Practising what you preach

It’s easy to fall into the ‘do as I say, not as I do’ trap. If you want to be taken seriously and retain your credibility, you must apply all these skills to your own development.

If your manager or director is not as enlightened as you are, if they don’t offer you the support you need, you may have to ask for their help. No matter how motivated you are, we are all human and need some feedback and encouragement to keep us on track. Buy your boss a copy of this book and ask for what you want – you might have to find a diplomatic way of suggesting that they could be a great boss if only...

If you happen to be self-employed or don’t have someone whom you could ask for this kind of help, look for a mentor. Don’t be afraid to ask someone if they would be willing to give you some support – most people are flattered to be asked. Bear the following points in mind:

• Set out the ground rules for the relationship – what you would like from the mentor and what they feel comfortable in offering.
• Agree the frequency and, perhaps, the length of the meetings.
• Have an objective for each meeting.
• Don’t ask your mentor to solve all your problems – their role is to provide experience and help you to solve your own problems.
• Do use your mentor to bounce ideas off.
• Do share your goals – personal and career. A mentor can’t help if they don’t know what you’re trying to achieve.