadership is about creating a supportive and empowering environment for others to thrive. By prioritizing the needs of their followers, a servant leader can inspire trust, loyalty, and commitment, ultimately leading to better outcomes for the organization as a whole.
Learn more about how to cultivate servant leadership.
Servant leadership can be beneficial in the workplace in a number of ways, including:
Overall, servant leadership can lead to a more positive, productive, and fulfilling workplace environment, benefiting both employees and the organization as a whole.
Learn more about how to cultivate servant leadership.
Servant leadership differs from many other leadership styles in several key ways:
Overall, servant leadership is characterized by a focus on serving others, prioritizing empathy and collaboration, and taking a humble and accountable approach to leadership. While other leadership styles may be effective in different contexts, servant leadership can be a powerful tool for creating positive change and empowering others to reach their full potential.
Learn more about how to cultivate servant leadership.
Our five-day short course guides you through the process of identifying your life priorities and scaling them day to everyday decisions.
You’ll learn how to establish a rhythm to build good habits and grow a team that will be with you in the journey.
Our five-day short course guides you through the process of identifying your life priorities and scaling them day to everyday decisions.
You’ll learn how to establish a rhythm to build good habits and grow a team that will be with you in the journey.
Are you striving to align your goals with your values and passions?
Wondering how to measure progress or break down large goals into manageable steps?
Are you ready to transform your dreams into reality?
Our Goal Focus Guide + Worksheet is designed for you to discover how effective goal setting can transform your personal and professional life.
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