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Six Strategies to Side-Step A Summer Slump!

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The long days and warm breezes of summer are here at last! Your projects are completed and clients could be heading out of town, en route to vacation. Maybe a client or two will green light new work just after Labor Day? You also may have a vacation scheduled—but what else will you do this summer? While it may be tempting to succumb to a summer siesta, July and August don’t have to result in lost business momentum. You may decide to work fewer hours, but you can still be productive.

This summer, you can choose to be creatively resourceful and move your business forward in key areas, even while many clients and prospects are otherwise engaged. In fact, because many clients and promising prospects who remain on your radar screen may be more available during July and August (when they’re not vacationing), it may be feasible to schedule some client face time. Positive business relationships are a competitive advantage, able to magnify feelings of trust and credibility that can make a difference when you’re on a short list for being hired.

The summer slowdown is also an excellent time to conduct strategic planning. Unless this time of year is a busy one for your organization, you may find the summer months to be conducive to examining your business operations, financial picture, marketing ROI, workflow efficiency and other areas that will get your company organized and operating efficiently. Once Labor Day rolls around, you’ll be happy that you gave yourself a jump start as the busier fall and winter seasons approach. The six strategies suggested below are meant to inspire you to take decisive action during this season and prepare your business to flourish and grow like a garden in summer.

1. Launch a Gratitude Campaign

While technology has enabled us to communicate and connect from any location that supports internet access, virtual and other online conversations cannot replace the power of face2face relationship building. To that end, consider scheduling meet-ups during July and August. The summer months are usually an ideal time to catch up and sit down with your professional contacts in your locale who’ve been especially impactful—clients, colleagues, prospects who were almost clients, your business support team—bookkeeper, accountant, business attorney, internet security expert and website host—plus the referral sources who have been your cheerleaders. Whether you meet over a “power” breakfast buffet, an al fresco lunch, or after-work drinks at a roof top bar, showing those who’ve advanced your success how much you appreciate their support by inviting them to be your guest will display your gratitude.

2. Host an event

Why not celebrate summer by hosting a networking event? Everyone loves a good party and an invitation to a summertime get-together has the potential to make those on your guest list anticipate a good time and happy to RSVP. A weeknight networking meet-and-greet event could be a wonderful way to nurture important relationships and get to know a few people better as well. A prime source for your guest list could be locally based LinkedIn or other social media business connections. You might also invite other colleagues with whom you’ve become friendly, including those you’ve gotten to know at business association events you attend, whether or not you are a dues-paying member. Schedule your reception to begin at 5:30 PM or 6:00 PM and run for two hours. Order three or four light hors d’oeuvres and consider offering guests a gratis glass of sangria (maybe with a limit of one drink per person) until it’s gone—after that, it’s a cash bar for all and the conversation is sure to flow.

3. Offer summer promotions

Summer sales and special offers are common in certain industries and may work well in yours. The goal of your promotion will be to pique the curiosity of clients and prospects and tempt them to do business now, in order to save money. For example, you might offer a promotion where clients can refer someone to you and receive 15%-20% off their next service or product purchase. Depending on your business and behavior of your clients, a summer promotion may or not may not be lucrative in the short-term but may instead persuade a lapsed client to reconsider your services and products or convince a previously reluctant prospect to finally do business with you. If the outcome of your summer promotion succeeds in generating revenue from either current, lapsed, or new clients, you would be wise to tweak the promotion and repeat the campaign during the December holidays or New Year.

4. Assess and refresh the customer experience

So much of client retention is connected to their perception of the experience of doing business with your organization. Life (and business) is about managing expectations—and you can obtain first person insights on how clients feel about the experience you deliver by sending out a four or five question survey. It’s good business to invite clients to express what they appreciate and would like to see more of and as well, let you know what is no longer useful.

Give your survey good visibility—send it with monthly invoices, post it on your website and social media home pages and distribute it by SMS (and simultaneously test client reactions to that format, if you haven’t previously communicated with clients in that fashion!). Be sure to include a response deadline on the survey to encourage quick replies and give yourself enough data to analyze answers and decide what, if any, changes to incorporate.

Your survey can also be a pathway to collecting and amplifying user-generated content, a resource that can be an excellent strategy for gaining brand exposure and showcasing original content. Using the business’s location geotag or a unique but simple hashtag can incentivize customers to share their experiences, delivering authentic social proof and organically expanding the reach of marketing activities.

