Feb. 23, 2026

Giving Back thru Mentoring

Giving Back thru Mentoring
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Season 1

Small business is the engine of our national economy through business formation, job creation and wealth building. Small businesses and their support are critical to vibrant communities in our society. Mentoring develops long-term, relationship where a more experienced individual (mentor) guides a less experienced person (mentee) to foster personal and professional growth through knowledge sharing and support. It aims to enhance skills, build confidence, aid career advancement and builds hope.

ASharpe Outlook is broadcast live Mondays at 8AM PT on K4HD Radio - Hollywood Talk Radio (www.k4hd.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). ASharpe Outlook TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

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WEBVTT

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This program is designed to provide general information with regards

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to the subject matters covered. This information is given with

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the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors or station

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are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial,

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legal counseling, professional service, or any advice. You should seek

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the services of competent professionals before applying or trying any

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suggested ideas.

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Hello, and thank you for tuning in to a Sharp

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Outlook on pay for HD radio and talk or TV.

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I am Angela Sharp, your host. Our arm chair discussions

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with industry experts will give you the steps, tools and

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information to be successful in business and to prepare you

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to be your best self. Hello, I'm Angela Sharp, and

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welcome to a Sharp Outlook. And today I want to

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talk about mentoring, but I want to talk about it

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in a very special way. I'm sending out my own

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personal appeal to those who are retired, those that are seniors,

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those that have worked over many years, that are still

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maybe working but thinking about retirement. I would like us

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to consider giving back, giving back to organizations, giving back

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to the workforce through mentoring small businesses. They're the engine

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of our national economy. Through business formation, job creation, and

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wealth building. The small businesses and their support are critical

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to vibrant communities in our society. Mentoring is a developmental,

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often long term relationship. We're a more experienced individual mentor

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guys a less experienced person. The mentee to foster personal

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and professional growth through knowledge sharing and support. It aims

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to enhance skills, build confidence, and career advancement, and also

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offer some psychosocial support. Mentorings often talked about is ah

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nice to have, But I'm saying I think it's a

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real necessity and I'm going to give you some personal

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information about why this is important to me. I work

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in the areas of finance CFO fact you know, fractional

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CFO Interim Controller, Director of Finance, VP of finance for

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multiple industries and organizations. I also do software implementations and

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assess software and ERP systems and help organizations to get

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this installed and trained so that people are able to

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have the efficiency than an ERP system offers. But what

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I am finding and have been seeing over the past five,

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maybe even ten years, I've been seeing that the work

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is being done, but it's being done by people that

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are lesser experienced and it is causing quite a bit

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of problems for organizations who are the recipients of work

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done by maybe less experience. And I'm not trying to

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say anything negative. They're doing what they know to do,

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but without some of us experience people they're mentoring telling

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them all of the things that are involved because we've

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been there since the first personal computer. Tell the truth,

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we've been there and we know all of the ins

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and outs of programming and how much information needs to

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be involved in the programming, and how much thought needs

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to be involved in the processing, in the paths and

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the processing and the information flow. That is critical information.

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And if you don't have someone that is there to

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train you when you come on their job, you're going

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to be doing it based on just knowing what the

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software is, but not understanding the critical processes and things

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that are involved in it working efficiently and in the

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best interests of the client. So I'm saying this that

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I've seen these particular conditions. They can be changed, they

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can be helped. But we that are retired already or

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are thinking of retiring, we have the full picture, and

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I think we kind of ought to be given back.

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We need to share this with the younger generation so

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that they can be successful too, so that they can

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be able to do their best job and be their

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best self. And so I'm appealing to you, I am

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asking you, and I'm going to talk with you about

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how to become a mentor and organizations where you can

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be a part of mentorship. So it's really important, and

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I hope you're listening with an understanding. Ear I'm not

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being critical. I'm just seeing a situation that I think

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it's not just in the areas that I have been

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and in the industries that I have gone to, the

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different companies, but it is happening in a lot of

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other spaces, even in the development of AI. And so

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we need to bring that knowledge to our younger generation

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who is now taking the baton from our hand. But

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we need to equip that younger person who is taking

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that baton and moving on and care the process to fulfillment.

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How to recognize when you're ready for a mentor. Well,

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that's kind of something that we need to talk about

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because there is a difference between a mentor and a coach.

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A coach is someone that's coming in and maybe working

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with you and talking with you about a specific skill

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and helping you to improve in that particular area is

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generally short term and the process of working with the coach,

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they're asking questions and looking for feedback, and that's the

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process that's being used. A mentor. Well, we don't particularly

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be asking questions. We're there to come and inform, So

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we are giving you information, we are guiding the information,

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we are guiding the conversation, and we're doing it based

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on experience in the very area that you are working.

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So it's not overall coaching about you know, being excited,

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and coaching is needed because sometimes you get maybe a

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little down and you need to be motivated, or you

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are put now into a supervisor position, but you've never

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been taught or shown leadership skills. What's important for leadership skills,

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So coaching is really good. But that mentor is going

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to come in because they know that industry. They know

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all of those processes, not just one, but all of

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the processes of the organization. So when you get down

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to the point of you have financial information that you

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are generating or you're in there reviewing financial information looking

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to see whether or not the company is stable, you

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understand all of the ins and outs of the organization,

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all of the transactions that occur. You understand all of

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the different levels of regulatory requirements and everything that is involved.

