Who is your Mentor? January 21, 2007
Posted by omair in : Uncategorized , 2 commentsIn life I have come across many cross roads, directions, goals, aspirations, visions, etc.
Regardless of what path I am following, whether I was looking to enhance my Islamic knowledge, obtain my bachelors degree, find a job, excel in my career, I came to a realization yesterday - Success in any path in life requires some form of guidance from a mentor.
When I read through some biographies of modern success stories, they all referred to their mentors. Donald Trump, Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Herb Keller, Jack Welch –> All referred to mentors they could turn to, ask for guidance whenever they came across situations they hadn’t experienced before.
Even in the Islamic history, the Sahaba had the greatest of all mentors, the Prophet SAW. In turn our Sahaba themselves became great mentors.
So who is my mentor? I can think of a few for specific cases, but I feel there is one key defficiency in the mentors I have identified in my life. That is I like them too much. I have developed too close of a personal relationship.
My mentor needs to be able to tell me I am being stupid when I am - They need to be able to tell me ‘Omair quit the B.S. the reality is….’ No sugar coating, no worry of my feelings when the truth needs to be told. In the end, they aren’t needed to give me the answers, rather I need them to guide me so I can decide on the answers. Straight to the point.
So I ask myself - Who is my mentor?