I have been working on this post for a while. I rolled out a draft of it in a TikTok Live about a week ago. I had no idea how challenging it would be to deliver this final (ish) version. When you make the list I encourage below, perhaps you will understand the challenge I’ve faced with this. Let’s talk about it.
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After you read the 10 criteria for my ideal mentor below, I encourage you to write a list of 5 to 10 criteria for the type of mentor who can support you in being the innovator you want to be. If you are reading this newsletter, you ARE a social innovator and maybe also a technological innovator.
As you write the criteria for your mentor, think about what you want to dismantle, as well as build, in life and in business. Think about who has the wisdom and experience to help you reach as deep and wide as you would like. Be selective. Be unapologetic about being selective.
You are deserving of the mentor(s) you want and need. You deserve someone who can help you frame the past, present and future. At a given time, you may need more than one mentor - to meet your criteria. In any case, write the list. This will activate the process of your connecting with the mentor(s) you want and need.
List your criteria.
Expect to connect with people who can meet those criteria.
Expect to have your wants and needs met.
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This is not evident in the list below, but for the first time in my life, I am calling for someone who can mentor me while I feel safe to dream and imagine. I am not, as in the past, looking for someone “greater” than I am to heal a wound or fill a deficit. I am looking for someone who can help me expand to fill whatever space I choose to occupy.
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10 Criteria for my Ideal Mentor by Dr Kimberly Douglass - September 19, 2023 Version
My mentor must believe in the power of play, for both adults and children.
My mentor must respect my belief that learning happens in the body, the mind and the spirit.
My mentor must recognize the special capacity Black Women possess to facilitate healing in the United States and healing in the wider world.
My mentor must be willing to sit with ideas before discarding them. They must understand, that even with their expertise and wisdom, they may not have enough context, in a given moment, to judge an idea.
My mentor must see my skills as my personal and community assets, not assets for their personal treasure trove.
My mentor must have funded, initiated and/or run a project worth at least $25 million.
My mentor must be a design thinker who empathizes with the needs of the people for whom they develop products and services.
My mentor must be decolonizing, specifically addressing their anti-Blackness.
My mentor must be a systems thinker who understands how the big picture connects to many smaller pictures, across space and time.
My mentor must have experience working with people from different walks of life.
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Some of my criteria are more negotiable than others. It just depends.
I encourage you to share your list with me and/or others.
I will update my list as necessary.
I encourage you to do the same.
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Image from Awe of Nature: https://flipboard.com/@Fezook?from=share&utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=share