5. Optimize business operations

How much more revenue might your entity generate or how much more time would you have—for self-care, family time, social activities, or working on the business—if you outsourced one or more operational functions? You may already have a retainer arrangement with a network manager to keep digital operations up and running and providing cybersecurity, but who else might you hire? What would describe the job specs and how many hours per week seem necessary? Also, how much can you afford to pay? Or maybe it would be better to explore tech or artificial intelligence solutions to automate certain functions, whether client invoicing, email marketing, or chat bot responses to prospect inquiries? A worthy goal for any hiring that you do is to promote optimal customer service while minimizing administrative overhead.

6. Get an SBA/SCORE business coach

Rather than attempting to figure out important business decisions by yourself, why not contact the Small Business Association and ask to be put in touch with one of their experts who can help you to address the issues referenced in item #5? Founded in July 1953, the SBA has provided high-quality and comprehensive business development guidance at either no charge or for a modest fee. SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, was founded in 1964 as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, is the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors and a resource partner of the SBA. The mission of SCORE is to support SMBs, including Freelance professionals, with mentoring and educational workshops.

More than 13,000 active and retired business professionals, all of whom have entrepreneurship or senior-level corporate experience, volunteer their time and contribute their expertise to regularly meet with their SCORE clients to mentor and coach aspiring and established SMB owners. Mentors work with their clients to address issues and communicate best practices related to starting and growing a business, including writing a business plan, developing products, devising marketing strategies, financial management and business financing options, operations and hiring staff. Clients may connect with a SCORE mentor either virtually or face2face. Furthermore, SCORE presents a wide range of services including training, webinars, online workshops, courses on demand, and a library of online resources.

The SBA also supports female entrepreneurs at its Women’s Business Centers and focuses on veterans of both genders at its Veteran’s Business Development Offices, which operate in all 50 states. Members of Native American tribal communities, along with Native Hawaiians and Native Alaskans, may choose to work with the Office of Native American Affairs, which is also an SBA-sponsored program. Outside of the SBA, Native American current or aspiring business owners and Freelance professionals might also investigate The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development in Mesa, AZ and/or the Native American Development Corporation of Billings, MT.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©skynesher/Getty Images

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Make Feedback A Building Block of Success

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When you’re working on an important project, it’s almost certain that at some point you will ask a colleague or mentor whose expertise you respect and character you trust to look over your work and give an appraisal. Another pair of eyes often sees what you don’t and can help you get beyond your blind spots and produce your best work.

The process is called feedback; it is the reaction to or evaluation of a performance. Feedback that is well presented has the potential to help you recognize your strengths and weaknesses; it provides valuable self-awareness that supports improved skill sets or professional development. Feedback is a form of criticism that can illuminate what you do well and what would benefit from improvement. Feedback inhabits several formats, from a job performance review to a casual conversation with a colleague or mentor. Insightful and timely feedback can alert you to problems capable of tarnishing the outcome of your important project and direct you to potentially more suitable solutions.

Asking for feedback on your work, or even your tennis game, might trigger an awkward moment, for yourself and/or the person you ask. Feedback is often experienced as intensely personal and can be uncomfortable for many people, whether on the giving or receiving end. Recipients of feedback sometimes become defensive, a reaction that makes it less likely that those asked to evaluate a colleague’s work will deliver an unvarnished assessment.

So, the “feedback” given by those who like you is often carefully couched and politically correct, a milquetoast response that’s designed to neither discourage you nor hurt your feelings—a bucket of hot air, in other words. These people may be reluctant to give your work a candid assessment because they want to encourage you and maintain a good relationship with you. Haters, on the other hand, when giving feedback are certain to be either passive-aggressive undermining or will shred you—the hater agenda is always to wound, if not destroy. Both scenarios fall short of delivering actionable advice.

Whom to ask and when

Giving useful feedback is an art, providing a third-party, presumably objective, assessment that confirms what you’re doing well and helps you recognize what needs a correction. Useful feedback is candid and guides you to achieve your personal best. When considering a request for feedback, it is essential to consider the source. Valuable feedback is both honest and astute, meaning you must ask someone who has the expertise to understand what you’re doing, the ability to recognize the strengths and/or weaknesses in your performance and possesses the mentoring skills to swiftly and tactfully guide you to the right path.