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And so the mentor is coming to tell you some

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of the things that may have not been in a

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younger person's career. They're not teaching a lot of this

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in school. I'm not sure why. They've kind of dummy down.

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That's a terrible way to say it, but the classes

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are not at the same level they were when our

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group went in to get our education, went in to

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get our degrees, and so they're kind of in a

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situation where they don't know what they don't know, but

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we know, and we am asking you to please consider

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it skill and career development. It accelerates learning through practical

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knowledge and advice from seasoned experts, and we need those

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seasoned experts. Never turn away for you, younger ones that

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are listening. Don't turn away from the grid. We've been there,

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We've done that, and we're part of the whole process

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that was developed from the beginning. We know the ins

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and outs, we know some of the pitfalls, we know

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some of the heirs that we actually saw and were

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able to overcome and are aware of so that we

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know what to do in the future, and so we

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have advice that we can give you. And we're not

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there trying to be critical. We're there to be your champion,

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to be there to help you to achieve, to be

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there to root you on and to help you so

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that you don't have to go through some of the

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stump stumbling, or the mistakes or some of the frustration

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that you might be experiencing. We've been there, done that

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and can tell you all about it. And maybe you

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may want to consider getting a mentor, especially for our

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small business owners, those that are starting small businesses. You're

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at a place where you just are very frustrated. You

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don't know which way to go. Everything you do seems

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to not be turning out right. Call for a mentor,

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a mentor that can come in and give you advice,

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come in and assist you with with expertise that they

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know because they've lived it, and they can tell you

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exactly what it is that you need to know. The

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types of mentoring or mentors they have, you know, traditional ones,

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a one on one often a senior level person to

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a junior level person, or you can have group mentoring.

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You're gonna have virtual mentoring, you know, online remotely, you

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can have peer to peer. You know, individuals who may

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have gone further in their career, they have learned things,

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they can come back and assist. It's not there's nothing

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wrong with asking for help. It's not a bad thing.

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In fact, it's the best thing you could ever do.

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Is if you need help, ask We are out here.

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We do have the answers. We do have experience, not

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saying we know everything. You have new technology that you're

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working with, but it started from the old technology, and

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so we have things that we can share with you.

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And then we also sometimes because some of us older

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people are coming back into the workforce, we have junior

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employees that are mentoring older employees. So it can work

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both ways. Sometimes you just need to just ask and

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say I need some help. And then you can sometimes

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have a situation where it's not just one mentor, but

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you have multiple mentors that are there that are working

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in different areas of their expertise. That brings the whole

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picture together. And that's something that I would advise for

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a business owner, whether you're just now starting or you're

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at a point where you wish that you could go

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and expand and scale, but you don't know exactly which

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direction to go. Contact some of the mentors, and I'm

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going to tell you exactly the places that you can

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call to get this help. Call mentors who have worked

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in that industry. They've been in manufacturing. They understand some

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of the problems that happen in manufacturing. They've been in

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the healthcare industry, They've worked in government environments. They have

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done all types of different positions and have seen different processes,

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work with multiple software platforms, and so they have information

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that you can really learn from and would really really

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help you move forward. So it's just one of the

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things I wanted to say. Let's talk about the role

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of the mentor. They act like coaches. They guide, they

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challenge you and their role models. They provide feedback, they

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share experiences, they assist with goal setting, and they help

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navigate organizational and personal challenges. And one of the things

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when I say they challenge you, they're going to ask

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you honest questions. They need authentic, authentic answers. They need

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to know who you really are, what your fears are.

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And the wonderful thing is when I say they talk

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from experience, they can give you examples. One of the

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things when I was in college, and I know you

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know what I'm doing talking about younger people. I was

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in school, and it's wonderful to learn all of the

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textbook you know, analogies, and you know, be able to

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prepare for your tests and all of that's wonderful. But

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then going into a working environment and actually applying that information.

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You and I both know that is more difficult than

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what they made it sound in school. So learning how

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to actually apply the information that you learned in a

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work setting is very, very difficult at times, and sometimes

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it takes a lot of mistakes and falling down and

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having to get up to get through it. Because other

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people that are there they went the same way you,

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the same route you did, and they don't know either.

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But a senior person, a senior mentor, we've been there,

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done that. We know, we know how to apply it,

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we know how it works in almost any environment, and

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we can help you along the way. The one thing

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we love to do is develop a level of trust

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and as I mentioned before, authenticity that is needed for

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the mentoring to be successful. We're not there for you

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to pretend that you got it all together. You need

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to be honest and say, this is what I'm having

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difficulty understanding. I don't know what this means. I don't

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know how to do this. I have people in here helping.

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Things are more messed up than what they were before,

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and so I need some help. I need some advice,

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I need some guidance. I need your expertise to tell

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me what would you do in this situation? What would

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you do if this was your business? What would you

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do if you were the CEO or the operations manager

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or the CFO. And they're going to be kind, and

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they're going to be considerate, and they're going to tell

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you just exactly what they would do based on years

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and years and years of experience in the same areas.

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And so that is really important that you know that

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how to be a mentor in times where there must

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there must be honesty and the mentee is not really

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a receptive to the facts, but work through the walls.

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We've got to be able to help them, not challenging

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the mentee, but and challenging them in the way that

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they feel uncomfortable or they feel like they're being belittled,

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but challenge them in the way of energizing their analytical skills,

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energizing their thought processes, because that's really important when you

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are mentoring to get to that point where you help

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to tone up or sharpen those analytical skills, helping them

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be able to do critical thinking, that what you see

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is not always the right answer, being critical, going in, researching,

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going in, tying it out, going in and looking at

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everything that flowed in and flowed out. Does it make sense?

