Power-leveling

I wanted to talk today about something which I have learned is very important - having a mentor. I do not come from an impoverished background, nor have I been beset by any especial hurdles, but I was definitely mired in full-blown mediocrity when I discovered mine. Or, as it would be far more correct to say, when she took me under her wing.

We had just gone through a regime change at my company, and none of us in the accounting/finance department knew anything about the incoming CFO. I wish I could say she swept in with gusto, but actually, her entrance was quiet, and marked by her asking us relevant, important questions and then actually taking the time to listen to the answers.

Her style revealed itself very slowly, even as her knowledge of the company grew quickly, and it wasn't until much later that I realized she was the modern-day Superwoman, who juggled a successful executive career with being a talented, social, and caring wife & mother. This lady also was the first person to ever give me a straight, honest assessment of my professional faults, without any sugarcoating whatsoever. To which she then added, "Yeah, you remind me a little of me when I was younger." Along the way, she gave me tips on ways to improve, and then many a chance to prove myself. It was her who convinced me to apply for business school last year, when I was perfectly happy charting my company's explosive growth in the Asia Pacific region. And now it is her I need to thank (yet again), after my company brought in an ethnocentric, cross-eyed director who has alienated half our client base, that I am now on my way to bigger and better things.

I never did anything to deserve her help, never babysat or brown-nosed, and yet she continues to look out for me, giving me insight on my future direction and writing me sparkling recommendations. To this day, I cannot say I am her friend, or even an associate, as we both have long left our original posts and continue to move in vastly different circles. But I know I owe her a lifelong debt, and she will always be a role model.

I talk about this for a few reasons. I think most people, who are in a position of success, probably have somebody (or even more than one) they feel similarly about. For those out there feeling a little lost, I encourage you to think about the people in your life who have looked out for you. Or even those people you know and admire. Don't be afraid to ask them advice; more often than not, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Secondly, "networking," is the word of the century it seems, particularly for those in the business circle. But too often, it connotes having a mile high Rolodex, or meeting people for the sake of meeting people (or the people that the people that the people know ;p). I propose something different. I am looking to cultivate a few, meaningful relationships with people who can be counted on not only to drink with me but to carry me home when I'm drunk. I will never be a social butterfly. I will never want to be able to pass through a room of 300 and call them all by name. But I will be happy having a small, close-knit network of people I can depend on, and who know they can always depend on me. That is my MO.

And lastly, like I mentioned before, I know I owe my mentor a great debt. But it can never be repaid to her, and instead, I will be repaying it to the next generation after me. In the hopes that they will then pass their knowledge and success down to even the next generation after theirs. And so on and so forth, because this is the natural order of things. So for those here like me who have debts (and who doesn't, in America?) I write this to remind myself, and you, to never forget to repay them, no matter how busy or wrapped up in our own lives we may be we owe it to those who have helped us along the way to pass the favor on.

So why did I title this post "Power-leveling?" Because in an RPG, you can either perform the quests yourself, with great difficulty and no small amount of risk to your bodily health, or instead, you can get somebody who's several levels higher to take you through them in half the time, paving the way for you to level faster. It's scary how many gaming analogies I can find in life. And that's the last time I ever reference gaming on this blog, I prom...hope. ^_^