Potential sources of practical feedback include colleagues who know your work and with whom you regularly interact, including your boss or a mentor. Freelance consultants might consider reaching out to certain of their clients to solicit feedback. While clients may not be as familiar with your responsibilities and priorities as are workplace colleagues or managers, it may be beneficial to consider a client’s perception of you. Furthermore, client feedback can help you better understand how to attract potential new clients, resolve client concerns and encourage repeat business.

According to Dan Heath, author of Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen (2020), the ideal time to request feedback is when your work —project, important task, or presentation, for example — is 50% to 60% complete. “Asking for feedback earlier in the process gives you the mental space to really re-think, if necessary,” Heath explained.

Ask for specifics

It is in your interest to make the feedback ask a win-win—not only comfortable for the person you approach, but also a demonstration of respect and instructive for yourself—by expressing the request in a way that is less about inviting an opinion and more about adding value. You do that by being specific.

Unfortunately, most feedback requests are handicapped from the start because they are too broad and general. Is there any wonder why the outcome of the typical feedback ask is one person’s opinion rather than discerning and actionable insights? Author Dan Heath is also a fan of specific feedback requests and he sees vague asks as tending to produce weak and ineffective responses. For example, if he were to ask someone, “What did you think of my book?” they would be more likely to say something positive to spare his feelings. Instead, Heath suggests asking pointed questions.

Rather than asking, “Could you give me some feedback?” provide some guardrails for the feedback you’d like to receive. After you’ve identified someone who has the know-how to advise you in this subject, you would then frame your request to position that individual as an expert adviser who can add value. Now, you’ve set up both yourself and the dispenser of feedback as partners in a constructive interaction.

Finally, when looking for feedback on a particular project, think about what you really want to know. For example, if you’re creating a presentation, do you want a critique of your story and how informative and engaging your content is? Or do you want to know if your slides communicate the story and your data visuals are relevant and easy to interpret? The more specific your questions are, the more useful the feedback will be.

When you are clear about they type of feedback you’d find most helpful and the value that feedback could provide, you will likely receive information that’s pertinent to what you’re actively working to confirm and/or improve. From a learning perspective, this provides actionable insights that you can apply immediately.

If you are a golfer, you can put the word out to your LinkedIn connections in your area and arrange a weekend golf outing. It’s no secret then that golf is a very popular sport in America — according to the National Golf Foundation, over 40 million played both on and off-course. Golf’s popularity is especially prevalent in business communities. No matter what industry you are in, there is a good chance your company or management at the company are involved with the game of golf in some fashion. If you are looking for a secret weapon to building connections in your job, networking through golf is the way to go. 

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Shutterstock (2019)

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Clubhouse: It’s About Networking

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As you know by now Clubhouse, the newest social media platform, is a live audio-only service that’s accessed through an app and was launched in October 2019. Clubhouse facilitates candid and compelling conversations between smart and interesting people and those conversations are intended for members only and are never recorded.

In keeping with its audio format, Clubhouse operates as an endless series of talk radio interviews (or podcasts, if you prefer) and group meetings that invite members to create virtual audio “rooms” and “clubs.” Clubs function to build communities within the platform—-audience development, in other words. Rooms are where audio chats take place and there are three types: Open, Social and Closed. Chats in the Social and Closed rooms are available only to members of the sponsoring club and Open rooms accept all parties.

Rooms are sometimes hosted by those with a following—thought leaders and opinion-makers, celebrities, venture capitalists, journalists and so on, but regular folks are also able to host a room. Each room offers its own format, an audio happening that may primarily attract devoted listeners or might bring in those who look forward to joining a lively discussion. Room events can be either pre-scheduled or surprise pop-ups. Rooms might hold just a small group, perhaps hosted by someone not well-known, while other rooms are led by marquee name players and draw dozens or even hundreds of listeners.

Clubhouse quickly grew in popularity during the early weeks of the coronavirus shutdown. Initially, the app could be downloaded only on Apple phones and membership could be obtained only by an invitation from a current user. The velvet rope policies proved to be a brilliant marketing tactic. Clubhouse became the darling of the A-list elite. Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg were guest speakers. Oprah Winfrey, Mark Cuban, R & B superstar Drake and comedian Chris Rock were said to be members. I first wrote about Clubhouse in February 2021. https://lionessmagazine.com/clubhouse-an-audio-chat-platform-for-beautiful-people/

Clubhouse continues its upward trajectory, especially since Android downloads became possible in May 2021 and invitations to join are no longer needed. According to Quantummarketer.com, there are 10+ million users globally mostly located in the U.S., western Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

Now I’m certain that you find all of this quite fascinating but you may wonder, is this new social media player worth your time? I think yes—-that for B2B service providers and start-up entrepreneurs, Clubhouse has the potential to be useful in your Next Normal networking strategy.

