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[H228]Heart With A Cross

by Kimberly King, Kim

Mentoring is a challenging skill that requires more than just training on communication skills. Before you send your Supervisors to leadership training, coaching training or a course in Management 101, put these processes in place first in order to truly drive change for your business and create Mentors that have a mission.

1. Provide A Mentoring Mission Statement.
Just like travelers need a map to know where they are going, Mentors need a mentoring mission statement to know their direction and understand whether they are approaching their destination. Implement this Mentoring Mission Statement so that all of your Mentors know their direction and have a gauge of whether they are all achieving the desired goals:
Mentoring Mission Statement:
"Inspire others to continually strive for higher levels of performance through creative and strategic methods that are always focused to achieving your goals."

2. Expand On The Mission.
Now that you have a mentoring mission statement, you don't want it to be just a sign on the wall. You want to make sure that everyone truly LIVES and BREATHES the mission. Put a standard in place that all of your Mentors spend five minutes at the end of every day evaluating their daily performance as a mentor. They must ask themselves 4 questions:
Was I inspiring?
Was I focused to higher levels of performance?
Was I creative and strategic in my mentoring methods?
Was I focused to achieving the goals of this company?

3. Focus On The Mentors' Behaviors.
What does inspiring mean? If I just tell the mentors to "be inspiring", they may all have a different opinion of what that means. Brainstorm with them on the words and phrases that are inspiring and the actions that are inspiring. Here are some examples:
INSPIRING WORDS AND PHRASES:
"I appreciate your effort on this project."
"I trust your judgment."
"Thank you for your assistance with our new employee."
"I value your feedback on the new process."
INSPIRING ACTIONS:
Model the desired behaviors that you expect.
Make eye contact when speaking.
Greet everyone at the beginning of their shift.
Post your daily results so everyone knows what they are accomplishing.

4. Hold Your Mentors Accountable.
Just like front-line employees are held accountable for doing their job, Mentors must also be held accountable. Once you have the list of inspiring words and actions, be sure to observe their daily communications with the employees to see if they are doing what they are supposed to do. Do you see your Supervisors in their offices all day? Are your Supervisors constantly in meetings? Are Supervisors reading and analyzing reports rather than meeting with employees? Be sure that your Supervisors are spending time with their employees in order to drive change for your business.

5. Spend Time Mentoring Your Mentors.
Watch and listen to your Mentors communicating with your front-line employees. Is the word choice positive and passionate? Is the tone inflected to show enthusiasm? Is the body language positive to show interest and engagement? (Smiling, nodding head, open arms instead of crossed arms, etc.) Are there probing questions being asked to show concern and involvement? These are key behaviors that must be demonstrated in order to be inspiring and help others succeed.

6. Meet With Each Mentor.
Once you have observed each Mentor coaching the employees, sit down with each Mentor individually and come up with a mentoring plan. Each of your Mentors has strengths and opportunities for improvement. Some of your Mentors may not be using inspiring words. Others may not be modeling the desired behaviors. Others may not feel comfortable communicating with employees regarding behaviors that need to change. Communicate with each Mentor what the focus behavior is that you would like to change. Set a time frame for changing that behavior and hold each one accountable for making those changes.

The success of your business is hinging on the skills of your Mentors. If your front-line Supervisors are simply checking time sheets, participating in meetings or reading reports, you are not gaining the greatest return on investment from your Mentors. Your Mentors are the key to driving change in your business. Help your Mentors to learn how to mentor with the mission of driving change and producing higher performance!

When a suitable match of equal status, qualifications and good family background is found, wedding date is decided. Generally, there are various pre wedding and post wedding ritual that are followed in a particular society. From ages they have been passed from generation to generation and are practiced even today.

A wedding is a ritual, time honored and sacred but that does not mean that wedding ceremony has to be like every other. Of course, some couples choose to be extremely original. They think of some unique ideas.

Some opt for exchanging vows on a roller coaster, while bungee jumping or even dressed as trekies. They find it good for uninhibited display of originality. But even if you prefer more traditional and peaceful wedding, you can still find creative ways to infuse in the ceremony with elements that are distinctive. You can browse ceremony ideas.

You can welcome your guests with a difference. You can serve a lemonade, iced tea or water. It's a nice touch and guests will appreciate the gesture. You can use refreshment of choice to tie in the theme or style of the day, depending on the season or nature of the wedding. You can divert from the seasonal dishes and serve some unseasonable dishes in the main course.

It is not necessary that every wedding ceremony must take place in a house of worship. Unique locations or some outdoor sites can make for ceremonies that are both spiritual and memorable.

You can plan your wedding on a ship or on exchange your vows at the hilltop.

For the decorations also, you may not go for the traditional floral arrangements. Try some thing unique. How about draping framed photographs of the bride and groom tied with ribbon over the ends of each row?

During summer, you can put small bamboo fans on the walls. Keep the shape and style traditional, and include personal letter or poem to add some interest to this often overlooked detail. There are other ways to make entrance beyond the traditional march with your father. Ride in on a horse or be escorted by parents, a close uncle, friend or even a pet.

If you do not want to walk down the isle to the same song as thousands of brides and want to do something appealing, there's no reason that you cannot substitute your favorite tune to make a memorable substitute. While choosing your “maid” of honor, you can go for a guy who happens to your best pal and instead have “a man of honor”. The same thing goes for the best man; there's no reason why can't be a “best woman”.

You can have a theme based invitation for the party. Chocolates shaped in heart can be send to the guests. While walking down the isle, you can hold a beautiful vase or bowl with a combined sand in two colors creating a visual representation of the union of two families.

You can put in your most colorful imaginations in your wedding plans and make it a memorable event.

Article Source : How to Mentor

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Both Kimberly King & Rafi Michael are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Kimberly King has sinced written about articles on various topics from Mentoring, Sales and Negotiation and Parenting. With 23 years of call center experience, national speaker and author, Kimberly King, helps clients create . Contact her at. Kimberly King's top article generates over 1600 views. to your Favourites.

Rafi Michael has sinced written about articles on various topics from Wedding Bells, Holidays and Careers and Job Hunting. Babylon Productions Wedding Photography & Video Productions Toronto we specialize in individual. Rafi Michael's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.