with Christine Dionese and Me!
After much discussion and a bit of ass dragging by me, Christine and I have decided to explore the topic of peer-to-peer mentoring together. Beginning this month, we will begin mentoring each other through a monthly Q&A column on her blog and mine, where we will publicly share our challenges and pains, and support each other in working through those issues.
Christine and I have never met in person. Nor have we ever communicated outside of email. Our relationship and the trust we have built has developed strictly through the written word. As Christine pointed out in an email, “People wrote to one another in the old days and had to learn about one another in that way. Travel was either scarce or financially prohibitive, so writing letters was the mode.” Perhaps one day we will meet but for now we believe the power of the written word will be enough to facilitate a strong and effective mentor relationship.
Christine and I share a love of writing and a belief in a holistic and integrated approach to all aspects of living.
Why are we exploring mentorship?
Four reasons:
- We believe we can learn and grow from each other.
- We believe as professionals we need to self-discover and self-improve in order to meaningfully provide value to our clients.
- We believe you can learn from our mentor relationship. Our goal for the monthly Q&A column is to promote peer-to-peer mentorship, show different perspectives on mentorship and hopefully convert mentorship non-believers (like me! For more on this see point #4) into believers. Overall we believe sharing our mentor relationship with you will help you to learn more about yourself, and assist you in moving your businesses forward in a socially conscious way.
- We thought it would be a cool contrast to present mentorship from two differing perspectives. Being the X-Files geek I am, I will use the analogy that I am Scully, the skeptic, and Christine is Mulder, the believer. Christine’s perspective on mentors is so strong, she is confident in their value, has experience relying on them and is passionate about facilitating and championing the importance of this type of relationship. Me, on the other hand, is just beginning to enter the world of trusting another to support and champion me, and I am not very familiar with this feeling, or with understanding the immense value a mentor can add to my life.
What’s Up Next…
- In two weeks, Christine and I will shed light onto our differing perspectives on mentorship as we begin this new relationship and project.
- Monthly, we will publish a Q&A on each of our blogs where we will mentor and support each other on our topic du jour.
Does Christine seem familiar to you? She was December 2010’s Innerpreneur Spotlight which you can check out here!