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Is it working right? Is it giving you what you

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were expecting? That's really important. And so when you're in

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a situation where a mentor building trust is probably one

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of the first things you have to do. Establishing a

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safe and confidential environment where that person can tell you

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their fears, can tell you their mistakes, can tell you

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that they just don't know or they don't understand, and

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they don't feel threatened by telling you this. Building that

250
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trust is really important. And listening, listening to them, understanding

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the menteing's needs and goals, not taking over, but listening

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to hear what they think their needs and goals are

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and providing constructive feedback, constructive offer guidance on strengths and

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areas for improvement. Coming there knowing that you need to

255
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have a plan. You're going to have conversations in advance.

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You're going to have discussions, You're going to have things

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that you talk about during that time when you're trying

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to find the right mentor. But then also that mentor

259
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needs to understand what the goals and objectives are and

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is this an area where they feel they have that

261
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expertise or they can really help them in that area.

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So it needs to be total clarity and honesty between

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both parties in this relationship to make sure that it

264
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ends up being successful and then being accessible, just depending

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on how long it's going to take. Dedicating consistent time

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for meetings and communications and setting clear goals. As I

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said before, define the partnership in advance so that no

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one's feelings get hurt. No one is anticipating or expecting

269
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your of rival or to you to be there and

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you're not there or you're arriving, you're making yourself available

271
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and the mint tea is not making themselves available. There

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needs to be set rules and set times and set

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plans for communicating so the goals can be achieved. You know,

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with them running the business, owning a business, their time

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might be limited, but there are ways of working around

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that and setting it up so that you do make time.

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Sometimes you can even be on site being a mentor,

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and I've seen that in the past with organizations. I've

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even invited in mentors for organizations that are developing, and

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I see where they are and they have areas where

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they need skills that need to be developed, and so

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I have sought out mentors, you know, for an organization

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that can help build up the knowledge base in those

284
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particular departments, those particular development areas. Let's look at the

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stages of mentorship. It follows a pretty structured process and

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it involves, like I said before, initiation, getting to know

287
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one another to see if it's going to be a

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potential match. And as you're defining the expectations, you both

289
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understand what the goals are and you both wanted to

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achieve the same thing, cultivating, building trust, goal setting, active

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knowledge sharing. The mentor is going to be sharing their knowledge.

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They're going to be sharing experiences they had, They're going

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to be sharing solutions that they used for the particular

294
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situation that you're in. And so the men team needs

295
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to be receptive. We're not your parents, We are there

296
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as your guidance, your guides, and your assistants and your helpers,

297
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and we're not trying to instruct you like we're talking

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to one of our own children. We're instructing you as

299
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peer to peer adults with thoughts and resolutions and ideas

300
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is and we talk them out with you, We explain

301
00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:05.880
them to you. We get your opinion as to whether

302
00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:08.839
or not it's something you can commit to do so

303
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that you're able to achieve the goals that you're wanting.

304
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What we're wanting to do is understand that also a

305
00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:22.079
mentor is more than just what do you want to

306
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say somebody you're having a coffee chat with. They're there

307
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to bring real expertise to the situation that you're in

308
00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:36.720
and they're there to really help what you're doing doing.

309
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It's more than emailing someone on LinkedIn or getting a

310
00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:46.839
chat going through Facebook or whatever your social media. It

311
00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:51.640
is generally on site. It's generally they're looking through information.

312
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It's they're reviewing your process. It's they're reviewing even the leadership,

313
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the skills of leadership, the the areas. Because we need

314
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to find where the breakdown is happening, where the where

315
00:23:06.519 --> 00:23:11.480
the maybe the risk might be where there might be

316
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areas where development is needed, knowledge is needed, and so

317
00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:20.599
it's far more than just setting down having coffee and

318
00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:24.079
just having a chat about something. It's going to have solutions,

319
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and it's going to have steps to those solutions, and

320
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the expectation is those solutions are going to be not

321
00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:35.079
only listened to, but applied to the situation that you

322
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happen to be in. What makes it different from advice,

323
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from coaching or therapy. One of the things I want

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to explain. Mentors generally do not get involved in personal

325
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things that are going in going on in your life.

326
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They are experts that deal with those and those are

327
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the people that you should be contacting. A mentor is

328
00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:10.440
coming in to deal with problems in your workplace, problems

329
00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:15.519
in your business, problems in your department, problems in your

330
00:24:15.559 --> 00:24:20.559
business flow, different things like that, but not getting involved

331
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in personal and giving personal advice as far as coaching

332
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about things that you might be going through personally, that's

333
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where we kind of draw the line because that's not

334
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what we're there to do. We're there to assist you

335
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in your professional development. Some signs that it's time to

336
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seek a mentor. If you've had a business for five

337
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plus years, especially ten years, and you have not seen

338
00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:00.640
it growing, you have not seen it expand. Now that

339
00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:03.319
might be your choice that you want to be at

340
00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:07.759
that level, but if you're wanting to be to expand,

341
00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:10.960
you're wanting to scale, you're wanting to open up more

342
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divisions or more locations or different things like that, and

343
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you have not been able to make that leap, I

344
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think it's time to talk to a mentor, someone who

345
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can come in and actually see what's going on. Because

