LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM THE FORCE

Part 4 of 6

Why do you need a Mentor? Can’t your inherent STAGs (Skills, Talents, Abilities and Gifts) see you through? What if there is no one worthy of being your mentor?

The answer to both questions is a resounding NO!

It is definitely an advantage to know one’s STAGs. Actually, this is just a preparatory phase in discovering your Life Purpose Statement which is what is truly important. Surprisingly, 98 out of every 100 people I ask do not have an accurate picture of their STAGs, much less their Life Purpose Statement.

Should you be interested to know/create/determine your Life Purpose Statement, send me an e-mail at alfred@genesis1training.com to know more about our online Life Purpose Discovery Class (kindly use Life Purpose Discovery Class as the subject in your e-mail).

Having a Mentor will greatly help you know more about yourself (i.e. strengths and weaknesses) as they see you from an external perspective. In fact, not only are Mentors responsible for developing one’s STAGs, he/she even has the task of curbing/controlling it if too much of it gets in the way.

Anakin Skywalker was heralded as The Chosen One. He was touted to be the one to bring balance to the Force. In fact, in terms of skill, he was up there amongst the very best like Master Yoda and Master Windu. So why/how did he end up as Darth Vader? Simple. He let himself get ahead of himself.

The specific role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in Anakin’s life as his mentor is of paramount importance. Obi-Wan had the unenviable task of honing, developing and training Anakin’s immense skill and seeing to it that he does not fall prey to the Dark Side. Yet fall he did. Let’s take a failure analysis into the tragedy:

• There probably was no true SUBMISSION by Anakin to Obi-Wan. There were repeated instances in Episode 2 and 3 where Anakin was resentful of Obi-Wan’s holding him back;
• Anakin relied too much on his STAGs at the expense of wisdom and patience;
  • Wisdom, which is the application of knowledge, was something Anakin didn’t quite apply
    • He let his feelings get in the way of duty and acted under the cover of deceit (he married Padme and kept things hidden)
  • He lacked patience in allowing the course of things to progress
    • He was covetous of the Master Jedi title and did not trust the collective wisdom of the Jedi Council
  • He allowed his present circumstance to limit his future potential
    • His fear of loss was what he focused on despite the truth of absolute freedom when a loved one combines with the Force (i.e. death of Padme)

Sadly, all of these pitfalls could have been avoided if only Anakin listened to his Mentor Obi-Wan.

To answer the second question, there is always someone who will be better (and worse) than you so declaring that there is nobody worthy of being your Mentor is a fallacy. While the default in the corporate world is usually the immediate superior, it does not necessarily have to be so. While there are inherent benefits (and dangers) of choosing your immediate superior to be your Mentor, you should not limit yourself to only this option.

The plain and simple truth is that one should not get ahead of themselves and trip up. Regardless of the immense potential one has, it remains to be just that (potential) if not released properly. Having a Mentor is a wise action to take in releasing that potential.

Part 5 still to come.