The Invisible Mentor

An Alternative Mentoring Model

By Avil M. Beckford
 Table of Contents

Legal Notices ………………………………………….. Page 3

Introduction ……………………………………………. Page 4
Who is an Invisible Mentor …………………………… Page 5
Characteristics of Invisible Mentors ………………… Page 6
Absorbent Learner ……………………………………. Page 7
The Invisible Mentor Concept Expanded …………… Page 8
How The Invisible Mentor Concepts Works ………… Page 9
Why Invisible Mentors Are Important ………………… Page
11
5 Unique Leaders You Can Learn Things From ……. Page 12
Make Your 5 Invisible Mentors Work for You ……….. Page 14
Conclusion ……………………………………………… Page 15
About The Author ………………………………………. Page
16
Websites/Resources ……………………………………Page 17

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 Legal Notices

Please feel free to distribute the presentation in its entirety with

attribution to the author.

Disclaimer And/Or Legal Notices:

The information presented herein represents the view of the author

at the time of publication. Due to the rate at which conditions
change, the right to update this publication is reserved based on
new conditions. This toolkit is for informational purposes only, in
regard to the subject matter, and not intended as professional
advice. While every attempt has been made to verify the
information provided in this work, the author does not assume any
responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. You should be
aware of any laws which govern business transactions or other
business practices in your country, province and state.

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 Introduction

This presentation introduces the concept of “invisible

mentors” and highlights ways that anyone can use them
to further their careers.

With this mentoring model, “absorbent learners” or

mentees have to be very self-directed and willing to
dedicate the necessary time to consume the necessary
information to build a body of knowledge that they will
apply, as well as study the behaviours of the “invisible
mentor.”

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 Who Is an Invisible Mentor?

 Washington State University Professor, Karen L.

Peterson, defines an “invisible mentor” as a unique
leader who you can learn things from by observing
and studying their behaviours and professional
evolution over a period of several years.

 An invisible mentor has the capacity and capability

(albeit a gift) to see just above the “tree top” and the
ability and commitment to come “back down” and
tell many below what can be seen”

 Source: Peterson (2000)

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 Characteristics of Invisible Mentors
 A leader  Facilitates understanding
 Willing to share wisdom,  Enlightened and
knowledge and experiences understand that the world
 Ability to explain, teach and is bigger than them
communicate  Inspiring
 Capacity to listen actively  Willing to help others
 Old enough to have learned succeed
important life lessons  Engaging
 Accomplished and possess  Well-read and has
extraordinary perception exceptional intellect
 Unique ability to sort out the  Demonstrates intellectual
valuable from the inquiry
superfluous and make
connections among
 Problem solver
disparate pieces of  Change maker
information  Passionate

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 Absorbent Learner

 An “absorbent learner” is someone who “listens,

discusses, verifies, explains, and uses multiple
strategies and styles to come to know but ultimately
self-construct understanding most effectively with
the assistance of a ‘mentor’

 Absorbent knowing requires an external “guide” to

help integrate, edit, dispose of, reorganize, and
creatively connect the pieces. The person who
makes the connections is in an ‘external role’
Peterson (2000).

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 The Invisible Concept Expanded

 An “invisible mentor” is a training tool as well as a

different way of thinking

 “Invisible mentors” are books, interviews, speeches,

articles, presentations by and about unique leaders
who you can learn things from

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 How The Invisible Mentor Works

For a book to assume the role of an “invisible

mentor,” it has to have many of the elements below:

 Provokes thought
 Provides a deeper level of understanding and heightened
awareness
 Ignites passion
 Awakens deep-seated emotions
 Provides practical wisdom
 Chronicles events for strategic guidance
 Provides formulas and intellectual frameworks to use
 Be about a change maker
 Solves everyday problems
 Shifts the reader’s mindset

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 How The Invisible Mentor Works
For an interview to assume the role of an Invisible Mentor,
interviewees have to be:

 Willing to share wisdom, knowledge and experiences

 Old enough to have learned important life lessons
 Accomplished
 Enlightened and understand that the world is bigger than them
 Inspiring
 Willing to help others succeed
 Engaging
 Well-read
 Articulate
 Problem solvers
 Change makers
 Passionate
 Easy to understand

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 Why Invisible Mentors Are Important
 Invisible Mentors are great substitutes for traditional
mentors, and the perfect complement to any mentoring
relationship
 Invisible Mentors allow professionals to:
 tap into their inner genius and promote a personal
growth regiment
 introduce rigor to their thinking

 increase discipline

 strengthen the ability to communicate and create a

well-fed mind
 Consistently reading the right books, builds intellectual
and verbal power; and listening to the right interviews
heightens focus and awareness, while increasing
knowledge
 Digesting the words of great thinkers provides a rich
minefield for great ideas worth exploring
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Who are Five Unique Leaders you Can Learn
Things from?

To decide which Invisible Mentors will take you where you

want to go:

 Where do you see yourself personally and professionally

in the next one to three years?

 Are their gaps in your skills that you have to fill?

 Who are five unique leaders who have accomplished what

you would like to accomplish? Or, who are five people
who have walked the path, or are farther along the path
than you?

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Who are Five Unique Leaders you Can Learn
Things from?

 Have any of these experts given important speeches and

produced information products such as books, ebooks
and audio programs that you could use to expand your
knowledge base in the area (s) you identified above?
Write down the titles of the speeches and the names of
the products for easy reference later.

 What traits or behaviours do these unique leaders have in

common?

 What is it about them that you are attracted to?

 Do their core values and philosophies align with yours?

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 Make Your 5 Invisible Mentors Work for You

 Observe these five unique leaders (Invisible Mentors),

read their books, watch their presentations and videos,
listen to any interviews they have given

 Immerse yourself in everything about them so that if you

are problem solving, you could ask and answer the
question, "what would Invisible Mentor x do if she were in
this situation?"

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 Conclusion

 With a plethora of online resources today, the learning

curve for observing and learning from “invisible mentors”
in a particular field can be cut substantially by:

 listening to or reading speeches given by them

 reading books written by and about them,
 and listening to interviews given by and about them

 Suddenly the concept of “invisible mentors” has opened

up, and can include both living and dead leaders who are
unique

 And, individuals who have never had the opportunity to

develop a traditional mentoring relationship now have
more options

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 About The Author
Avil Beckford President of Ambeck Enterprise and Chief
Invisible Mentor, is an accomplished writer, researcher, and
analyst with over 15 years of experience. Her strong service
orientation, dedication to learning and exploring new ways of
improving her own life as well as the many she touches, has
underpinned her success to date.

A published author, her new book, Tales of People Who Get It

is the culmination of her life experiences. It has often been said
of Avil that her life informs her work. She has also created a
companion workbook Journey to Getting It.

Avil’s many readers look forward to Ambeck Edge, her

company’s regular e-Newsletter that is a rich resource those
interested in self-improvement, as well as those professionals
who struggle with life balance issues. More recently, she
created The Invisible Mentor Blog to use books, articles and
interviews by and about successful people to mentor her
readers.
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 Websites/Resources

Websites

Ambeck Enterprise http://www.ambeck.com

The Invisible Mentor Blog http://theinvisiblementor.com

Resources

Website Resources: http://www.ambeck.com/resources.html

Blog Resources: http://theinvisiblementor.com/resources/

Books: Tales of People Who Get It, Journey to Getting It, The
Invisible Mentor Tool Kit, The Problem Solver Tool Kit, Work-
Life Balance Self Discovery Worksheet , Regret
Disengagement Worksheet http://stores.lulu.com/avilbeckford

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