346
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:30.359
of their experiences, because of their knowledge base, because of

347
00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:33.000
what they know, they're going to be able to come

348
00:25:33.079 --> 00:25:35.799
in and write up a plan for you to help

349
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you get over that hurdle so that you can reach

350
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that goal that you're trying so desperately to reach. But

351
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you don't know the right steps, or you don't know

352
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what you need to do first, or you don't know

353
00:25:49.839 --> 00:25:53.839
how to make it happen, or who to contact or

354
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different things like that. And you have to also understand,

355
00:25:56.920 --> 00:26:01.440
because of all the multiple years that mentors have worked,

356
00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:06.480
they also have great networks. They have networks of people

357
00:26:06.680 --> 00:26:12.279
that they could refer to you that could really make

358
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a huge difference in your organization and in the plans

359
00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:22.160
that you have set for your organization or your own

360
00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:28.440
personal plans for your business to grow roles and responsibilities.

361
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What do you believe a mentor owes a mentee and

362
00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:38.559
what do you not owe a mentee. As I mentioned before,

363
00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:44.440
you're there to give advice business professional advice, but they're

364
00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:48.759
not there to become a sounding board for personal things

365
00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:53.000
going on in your life. This is a professional relationship

366
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and you will receive and achieve a lot in your

367
00:26:58.279 --> 00:27:05.759
professional career from that mentor building trust and honesty. That's

368
00:27:05.799 --> 00:27:08.839
going to be one of the big hurdles because, like

369
00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:12.319
most businesses, you feel like you can't share because of

370
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:17.160
the constant competition that you have with other companies that

371
00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:20.599
offer the same services or offers with the same products.

372
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There's a competition there to get the largest market share,

373
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so there is a kind of bit of suspicion, you know,

374
00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:35.480
when you're talking to someone, so you don't feel like

375
00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:38.000
you can open up. A mentor is not there to

376
00:27:38.119 --> 00:27:43.359
challenge your organization or take your business secrets and go

377
00:27:43.480 --> 00:27:49.519
out and use them. They're there to help you get

378
00:27:49.559 --> 00:27:52.839
the information so you can grow that you can develop

379
00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:55.920
that you can scale, that you can move on. If

380
00:27:55.960 --> 00:27:59.559
you're in your career and you've now been placed into

381
00:27:59.640 --> 00:28:02.359
a very key senior role, but you're not sure what

382
00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:05.519
to do next, or you're not sure how to handle it,

383
00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:08.799
or you're not sure you know how to deal with

384
00:28:09.079 --> 00:28:14.039
situations in the organization. You get someone who has experienced

385
00:28:14.119 --> 00:28:20.480
that and successfully managed those challenges, successfully found the solutions

386
00:28:20.519 --> 00:28:24.839
to those problems, have resolved many of the challenges in

387
00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:30.599
the organization that you are experiencing at this time. So

388
00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:32.640
it's important to, like I said, get on the right

389
00:28:32.680 --> 00:28:38.480
foot when you're just getting started with a mentor getting

390
00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:42.839
the right structure. You know, how often do you feel

391
00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:47.960
you need I know with mentors that I have used

392
00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:51.039
in the past, not for me, but for organizations that

393
00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:57.000
I have said, you need a mentor to help you

394
00:28:57.039 --> 00:29:00.440
maybe go in and train some of their engine years,

395
00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:03.839
or training some of your finance staff, or train some

396
00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:07.480
of your sales sales group. You know the people there.

397
00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:10.640
You get a mentor who's been there and has done

398
00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:15.039
those things. It really makes a difference, a difference that

399
00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:19.839
you will never ever forget. But some of the things

400
00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:24.440
you want to do is establish how often and I

401
00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:27.200
think that would be based on what is what need

402
00:29:27.319 --> 00:29:32.039
do you really have. Some of the challenges you might

403
00:29:32.119 --> 00:29:36.039
have is something that is cyclical so that you only

404
00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:41.359
need to see the mentor monthly, or you might have

405
00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:45.519
major issues that you know, you've got auditors staring you

406
00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:48.440
down and you have things that you have to clean up,

407
00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:52.640
or or just whatever it might be before the auditors come

408
00:29:53.240 --> 00:29:56.160
or they have come, and you've been instructed these these

409
00:29:56.279 --> 00:30:01.599
these things need to be mediated or you might lose

410
00:30:01.880 --> 00:30:05.559
your you know, your opportunity to even continue to be

411
00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:09.160
a business. So you bring that mentor in and it

412
00:30:09.240 --> 00:30:13.119
might be something where your frequency is weekly, and as

413
00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:16.680
I mentioned, some mentors actually come on site and they're

414
00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:22.240
there daily until the situation is resolved. It just depends

415
00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:26.640
on who you're speaking to, what their availability is, what

416
00:30:26.680 --> 00:30:29.160
your needs really are. And these are things that you

417
00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:32.400
need to establish up front so that when you begin

418
00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:39.200
this mentor mentee, you know, relationship and you're resolving these problems.

419
00:30:39.640 --> 00:30:42.839
Then it is handled as if it's part of the

420
00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:46.599
business and they are there on a regular basis, and

421
00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:50.960
everybody knows exactly when that is. So that you make

422
00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:55.279
yourself available, both parties make themselves available so that they

423
00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:58.680
can meet those goals and be able to do those things.

