Mentoring...Making the Difficult, Doable!

Mentoring isn’t the easiest job in the world, but it is very rewarding. A mentor’s task is to help their partner see things differently, do things differently and experience different results. Mentoring is a common sense approach to change. It is the opposite of Einstein’s definition of insanity, which is……”doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Mentoring is taking the comfort out of comfortable and making the difficult doable!


Many of our mentors work in environments that are so totally different from their previous work experiences that it is almost surreal in many ways. Mentor’s face challenges of language, customs, culture, traditions, religion, experience, expertise, methodology of operations and many other elements that would disrupt the life of the most prepared individual.

Added to those challenges is the element of having limited to no control over the partner’s efforts or the end result that is incurred. Yet, there is also the inevitable demand of the contract regarding time, resources and effectiveness that is judged each and every day.

So what do we do when given a proverbial jig-saw puzzle with a thousand pieces that all appear to look alike? We look for corners and straight edges to outline the size of the puzzle we face, then start matching colors and shades that seem to go together, and finally start finding the shapes that seem to fit and make sense.

After a bit of trial and error, we find the colors and shapes that seem to fit and through effort and patience, the puzzle gradually comes together. Clearly doable, even if it started out as a difficult task.

Mentoring is just like a jig saw puzzle. We need to find the borders of capability, the colors of intent and then the shapes of experience that will result in successful completion of each contract.

Making the difficult task of change happen is the responsibility of our partners, but helping them see that these difficult tasks are indeed doable is the responsibility of the Mentor.