Leader Pathways

The Life of Leading Greatly  
March 2010   

Mentoring Leaders for Bold Tomorrows

Individual Mentoring or Custom In-house Group Programs

Publishing and Speaking

In this Issue:

HOW WILL YOU DECIDE TO INVEST IN YOUR LEADING?

Your Leadership Difference

An on-line executive leader development course:
a proven way for you, wherever you live, whatever your schedule, to step into the life of leading. We recommend this program for managers, people aspiring to greater leading and experienced executives.

Go to www.leadermentoring.com
and enroll TODAY.

   HOW WILL YOU DECIDE TO INVEST
   IN YOUR LEADING?

Our on-line “Leadership Difference” program is up and running with our first class. It is exciting to be able to offer our mentoring expertise in a way that eliminates barriers of price, geography and finding bosses willing to organize a custom, in-house program. If our on-line prospects want to take leading to a new level, they sign up, and run with it.

As the producer of this program, I am also faced with a new question: what will attract individuals like you to our program?

The question arises because in the on-line program, we are asking you, sitting alone in the privacy of your thoughts and aspirations, to make a decision to invest in yourself. Even if you convince your employer to pay the tuition or chip in, the decision to sign up for our program still starts with you.

So, what would we have to say or do or offer to get you to decide, “I want to lead at a different level, accomplish something I had never thought I could, have more impact on more people than I do now. I’ll do this program. ”

It’s not just a matter of sales. The question goes to the heart of aspiration itself, which is our main concern. We are in the aspiration business, first and foremost.

Do you aspire to be a leader?

Some think aspiration is innate, that there are just some people who have that additional quotient of energy that propels them onward to new horizons. Others think aspiration can be triggered when something new and exciting comes up and ignites that extra burst of energy.

But in the quiet of your room, in the sanctuary of your rest, reflection and relaxation, what would trigger your desire to make an investment – of real money and time – in your leading? How would you, all by yourself, recognize, acknowledge and act on that aspiration within you?

Do you think of yourself as a leader? You must, at some level, or you wouldn’t be reading this newsletter every month (or so). Maybe there are good reasons for not taking the step to enroll. Maybe it’s a matter of finances, or an already busy and harried life juggling work and family.

Or maybe you just don’t need something like this in your life right now. Maybe you are satisfied with your leading and your ability to create followers. Maybe you are satisfied with gaining confirmation and affirmation of what you already believe about your leading, or maybe you have ample opportunities at work to enhance your leading.

But how do we reach those of you who don’t feel that way, and trigger your decision to enroll?

Do you have a mentor?

Let me offer this as motivation: Put mentors in your life or your leading languishes. In many different settings, I have put this idea another way: No mentors, no leaders. I know of no leader who hasn’t expressed profound gratitude to that special person who recognized their aspirations to lead. Our mentor-guided program does that and more: our program puts you in the heart of a community of people who share your aspirations. They all recognize your aspirations and want nothing else but to bring them to fruition. The mentor assigned to your class helps you articulate who you are as a leader.

You may have many roles in life – parent, worker, manager, sibling, son or daughter -- but in none of those roles will you fully discover who you are as leader. In fact, no one but a mentor will help you realize why you and your life experiences can create followers. In none of those other roles are your aspirations to become the best leader you can be fully cared for and cultivated.

We know that leading isn’t just about ambition and getting ahead. It’s about putting what truly matters to you into the world for others to enjoy and value. And we also know that your healthy self-doubt might prevent you from stepping into the leader role. So here are a few guiding questions to help you shift your aspiration into high gear:

• Do you think that your idea is worthy of following? We’ll help you get that idea in shape so you can set out with resolve, with all your might, to accomplish it.
• Do you think you have the experience to lead? We’ll help you see where your strengths are already fully engaged, and how other strengths you already have can be raised to a new level.
• Do you wonder what it is that others see in you such that they want to follow you? We’ll help you see just that, so you can offer it to your followers with constancy and self-trust.

So what might move you to take the next step and at least talk to Billie or me about the course?

What moves you may be the realization that your heart beats with the aspiration to lead and that a resource to make that aspiration blossom into more expansive and encompassing realities for the lives you want to affect is right here at your fingertips

Go to www.leadermentoring.com and check out what we have to offer. Then contact us and let’s talk about it.

Help us! You can then say that you too joined forces to launch a new way to develop the aspiring leaders who bring us bold tomorrows. To learn more about how Arch can work with YOUR organization, contact me personally or visit www.leadermentoring.com.