424
00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:09.400
There are some of the common challenges, whether you fail

425
00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:13.960
or you succeed, if you don't establish the right relationship

426
00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:19.880
up front, there may be a situation where this whole

427
00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:25.559
mentor mentor mentee situation will fail. If we don't have

428
00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:31.599
truth and honesty in that relationship, it can't be successful

429
00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:35.160
because you're working from a point of view where you're

430
00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:37.920
not even resolving the problem because you haven't heard what

431
00:31:38.119 --> 00:31:42.119
the truth is about that problem. They are there to help.

432
00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:44.839
They're not there to hurt you. They're not there to

433
00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:50.079
make you feel inadequate or anything. They're there to boost you.

434
00:31:50.160 --> 00:31:54.039
They're there to excite you. They're there to inform you.

435
00:31:54.119 --> 00:31:57.480
They're there to build you up so that you can

436
00:31:57.519 --> 00:32:00.960
be all that you ever ever wanted to be. There's

437
00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:07.720
nothing wrong with not knowing. That's the situation that I know.

438
00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:11.079
We have a lot of people out there to say, oh,

439
00:32:11.240 --> 00:32:14.039
you know, with the name calling and stuff like that,

440
00:32:14.480 --> 00:32:17.279
we're not in that space. The space we're in is

441
00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:23.039
we have qualified and experienced people that have knowledge that

442
00:32:23.079 --> 00:32:26.519
would make your life easier, that would make your life

443
00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:30.319
more successful. And guess what, I haven't even told you

444
00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:34.480
the best part the organization that I'm going to mention

445
00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:41.839
it doesn't cost you anything. Who doesn't want a CEO

446
00:32:41.880 --> 00:32:47.559
to come in and help with organizing your company? A

447
00:32:47.680 --> 00:32:52.079
CEO that has twenty thirty forty years of experience working

448
00:32:52.119 --> 00:33:00.000
in multiple industries and it doesn't cost you anything? Now,

449
00:33:00.039 --> 00:33:04.279
how can you not want to do that? Just think

450
00:33:04.279 --> 00:33:09.599
about that, You're getting expertise that some other person is

451
00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:12.400
having to pay three four hundred thousand dollars a year

452
00:33:12.440 --> 00:33:18.680
for for free. We're going to mention that just something

453
00:33:18.680 --> 00:33:23.000
to make you hang on to the end. But just

454
00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:27.480
having those communications and understanding what is needed and what

455
00:33:27.599 --> 00:33:30.000
needs to be done and who needs to do it,

456
00:33:30.119 --> 00:33:33.680
and you know, And then like I said, determining how

457
00:33:33.720 --> 00:33:35.680
long the process is going to be. If it says

458
00:33:35.720 --> 00:33:37.400
it's going to be thirty days and we need to

459
00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:41.279
achieve this within thirty days. If they say, well, based

460
00:33:41.279 --> 00:33:45.480
on the severity or maybe that so many different areas

461
00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:49.960
in the organization that development needs to be built up,

462
00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:53.240
it could be six months. But they're there for that

463
00:33:53.400 --> 00:33:56.359
six months. They're not going to leave. If you commit

464
00:33:56.799 --> 00:33:59.240
and they commit, they're going to be there on the

465
00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:01.799
assigned time, and they're going to come there energized, and

466
00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:04.160
they're going to come there with information, and they're going

467
00:34:04.240 --> 00:34:06.480
to come there with ideas, and they're going to come

468
00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:10.320
there with structure that's going to help you get over

469
00:34:10.360 --> 00:34:15.199
those hurdles and those challenges and become the organization, the business,

470
00:34:15.280 --> 00:34:20.880
the nonprofit, the manufacturing site, the healthcare organization, whatever it is,

471
00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:26.519
whatever industry. Because we that have been working a long time,

472
00:34:26.559 --> 00:34:29.920
that have been in this workforce a long time, we

473
00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:33.440
have seen all of the businesses and we've seen them

474
00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:36.719
from the beginning up to this date, and so we

475
00:34:36.880 --> 00:34:40.840
know what's involved. We have stories that go way back

476
00:34:41.159 --> 00:34:43.800
and can walk you all the way through the path

477
00:34:44.360 --> 00:34:46.760
of those stories up to this very date as to

478
00:34:46.840 --> 00:34:50.000
what works and what doesn't work and so, and as

479
00:34:50.039 --> 00:34:56.239
I mentioned before, those services can be free. And so

480
00:34:56.679 --> 00:35:03.480
to my seniors that are out there, one of the

481
00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:08.119
things I wanted to mention that there is an organization

482
00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:13.559
out there that provides information, and they provide skills, and

483
00:35:13.599 --> 00:35:18.960
they provide guidance and they do a lot of different things.

484
00:35:20.199 --> 00:35:23.960
And I want you to consider being a part of that.

485
00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:28.199
But one of the things we have to establish also

486
00:35:28.360 --> 00:35:33.320
the boundaries and expectations. You know where you draw the

487
00:35:33.360 --> 00:35:36.800
line with the mentors and where you draw a line

488
00:35:36.800 --> 00:35:43.400
with the mentees. So establish good boundaries and expectations and

489
00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:48.639
you'll have a successful relationship and the issues will be

490
00:35:48.679 --> 00:35:53.559
resolved and it will be a successful site visit and plan.