Because interactions are about listening and talking live and IRT, communication is enhanced. Furthermore, the profiles of all room and club participants are available, making the experience feel sort of like a big conference call, where everyone on the phone is vetted and circumstances confer a degree of credibility and trust. At least some people may feel comfortable enough to chance off-line conversations and open the door to building a relationship.

Time must be invested and goals defined, as is true with other marketing activities. Key word searches that describe your goals will help to locate clubs and rooms to visit. Develop a good profile (because it matters) and step in.

Look for room topics that will expose you to recognized experts in your field, to help yourself deepen and expand your knowledge and therefore enhance your credibility. Get the heads-up on developing trends on the horizon in your field. Raise your hand, ask questions and share experiences or insights that are relevant to the discussion. Become a regular, get known and facilitate relationship building. Popular clubs that might appeal to Freelancers and others in business are listed below.

But remember that Clubhouse is not about making sales, but about listening to insightful conversations and contributing to the discussion by sharing your own wisdom. By being an active, friendly, generous participant your networking can take you to any number of paths and can yield many tangible and intangible benefits. You can even choose an appealing topic yourself and host a room every now and again, to work on building a following of your own. You might even find a mentor or be inspired to become one.

Community Club’s main purpose is make Clubhouse a welcoming place for everyone. It’s the best club for growing a Clubhouse community. Members mainly talk about Clubhouse features, support topics and onboarding newbies.

Bitcoin is the biggest club about cryptocurrency on Clubhouse. Some members who are real professionals on Bitcoin, heavy hitters. Visitors will find open, friendly and enlightening conversations about Bitcoin technology, markets, culture and the ecosystem.

Creative Executive Officers is a guide to the business of creativity for artists and entrepreneurs. Topics are mainly about business advice, entrepreneurship and education. 

Future of Work is where to discuss earning a living—entrepreneurship, creator economy, gig economy, freelancing, creatives, startups, venture capital, business, tech, AI, health, wellness, personal development, the hustle and the self-employed.

The Hustler Club “Your daily dose of motivation” is where hard-charging entrepreneurs, hustlers and creatives discuss ideas and have from-the-trenches style conversations.

Marketing Club features conversations about marketing, advertising and making the most of Instagram. Group members are marketers, creators and verified experts. 

Start-up Club is the largest of the clubs and introduces impressive and successful start-up stars who share their secrets. You’ll meet founders, entrepreneurs, angel and VC investors.

Stock Market Moves welcomes experienced, successful stock traders and those who want to become just that.

Tech Talks. is said to not be your normal tech community. It is group for diverse individuals from all walks of life, diverse backgrounds, industries and departments. Their main purpose is bringing together a group of people to talk about the good, the bad, the technical and business side of tech.

Women in Business is the largest women’s club and they are committed to empowering women in all sectors of business. and entrepreneurship.

Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for reading,

Kim

Image: © Keystone-France/Gamma Rapho. Pirate radio hosts on the ship Caroline were rescued and brought to at the police station after the ship ran aground at Frinton-on-Sea, UK on January 20, 1966.

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Interns Go Virtual

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As a result of the COVID-19 shutdown, organizations around the world quickly made changes to how business was done and in many companies, a support system for the usual summer internship program was part of the updates. Perhaps company leaders realized that virtual internships present a unique opportunity for their program to operate across geographical boundaries and greatly expand the pool of desirable candidates?

Academic institutions likewise pivoted to remote during the 2020 shutdown and readied to enable internship programs in the new normal work and education environment. In May 2020, the University of Wisconsin at Madison released a white paper that discussed virtual format internships, their benefits for both the student intern and the hiring company and how to make the experience successful and rewarding for both parties. http://ccwt.wceruw.org/documents/CCWT_Report%20%2310_Online_Internships_Lit_Review_May2020.pdf

Freelancers and small business owners and leaders will occasionally bring in an intern or two, typically as a way to gain a reasonably capable assistant who can be trained to handle uncomplicated professional level tasks for just a few hours per week, at a modest pay scale. Introducing to your business a young person who will bring fresh perspectives and a familiarity with recent technologies that you and your team may not possess stands to improve productivity, profitability and the customer experience at your organization. The internship experience that you initiate may become a way to move your company more decisively into the 21st century.

