From Mentee to Mentor - Building Your Legacy Through Others

0:01Jeannette:Being a mentor isn't just about teaching skills, it's about transforming belief, isn't it? Well, hello Brave Bold Brilliant family, Jeannette here. I am absolutely delighted that you're joining me today because we're talking about a topic which is so close to my heart and it's about mentoring. But let me start with this question. Who helped you get to where you are today? Might have been a teacher, manager, colleague, could be someone you admired from afar, actually. You know, but whoever they were, the chances are you didn't get here entirely on your own. And here's the truth. Every great entrepreneur, every great CEO, every great leader has stood on the shoulders of mentors, those that went before us.

0:47Jeannette:But here's the twist. At some point, the journey flips. You stop being just the mentee and you start becoming the mentor. And that shift is where your legacy is born. So today we're going to dive into this transformative cycle of mentorship. You know, how learning from others propels your success, but how giving back through mentorship actually multiplies your impact as a leader. you know and this is something that as I say it comes really from the heart with me because you know I've um I came from nothing right I came from a very loving family but I didn't come from a you know a background of wealth I didn't come from a background of lots of education necessarily and you know so I was the only one to go to university in my family and my parents were so proud of me but I started with nothing right no one gave me anything and I've sort of really scrapped my way up through the years to also become the CEO of these very large corporate organizations, but also today as a business owner with multiple different businesses.

1:51Jeannette:Now, I could never have got there without the help, the support, the guidance of having amazing mentors and coaches in my life. And I think you have to have different people at different times of your career you know we i have a mentor today i have a coach today for different topics when i've started new businesses whether we're starting our new property business you know we made sure chris and i that we went and got our surgery educated we learned from the best in the business so i'm hugely passionate about mentorship and how powerful it is and of course today i mentor people professionally you know as a business mentor to really help them scale up and grow you know really deeply intense one-to-one relationship and I do that from a business point of view but I also do some pro bono work as well to help people more informally and you know there comes a point where it's about really helping the next generation of leaders as well as you continue in your own journey so it's something that is very very close to my heart so I'm going to cover this in a bit more detail so that you know you can get some ideas hopefully that's going to help you on your journey as well but listen I just wanted to say if we're not connected on social media let's get connected Jeanette Lin for two n's and two t's in Jeanette you'll find me all across different social media platforms LinkedIn Facebook Instagram TikTok and of course we have our podcast Brave Bob Brilliant which is out on all you know platforms that you listen to listen to your podcast could be iTunes it might be Spotify and we have our YouTube channel as well so there's loads of ways that, you know, we can connect and support each other.

3:28Jeannette:I do content like this to give back, to help people on their journey as well. It's so important to me. So this is a topic I'm hugely passionate about, you know, but as I say, mentorship is something that has been really important in my journey. So I want to get into this. And as I say, it's through those unique lessons, isn't it, that you learn when you gain that when you mentor other people as well, it becomes very much a two-way street. So, you know, how becoming both a mentee and a mentor unlocks exponential growth for yourself and those around you. So, you know, as I say, I'd love to hear from you.

4:05Jeannette:Who has been the most influential mentor in your journey so far? And what's the one lesson you'll never forget from them? Because normally there's a standout moment or a standout piece of advice. You know, when I have people on my podcast, and I've been so fortunate to interview incredible business leaders, you know, corporate CEOs running multi-billion pound businesses, entrepreneurs who have scaled and exited for decamillions, you know, elite sports people. But, you know, I ask the question, what's the best piece of advice you've been given? You know, because often that can help us pay it forward, you know, pass it on to the next generation.

4:43Jeannette:So I'd love to hear from you, one who has been a really influential coach or mentor in your life and there is a difference between a coach and a mentor let me just say so a coach is someone that will maybe train professional might actually have a coaching certification and they will often ask you the questions to allow you to reflect and come up with the answers yourself right but they may not have been in your industry they may not have you know followed a similar path that you're on whereas a mentor is more of a lived experience a mentor will advise you based on their experiences. You know, I always say, listen, you know, learn from my mistakes so you don't make them.

5:24Jeannette:I'm here to support and help you, but I can advise you because I have trodden a similar path, whether it's corporate CEO to entrepreneur, whether it's scaling a business, whether it's selling businesses, whether it's, you know, the only woman in the boardroom, etc. All of these different scenarios that have played out for me. So there's often a standout piece of advice so let me know what that is and who who who did it come from because that's also a really interesting thing isn't it so let's go to the first part i've broken this down into a number of sections i'm a big believer as well write it down you know as we're going through make some notes so you can refer back to them and take the action so part one then i want to cover why we all need mentors first before we can become a mentor ourselves so let's be real right you know No matter how brilliant you are, you can't see your blind spots sometimes.