491
00:35:56.039 --> 00:35:58.719
One of the other things I wanted to mention is

492
00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:01.320
we have a lot a lot of businesses out there

493
00:36:01.800 --> 00:36:08.960
that are indigenous, they're minority groups or whatever, and equity,

494
00:36:09.320 --> 00:36:17.000
inclusion and access is sometimes not available in all areas

495
00:36:17.480 --> 00:36:22.800
of their business organization. So how does how can we

496
00:36:22.960 --> 00:36:28.760
maybe have more representation in that area because we do,

497
00:36:28.920 --> 00:36:37.639
we need mentoring that's going to impact underrepresented or marginalized organizations.

498
00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:43.280
Someone with that experience, somebody that understands that pathway, that

499
00:36:43.480 --> 00:36:49.639
understands some of the challenges that we're seeing today or

500
00:36:49.639 --> 00:36:54.039
over the years of just because of the the just

501
00:36:54.199 --> 00:36:56.840
because of some of the issues that have never been

502
00:36:56.880 --> 00:37:00.800
resolved here in this nation. And you know what I'm

503
00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:05.880
talking about. When we don't have some of these things resolve,

504
00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:11.840
then it causes imbalance. And there has been imbalance. So

505
00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:19.039
we've got to have mentors of all backgrounds, because organizations

506
00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:28.039
are of all backgrounds organizations that have all kinds of

507
00:37:28.599 --> 00:37:34.840
challenges and situations and circumstances that not everyone would understand,

508
00:37:35.119 --> 00:37:39.480
but someone who is from that particular, you know environment,

509
00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:43.440
they understand the challenges, They understand how to work around

510
00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:47.400
some of the challenges, they understand how to miss the pitfalls.

511
00:37:47.880 --> 00:37:51.079
So we need, you know, mentors that are going to

512
00:37:51.079 --> 00:37:56.599
come in from all backgrounds, all types of experiences so

513
00:37:56.639 --> 00:38:01.800
that they can bring, you know, knowledge to this situation

514
00:38:02.039 --> 00:38:07.440
so that people are able to get the information that

515
00:38:07.480 --> 00:38:14.480
they need. And then you also need to establish how

516
00:38:14.519 --> 00:38:21.280
to measure measure whether or not this mentoring was successful,

517
00:38:21.599 --> 00:38:26.639
measuring the impact you know, when you're telling them that

518
00:38:26.920 --> 00:38:30.280
you're able to do this, and this set a clear

519
00:38:30.559 --> 00:38:35.599
goal so that everyone understands when that goal is met,

520
00:38:35.800 --> 00:38:41.039
nobody is discouraged, nobody is disappointed. No one feels like

521
00:38:41.119 --> 00:38:44.559
they didn't receive but they expected, have the expectations, there,

522
00:38:44.719 --> 00:38:47.800
have the goals there. So when you get to the end,

523
00:38:47.920 --> 00:38:50.760
you can go through your checklist. All of these goals

524
00:38:50.840 --> 00:38:54.320
were met, all of these things were accomplished, all of

525
00:38:54.360 --> 00:38:58.039
these things were served, so that you know them when

526
00:38:58.079 --> 00:39:03.719
you walk away, you really, really truly have had a

527
00:39:03.880 --> 00:39:10.920
very successful relationship with that mentor. One of the things,

528
00:39:11.920 --> 00:39:13.760
one of the things is I was going I was

529
00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:16.199
trying to think of, Okay, what would be a question

530
00:39:16.320 --> 00:39:20.719
a mentee could ask a mentor to maybe find out

531
00:39:21.400 --> 00:39:24.360
who will they understand? And I guess one of that

532
00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:30.119
my question was ask that mentor have you ever made

533
00:39:30.159 --> 00:39:33.840
a mistake and what happened? And how did you fix it?

534
00:39:34.719 --> 00:39:40.800
Have you ever failed? Ask them what was the circumstances,

535
00:39:41.320 --> 00:39:44.159
how did you feel, how did you react, and how

536
00:39:44.199 --> 00:39:47.599
did you go forward? So that you can understand that

537
00:39:47.800 --> 00:39:52.760
just not coming in with you know, the Wonder Man

538
00:39:52.920 --> 00:39:56.719
with the cape on and Superman, you know, resolving the day.

539
00:39:57.559 --> 00:40:00.599
You know, we have Clark Kent under there that can

540
00:40:01.079 --> 00:40:06.039
also make mistakes, say the wrong things, do the wrong things.

541
00:40:06.400 --> 00:40:11.320
So we have to know that that person is open

542
00:40:11.400 --> 00:40:17.079
to sharing personal information. Everything is not a success. Sometimes

543
00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:20.480
there are some failures. And when you get a mentor

544
00:40:20.639 --> 00:40:23.719
that is willing to say, you know what, I did this,

545
00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:26.719
and boy it blew up in my face. I should

546
00:40:26.719 --> 00:40:30.320
have asked someone, or I shouldn't have taken that particular path,

547
00:40:31.000 --> 00:40:33.400
or you know, I should have researched a little more.

548
00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:37.679
They have to be willing to share even that kind

549
00:40:37.719 --> 00:40:42.400
of information because we're not perfect, We're just experienced. Now

550
00:40:42.599 --> 00:40:46.199
we learned from our mistakes, we learned over the years,

551
00:40:46.760 --> 00:40:49.280
and we learned exactly what it is that need to

552
00:40:49.280 --> 00:40:58.960
be done. Effective mentorship is built on connection, clarity, compassion,

553
00:40:59.159 --> 00:41:04.400
and commitment and they will give you exactly what is

554
00:41:04.519 --> 00:41:09.159
needed that's going to help the younger people achieve their

555
00:41:09.239 --> 00:41:13.400
career path or their goals that they have in their

556
00:41:13.480 --> 00:41:19.039
organization or their personal goals and maybe starting a business.

