There has been a lot to think about this past week. Somewhere around 100 topics have gone through my mind as things to write about. 

“Alternative facts”, the “Women’s Marches”, values-based leadership. 

Some days feel so consumed with negative or stressful news that I’m choosing instead to write about one of the other themes that is filling our lives. 

Bill and I are the new kids on the block when it comes to owning a wedding venue or being in any way part of the wedding industry. It has been amazing to find so many generous and kind “competitors” who are willing to share their wisdom. (The supply and demand ratio likely allows for the level of friendliness that we are experiencing but, we love it.) 

Out of the wedding show that we attended a couple of weeks ago, we have been responding to the offer for meetings where we can learn from those who have been doing this already. 

We don’t officially have a mentor but we have been making the most of these opportunities to learn the easy way. 

Let’s talk about the principals here that apply to all of us. 

Who is in your life that could share some wisdom with you either in the form of advice or in the form of asking you some great questions?  click to tweet

What questions would you benefit from asking this person? 

We are loving asking:  

* What was one of the best things you did? 

* If you were to start over what would you do differently? 

* What is something you think we should know? 

* What safeguards have you put in place for your own well-being in this business? 

* What do you wish someone had told you when you were starting? 

Not all advice that we are given is relevant but the conversation that starts from these open-ended questions is rich and always leads to really helpful information for us. 

What questions would you benefit from hearing someone with relevant experience talk about? 

In a few years I hope we are able to return the favor. 

Who can you provide some mentoring to?  

What wisdom would you like to share from your learning, maybe even learning the hard way? 

Who can you encourage to ask you open-ended questions?  

This lost practice has been making a come-back in some organizations. Why not start at least a casual mentoring relationship - the rich open conversations will bring you a lot of richness! 

Until next week, 

Marilyn 

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Marilyn Orr is a Professional Certified Coach, who, through her coaching business “ Capacity Building Coaching ”, thrives on building both personal and organization capacity through leadership coaching and development.

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