6:16Jeannette:And that's why mentorship is priceless. When I look back on my own journey, there were times when it was mentors that helped me see the possibilities. I never would have considered on my own. And just a few words or a challenge or a question or even a tough truth spoken at the right time saved me from years of trial and error. You know, mentorship compresses decades into days. It really does. You know, it's the fast track. It's the shortcut. We all wish we had it sooner. But here's the part that many leaders miss. Mentorship isn't just something you receive. It's something that you're called to give as well.

6:52You know, and if you are thinking that you need a mentor in your life, you are absolutely right. If you haven't got a mentor, go out and get yourself a mentor.

7:00Jeannette:It's the best thing you will ever do. Now, that might be informal or it might be actually someone professional. As I say, I mentor people one to one and it's a very deep journey that we go on. It's really, really tailored to that individual and what they need for their leadership position in their life. So if you if you're interested in being mentored by me, drop me a message. Let's have a chat and I'll see how I how I can help it if there's a good fit. So anyway, whatever you do, go and get yourself a mentor. Right. But then the second part I want to talk about this is the shift from mentee to mentor.

7:36Right. And that's obviously something, a journey that I've been on over my career. You know, and at some point the balance changes and you stop being the one always asking for guidance.

7:47Jeannette:And although I would argue that you always want guidance, but, you know, but you become the one who's offering it. And that's where mentorship transforms from a growth strategy into a legacy strategy. Right. You know, because being a mentor isn't just about teaching skills. It's about transferring belief, isn't it? It's a superpower belief. It's about saying to someone, I see your potential, even when you don't see it yourself yet. And that kind of leadership, it changes lives. It changes businesses. And here's the unexpected gift for you. When you mentor, you grow even more yourself. You know, and explaining your thought process, it clarifies your own strategy.

8:23You learn from your mentee as well. You know, watching someone else succeed because of your input strengthens your own sense of purpose.

8:29Jeannette:absolutely so so critical and i love i love it i really do it's something that gives me great joy to see someone that i've worked with or a team i've worked with in some cases because we we often do group mentoring with our leadership mastermind programs where we work together with a leadership team for six months but you know there's nothing better than seeing someone thrive and for you to know that you've played a part in their success. You know, so let's look at the third part of this topic, which is, you know, what are the lessons that you learn through mentoring others? You know, because this might inspire you to become a mentor yourself, to move on to that other side of the table, as I say.

9:12So mentorship as a mentee gives you wisdom, but mentorship as a mentor teaches you just something deeper in all honesty you know it shows you the art of patience which i don't have a lot of because growth takes time you can't rush someone else's journey can you you know teaches the value of listening because sometimes the greatest gift you give as a mentor isn't advice it's just presence letting someone speak it's a responsibility of leadership because when someone trusts you to guide them you realize just how much your influence matters you know and this individuality of being mentored and mentoring it creates a cycle of growth that honestly it never ends so point four then how do ceos and entrepreneurs build legacy through mentorship well if you're a ceo if you're in the corporate world if you're an entrepreneur a business owner you know this shift is critical you know building a successful business is one thing but building leaders who can carry the mission forward that that's really legacy you know and the most impactful CEOs I've met they don't just grow companies they grow people they intentionally invest time into their teams not just to train them but to mentor them you know and that's the reality whether you actually even see your leadership role as mentoring you absolutely are because you're building future leaders you're building high potential so it might be a one-to-one relationship but it might be a one-to-many through your shared wisdom and through the teams that you build you know and as a result of that you know mentees often become as I say those future leaders

10:43Jeannette:that talent that you're looking to to really develop you know the succession planning I mean that is so joyful when you see someone that has been at maybe a more junior stage of their career and then they step up into leadership and then they become the next director they become the future CEOs and that is joyful it's a joyful thing to do it really is you know so you know it goes beyond what one person could achieve doesn't it you know mentorship it's it's a multiplier of leadership and it's how you ensure your impact doesn't end with you you know and I have a fantastic client of ours who I have a huge amount of respect for and his name is Duncan O 'Rourke he's the CEO at Accor Hotels for the premium mid-scale economy brands across mere APAC you know Duncan has 104 ,000 people on his team and I've been working with him directly and his executive board for the last three years.

11:38So we've done a lot. We've achieved a lot together, which I'm enormously proud of. But Duncan says, and I will plagiarise this because it's such a golden nugget of advice. He always says we are custodians of the roles that we do. We are custodians of the roles that we do. And we hope that when we move on, that we leave the role in far better shape than when we took it on in the first place. That's so right. You know, your journey as a CEO, your role as a CEO, or as a team leader, if you're more at a more junior level in your career, it will end. You will move on to do something else. You might leave the business, start a business, exit a business.