While the virtual format does have drawbacks—like the increased difficulty (or impossibility) of providing your intern with sufficient networking and relationship-building opportunities with colleagues, interns can still attain a variety of benefits in the remote workplace.

Finding interns

College career centers and academic departments are your source for obtaining information and resources about either hiring an intern or establishing a formal internship program at your organization. Share your business needs and expectations with school officials to determine whether undergraduate seniors or graduate students will be most appropriate. Because schools have a vested interest in workforce preparation and employment outcomes for their students, they can be trusted to help you make the right choice.

Choose the right projects

Social media is often a natural fit for interns because they grew up with social media and probably understands the subtle differences between SnapChat and TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest. Discuss the customer demographics and presumed social media strategy with your intern, who will be tasked with helping you realize objectives.

Your intern might also be asked to create a stock image library for posts, shoot videos on a cell phone and create text content as well, in accordance with the company brand story and target customers. You can also ask a social media intern to conduct a competitive audit to let you know what your 3-4 closest competitors are posting, specifically the platforms used and how they communicate with customers.

Bookkeeping interns could be asked to prepare quarterly taxes for customers. Web design interns can be asked to write code and assist with website updates. Graphic design interns can work on logos and draft marketing collaterals. IT interns can take help desk calls and set up the controls for videoconferences. Although it will be done virtually, always review your intern’s work and give praise where it is due and corrections with diplomacy.

Intern support system

Consider how you can create online support for your intern that will include your company needs, the school’s reporting and course credit requirements, plus intern guidance and mentoring. Your goal is to promote a successful and rewarding experience for the intern and yourself/ the business. 

Schedule daily videoconference 1:1s to discuss the intern’s projects and your expectations for performance milestones and completion dates. If you haven’t been using online communication tools beyond email and Skype, for example, encourage your intern to suggest his/her preferred messaging and workflow systems, such as Slack or Asana and give your intern professional validation when s/he gets to teach you something. Institute systems also to allow the intern to interact with other team members, if there are any and encourage relationship-building and networking.

On balance

So what does the Freelancer win when working with an intern? Useful work and good karma. You get some low level, but nevertheless professional grade, work done for not a lot of money. Plus, mentoring in the form of professional development that introduces a young person to the adult work environment, its expectations and responsibilities, is so nurturing and generous (although not everyone has the patience for it).

The downside is that interns need more supervision than working adults and they can be unavailable during final exams or spring break. But then again, who among us does not need occasional time off? Anyway, you never know— in a few years, your intern might flip the script and hire you for an assignment when s/he has gone on to a good corporate job.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © DanceParent101

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A Sponsor To Propel You Forward

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At almost every stage in life we can benefit from a mentor,  a special friend who has walked the road ahead of us and is willing to help us along by suggesting strategies for creating a successful journey,  choosing an alternate path,  or overcoming roadblocks.  Mentors encourage us,  challenge us,  guide and advise us.  They help us to recognize and evaluate career opportunities and consider the likely outcomes and consequences of our choices.

But when it’s time to move forward on goals,  one needs a different kind of relationship.  To shift into execution mode one needs a super-mentor,  a sponsor,  a well-connected advocate who believes in you and your potential.  Sponsors are influential and powerful people who have the clout to open doors,   make connections and recommend you for plum assignments and promotions.  They take an interest in you and your career,  but their chief role is to develop you as a leader,  a leader who will become an ally.  A sponsor sees furthering your professional success as a way to further their own and to give themselves bragging rights when you succeed.  Mentors prepare you to make a move; sponsors make it possible for you to realize your goals.

When considering who might make a good sponsor for you,  do not look for a role model to admire and emulate.  Look instead for a powerfully positioned rainmaker.  You seek not so much a friend,  as an ally.  Next,  make a brutally honest calculation of the value-added you can offer to your prospective sponsor.  Very rarely will a sponsor go out on a limb and call in favors to advance the cause of another without a powerful incentive,  which can be acting as the backer of someone who shows the ability to climb to the top.  This is a quid pro quo strategic alliance.  To attract a sponsor to open doors for you,  make that individual proud to be affiliated with you.  Exceed expectations,  meet deadlines,  hit a home run every time.  Furthermore,  you must be unfailingly loyal to your sponsor.  When he/she needs backup,   you are the first to stand up and deliver the ROI.

