Build a Supportive Team

This lesson has two components.  One, you need to find a mentor that has had the kind of success you want to achieve, and will help you along the path as well.  This can be one person or a combination of people.
 
Second, you want a group of people around you who will be supportive of you on your path.  These are the friends and family that will help you in a multitude of ways, including by listening to you when you’re down.

Many of our guests talked about finding a mentor. For example, Nancy Mirabal, professor at San Francisco State University, told us about mentors she’d had in college who encouraged her learning about things in which she had an interest, even if they were not interests she followed as a career path.  In one instance, the mentors she found encouraged her love of, and knowledge about, art.
 
Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, former Staff Director for the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, told us how important it was for her to find a mentor when she started at the law firm where she worked immediately after law school.

Emily Matos, Graduate Student at NYU, shared with us the mentoring program in which she took part right after college that helped her choose her career path.  In this program, Emily came into contact with many high level executives in the field of philanthropy.
 
In each of these cases, the mentorship happened at different levels.  Often in a work setting, but not necessarily a formal program.  And mentorship is not always sought out.  Sometimes it just comes and finds you.  However, if it doesn’t, many of our guests shared their belief that it is CRUCIAL that we take it upon ourselves to go and find a mentor.
 
Note that the mentor doesn’t have to have anything in common with you, simply some knowledge that you want to learn and a willingness to share it.
 
The other part of a supportive team is the people around you who are encouraging you, helping you, listening to you, and supporting you however they can (and depending on what you need at the moment).
 
So many of our guest talked to us about the power of their friendship circles and all that their friends and family give to them in the way of motivation, perspective, inspiration and encouragement. 
 
Lora Villarreal, Chief People Officer at ACS, shared with us that there was a group of people at a former employer that helped her along her way, even with her school assignments!
 
The key here is to form a supportive team around you and if you don’t have that now, reflect upon how you can create that in your life.  Even for me, there are several goals that I have for which I need to find mentors to help me achieving those particular mile-stones because the goals require particularized knowledge and experience.
 
So, go to it, mujer, start building your team!  And don’t forget to thank those that are already part of your supportive network.
 
Next week we’ll talk about doing the hard work to make your dreams come true…