557
00:41:19.320 --> 00:41:23.840
They will be able to make that happen. But the

558
00:41:23.960 --> 00:41:28.480
organization that I want to speak about is called SCORE

559
00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:38.239
s Coore Service Corp of Retired Executives SCORE, which exists

560
00:41:38.280 --> 00:41:41.519
here in the country and it's a find that foundation

561
00:41:41.639 --> 00:41:44.719
that you can look up. It consists of over ten

562
00:41:44.840 --> 00:41:50.360
thousand volunteers, stakeholders and sponsors who are willing to give

563
00:41:50.440 --> 00:41:55.400
back to their communities through mentoring. And it was established

564
00:41:55.400 --> 00:41:59.360
in nineteen sixty four. And I used them in different

565
00:41:59.440 --> 00:42:07.880
environments when I was needing assistance or needing help coming

566
00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:10.119
in as an interim or when I worked as a

567
00:42:10.599 --> 00:42:15.000
CFO and I saw different areas that needed building up,

568
00:42:15.039 --> 00:42:18.400
I contacted SCORE because I knew they would get the

569
00:42:18.519 --> 00:42:23.000
expertise needed to be able to turn this around very quickly.

570
00:42:24.800 --> 00:42:28.840
So successful small business owners understand the importance of giving

571
00:42:28.880 --> 00:42:34.559
back to their communities people that joined SCORE. They volunteer.

572
00:42:34.559 --> 00:42:40.519
They volunteer to helping small business people solve business problems.

573
00:42:41.559 --> 00:42:46.679
The volunteers give freely of their time, energy, their knowledge

574
00:42:46.920 --> 00:42:54.000
to help others. SCORE volunteers donate over one million hours

575
00:42:54.239 --> 00:42:59.760
of their time each year to support their communities, community alliances,

576
00:43:01.079 --> 00:43:06.920
and to help organizations and businesses or whatever it might be,

577
00:43:06.920 --> 00:43:13.639
become successful. Diversity and mentoring. Mentoring is valuable and possesses

578
00:43:13.719 --> 00:43:19.880
great power by diversity of thought, diversity of race, gender, ethnicity, geography,

579
00:43:19.960 --> 00:43:26.559
and experience is important and valuable. In SCORE volunteers are

580
00:43:26.599 --> 00:43:35.360
generally lifelong learners. They remain relevant. They achieve personal and

581
00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:39.920
satisfaction and growth personal satisfaction and growth. They enjoy it.

582
00:43:40.039 --> 00:43:44.519
I enjoy it. I enjoy mentoring. I'm here on a

583
00:43:44.679 --> 00:43:50.119
sharp because I'm mentoring. I enjoy informing. I enjoy being

584
00:43:50.199 --> 00:43:53.760
able to give you guidance so that you can miss

585
00:43:53.800 --> 00:43:57.280
the pitfalls, can miss the mistakes, can miss some of

586
00:43:57.280 --> 00:44:01.039
the problems or the issues that we ran into as

587
00:44:01.119 --> 00:44:05.920
we were learning and growing and watching the digital world

588
00:44:05.960 --> 00:44:14.920
come to life. The small businesses need knowledgeable experience business

589
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:20.239
people to give back to their communities by volunteering, volunteering

590
00:44:20.280 --> 00:44:24.639
their time as a mentor. No matter what your particular

591
00:44:24.679 --> 00:44:30.599
industry title or expertise, you have value to offer two

592
00:44:30.599 --> 00:44:37.280
potential entrepreneurs. And as you know, like you said, small

593
00:44:37.320 --> 00:44:40.239
business is the backbone of the nation. We always have

594
00:44:40.360 --> 00:44:45.079
to keep our small businesses growing and developing and starting.

595
00:44:45.880 --> 00:44:52.360
And with the expertise of some of our older retirees,

596
00:44:53.599 --> 00:44:56.320
you can't be anything but successful because you're going to

597
00:44:56.320 --> 00:45:01.599
get the best experienced workers they you could ever even

598
00:45:01.719 --> 00:45:06.480
think of having. And they're volunteering and it doesn't cost anything.

599
00:45:07.320 --> 00:45:11.920
So hmmm, what does that mean? Wow, I don't think

600
00:45:11.960 --> 00:45:16.400
you have an excuse not to contact them, and I'm

601
00:45:16.639 --> 00:45:22.280
really recommending that you do consider bringing them on board

602
00:45:24.519 --> 00:45:30.159
their experience. To you volunteers that are going to start

603
00:45:30.199 --> 00:45:33.920
working with SCORE, your experience is vital. It really is.