12:22Who knows? You might get promoted into the next big role.

12:24Jeannette:you know so it will end it will end you're a custodian so thinking about your legacy is so important so important for how you feel emotionally and how fulfilled you are as a leader and but also for the impact that you make long after you're gone you know and that is that's absolutely critical so thank you duncan for those great words of wisdom duncan has been a guest on brave bob brilliant as well and check out his episode because it is an absolute corker it's full of amazing advice. So let's get into part five of this then. What are some of the practical ways that you step into both roles? You know, so how do you live in both those worlds of mentee and mentor?

13:06Well, I think the point is you've got to stay teachable, you know, and even as a big shot CEO, you know, keep seeking mentors for yourself. You know, the moment you think you know it all is the moment you grow stalls, you know, to stay humble and constant learning. secondly give back intentionally don't wait for mentees to find you create space to mentor whether it's within your company industry your community it might be pro bono or it might actually be it might be your business you know business mentoring is part of our business ecosystem at brave bold brilliant you know people invest in their growth energy time and financially

13:41Jeannette:that commitment that accountability it makes them 10x that investment honestly we achieve amazing results with our mentees, which I'm super proud of, but they commit, they commit, you know, the third point, document your lessons, and by that, I mean, you know, I had to write stuff down, speak it, share it, you know, it's why I do sessions like this, it's why I do the podcast, you know, we want to capture all of these amazing insights, and knowledge, and sharing our successes, our failures and what it's really like to be in business, what it's really like to be a leader, you know, and sometimes, you know, mentorship, it doesn't happen one to one, you might be able to share your advice and journey in the way that I do through, you know, your words reaching someone you've never even met before and that's exactly what drives me, I am here with me, my team, to help as many people as possible unlock their greatness, unlock their true potential.

14:45It's why we run our executive edge programs where we work with boards in the boardroom with the executive team. It's why we do our leadership masterminds. It's why we do one-to-one mentoring. And it's why we've got our Rise Academy to allow us to reach as many people as possible. Because quite frankly, life is short. and if you've got something you want to do and you don't create that opportunity for yourself

15:12Jeannette:don't sit back and wait if you don't you're going to have a life of regret and none of us want that now you might not always be successful that's okay but you're going to increase your chances if you have a mentor that's there by your side and you're going to increase your fulfillment as a leader if you mentor others, right? So this symbiotic, you know, relationship is fantastic. It's going to unlock so much potential in you and it's going to allow you to really, you know, step up on both sides of that journey. So I want to hear from you. I want to hear what's going on in your world. You know, if you're listening to this on social media, watching it on YouTube, type in the chat, you know, who's been your greatest mentor and why?

15:59Jeannette:And here's the flip side, you know, who are you currently mentoring and how has that shaped you as a leader? You know, let's share and celebrate the cycle of mentorship together. I'm hugely passionate about this, seriously. But let's wrap it up because I know your time is precious. You know, every great leader starts as a mentee, but true legacy begins when you also become the mentor. It's that full circle of growth receive guidance and then give it learn then teach grow then multiply and remember this your success is not just measured by what you achieve it's measured by how many leaders you help create along the way and if today's episode has resonated with you you know hit like hit subscribe so more entrepreneurs and ceos can join the conversation and please do subscribe to brave bob brilliant you know join our community for more insights to help you grow yourself and your business.

16:52Jeannette:And in all honesty, if you think someone needs mentorship in their life, share this episode with them. Give them some ideas. But we are here to help. As a business, we are here to help. So if you're interested in any of our programs, please reach out to us. We will be absolutely delighted to support you on your growth journey, whether it's you as a leader, whether it's working with you and your teams in terms of creating high-performing teams, or whether it's supporting you on your business strategy. You know, executive edge, leadership, masterminds, one-to-one business mentoring, Rise Academy for high potential groups and managers that are going to absolutely be the future leaders.

17:31Jeannette:That's why we're here. We're here to help. So don't be alone. Reach out to us. We'd love to have an interesting conversation with you. And remember, it is by being brave and bold that you are going to unlock your brilliant. so remember one life just go for it until next time see you soon i really hope you've enjoyed this episode of brave bold brilliant remember check out our new website www.brave-bold-brilliant.com you're going to find loads of resources on there that's going to help you with your leadership journey and with the businesses that you're trying to scale up and grow so take care everyone and remember there are no limits to your growth but it is by being brave and bold that you're going to unlock your brilliance.