The Trap of Empathy: A Lesson in Enabling
November Mentor Message When I think of the word empathy, I picture people with a natural ability to understand and connect with others—those who are good listeners, show compassion, and …
What makes a successful mentor?
As mentors, we are not responsible to fix our mentee’s problems. It is easy to carry the weight of other’s choices or circumstances upon our shoulders and feel the gravity of every crisis they face. Our role is to encourage, believe in, share wise counsel, and give hope that circumstances can and will change as they don’t give up.
We are stronger together
Last week, while listening to one of my favorite podcasts, I heard a story about draft horses. Now, I am not much of a horse person, but even I remember …
Mirroring the Good
Connection is one of the most basic human needs. We are designed to bond to our caregiver from a very early age. Throughout life we form new connections and strengthen …
The Race of Life: How One Runner’s Act of Kindness Inspires Us All
Abel Mutai, a runner from Kenya, was just a few feet from the finish line, but became confused with the signage and stopped, thinking he had completed the race. A …
Gratitude changes EVERYTHING
We have focused on gratitude in previous newsletters and feel to mention again this simple, powerful tool to pass along to your mentees. It doesn’t cost anything and requires no …
Building Trust
Mentor Message by Dave Fisher (current mentor) I believe trust is the foundation of any successful mentoring relationship. As my mentee and I have strengthened our trust in each other, …
See the good…in ALL things
The past few months have been brutal for my mentee. Her child was hospitalized with severe pneumonia, her boyfriend walked out on her, her grandmother was at the brink of …
Keep Moving Forward
My husband is a big college basketball fan, and the month of March is his favorite time of year! What we love most about the NCAA tournament, known as March …
Support the Solution…Not the Problem
I’ve had some interesting experiences lately with my mentee that have reinforced two core principles that under gird the work we do at Hand in Hand. 1) We don’t support …