604
00:45:33.960 --> 00:45:37.559
As I mentioned before, people are stumbling, they don't know

605
00:45:37.840 --> 00:45:40.840
what they need to be doing. Things are not as

606
00:45:40.880 --> 00:45:43.440
good as they could be if they just had a

607
00:45:43.599 --> 00:45:46.360
little just tweaking a little bit. And you know what

608
00:45:46.360 --> 00:45:50.920
that tweak needs to be. It's vital and it truly

609
00:45:51.000 --> 00:45:58.440
matters the volunteers. Knowledge is relevant, it's important, it's wisdom,

610
00:45:58.880 --> 00:46:04.840
it's experience. It serves clients through mentorship and education. Mentors

611
00:46:04.880 --> 00:46:11.280
develop relationships and they act with integrity and respect, honesty, purpose,

612
00:46:11.599 --> 00:46:17.519
and professionalism. They listen with an open mind, they encourage

613
00:46:17.639 --> 00:46:21.159
and openly, openly are going to tell you what it

614
00:46:21.320 --> 00:46:26.119
is that you need, so people that are seeking help,

615
00:46:26.440 --> 00:46:30.679
you're going to get the help that you need. They

616
00:46:30.679 --> 00:46:35.920
have long term relationships and are drivers of small business success.

617
00:46:37.280 --> 00:46:42.639
Score the organization I'm talking about. It's in all fifty

618
00:46:42.679 --> 00:46:48.400
states and territories and they are experts in entrepreneurship and

619
00:46:48.519 --> 00:46:54.960
business operations. They volunteer their time just because they want

620
00:46:55.039 --> 00:47:04.199
to help. They have free on line events discussing topics

621
00:47:04.280 --> 00:47:10.440
that range from startup strategies to marketing and finance, and

622
00:47:10.480 --> 00:47:16.960
the attendees can watch on webinars live or view recordings

623
00:47:17.199 --> 00:47:20.119
that are online that we're recorded at a previous time.

624
00:47:21.559 --> 00:47:28.639
SCORE offers entrepreneurs free confidential business mentoring in person or remotely,

625
00:47:30.599 --> 00:47:36.239
and they're there at your fingertips because all you have

626
00:47:36.280 --> 00:47:41.719
to do is contact them. Their website is score Sco

627
00:47:42.159 --> 00:47:48.960
r e dot org RG. Their phone number is one

628
00:47:49.119 --> 00:47:56.840
eight hundred six three four zero two four five. They're

629
00:47:56.880 --> 00:48:01.719
waiting on you to call. They're waiting on you to say,

630
00:48:01.880 --> 00:48:07.079
I need I need help. If you are even those

631
00:48:07.159 --> 00:48:11.239
that are kind of considering, you know, working with you know,

632
00:48:11.440 --> 00:48:17.239
nonprofits or government organizations or whatever. They have experience and everything.

633
00:48:17.559 --> 00:48:23.000
They cover every area of industry that exists. They've been there,

634
00:48:23.039 --> 00:48:27.360
they have long years of experience, and they just want

635
00:48:27.400 --> 00:48:31.280
to be there to guide you, to assist you, and

636
00:48:31.320 --> 00:48:36.480
to make you successful. And I don't know how it

637
00:48:36.599 --> 00:48:43.400
is you can refuse free free executives that would be

638
00:48:43.480 --> 00:48:48.159
making hundreds of thousands of dollars and you get them

639
00:48:48.199 --> 00:48:52.000
for free because they care and they're giving back. And

640
00:48:52.039 --> 00:48:54.719
so I'm saying to even some of the retirees that

641
00:48:55.599 --> 00:48:57.920
seem like they don't you don't have anything to do,

642
00:48:58.679 --> 00:49:02.280
this is something you can do, something that can make

643
00:49:02.320 --> 00:49:06.920
a difference in the lives of businesses that are starting,

644
00:49:07.800 --> 00:49:11.760
and in the lives of professionals that are starting their careers,

645
00:49:12.559 --> 00:49:15.920
and in the lives of those that are dreaming and

646
00:49:16.000 --> 00:49:20.400
thinking about starting something but don't have any clue how

647
00:49:20.719 --> 00:49:25.079
or where to go. You're there you've got that knowledge,

648
00:49:25.400 --> 00:49:32.199
and I'm asking you please become a volunteer. It's time

649
00:49:32.239 --> 00:49:36.039
for us to give back to the communities, to the

650
00:49:36.079 --> 00:49:40.480
business world, and to the next generation so that they

651
00:49:40.639 --> 00:49:46.400
can enjoy what we're enjoying, the joy of having successful careers.

652
00:49:47.239 --> 00:49:52.559
Help us all out, join score or whatever organization you

653
00:49:52.559 --> 00:49:57.199
would like to bring knowledge to our younger people so

654
00:49:57.400 --> 00:50:02.159
they can succeed. Thank you for tuning in to a

655
00:50:02.280 --> 00:50:06.920
Sharp Outlook. We're here every Monday at eleven am Eastern

656
00:50:06.960 --> 00:50:12.719
time eight am Specific time. We're here to inform and

657
00:50:12.760 --> 00:50:19.440
to bring you good topics to add to your podcasting time.

658
00:50:20.639 --> 00:50:23.119
And one of the things I always want to tell

659
00:50:23.159 --> 00:50:30.360
you to do stay informed. I want to thank you

660
00:50:30.519 --> 00:50:33.440
for joining us on a Sharp Outlook. We have been

661
00:50:33.480 --> 00:50:37.039
informed and energized to take the next steps. We have

662
00:50:37.159 --> 00:50:40.920
posted links to websites and videos to learn more on

663
00:50:40.960 --> 00:50:44.840
today's topic. Please join us again next week for another

664
00:50:44.960 --> 00:50:49.719
thought provoking conversation right here on key for HD radio

665
00:50:50.159 --> 00:50:54.239
and Talk for TV. Listen to the podcast on all

666
00:50:54.599 --> 00:50:59.119
the podcast apps, and until next week, stay informed.