Where might a Freelance consultant find a sponsor?  Network in places where powerful people congregate.   Get involved with activities and work yourself up to earning a leadership role,  where your prospective sponsor can witness your enterprising ways,  ability to motivate and work with a team and ability to get things done.  A not-for-profit organization board,  fitness center or yoga studio,  or place of worship are all good networking venues.

Separate yourself from the pack by honing your communication skills.  Learn to excel in verbal communications,  interpersonal relationships and rapport building;  give excellent presentations;  sharpen your writing skills;  show empathy,  good humor and a willingness to collaborate.  People think that those who communicate exceptionally well are good leaders and smart (whether or not that is the case).  When you’ve identified prospective sponsors (there can be more than one),  work on developing a relationship and allow it to grow organically.

Time will be involved and much will depend upon mutual trust that develops and the boundaries of your prospect.  The clock may be ticking on your plans,  but if you are perceived as pushy,  the relationship will be lost forever.  What you want are opportunities to talk,  so you can let this individual know what you’d like to do.  You can even state that you’re looking for help.  The prospect will either offer the help,  or will not.  If that person does not come through,  either he/she has no influence in that realm,  or would rather not risk extending it to you.  Your prospective sponsor either values you or does not.

Tribalism matters.  Mentors and sponsors tend to bond with those who remind them of themselves and relationships often form within gender,  racial,  ethnic or religious categories.  Your communication skills,  when honed as advised above,  may help you to transcend boundaries.   Also,  in our increasingly global society,  your sponsor may decide that diversity will be advantageous when cultivating allies.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Become a Mentor

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In Greek mythology,  Mentor was a trusted friend and adviser to Odysseus.  When Odysseus left Ithaca to fight in the Trojan War,  Mentor helped Penelope,  wife of Odysseus,   raise their son Telemachus.  He became a protector,  teacher,  counselor and trusted friend to Telemachus as the youth grew into manhood.  In Homer’s Odyssey the goddess Athena,  disguised as Mentor,  protects Telemachus as he sails the Mediterranean Sea in search of his father.

Perhaps you have reached a level of professional success where you feel ready to  “give back”,  to take someone less experienced under your wing,  show that person the ropes and set him/her on the road to great achievement.

Or perhaps you feel yourself stagnating professionally,  spinning your wheels and blocked from entering the winner’s circle.  You long for a rewarding project to sink your teeth into,  to demonstrate your relevance to colleagues and decision makers and remind yourself that you are still valuable and deserving of success.

Choosing to become a mentor may be the best response to both scenarios.  The process of mentoring provides many benefits,  tangible and intangible,  for both mentor and protegé. 

The less experienced and often (but not always) younger protegé will learn to hone his/her business acumen,  receive introductions to those who can help further his/her goals and finesse the unwritten rules on which success  so often hinges.

The mentor will likewise benefit handsomely.  Strengthened leadership skills,  such as the opportunity to gain a fresh perspective on one’s leadership style or learning to relate to,  collaborate with and/or manage colleagues  and workers from backgrounds other than one’s own,  are among the more practical benefits that accrue to a mentor.

Mentoring can help you bridge the generation gap,  become more attuned to gender differences as they relate to expectations or perspective and break down barriers between you and those of other ethnicities and religions.  As our nation’s workforce becomes more diverse,  these competencies can only grow in value. 

Moreover,  your protegé will no doubt have a few skills to teach you and may be able to introduce you to a few of the right people as well.  You’ll gain an ally,  expand your professional network and influence,  enhance your reputation and leave a lasting and positive legacy. You’ll experience the deep satisfaction that comes from seeing those whom you’ve mentored succeed,  perhaps beyond what they dared to dream.  Formerly dismissive decision makers may come to view you in a new,  more favorable,  light.

So share your wisdom and experience and help someone who needs support and guidance to achieve their goals.  Challenge your protegé to think in new ways,  consider options previously unknown,  open up to new perspectives,  gain new insights  and develop judgment and confidence.

When you notice someone who is bright,  talented and motivated,  yet seems to need some  wise counsel,  get to know that individual.  See if the two of you click,  if the communication between you flows.  Asses how that person responds to and processes advice.  

Be advised,  however,  that a potential protegé could reject that role,  or prefer to not go there with you.  Respect boundaries and if the mutual agreement is there,  gradually ease into a mentoring role.  Both you and your protegé will receive many benefits and it will be a feather in your cap.

Thanks for reading,

Kim