“Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there's no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic.” - Laini Taylor
Perspective - Mentor for Purpose
I’ve been thinking a lot about the strategic plan for the Greater Cincinnati Mentor Leadership Alliance. Mentoring for Purpose can be one of these strategies.
I imagine countless volunteers, civic leaders and people in ministry energized and serving to their unique purpose, passion and potential – working together to make our community a thriving place to live by building capability of those who are struggling. I want the work that we do to touch the lives of people at risk AND their mentors AND non-profit staff. They are all in our care and we have an opportunity to grow and transform each group. Discovering our treasure (finding one’s purpose) is life changing. This includes values, strengths, needs, beliefs and more. I dream that our work transforms lives; not simply the avoidance of risk (recidivism) but sustainable transformation. Let’s create a better community (and world) by encouraging others to “live with purpose” and “live to their potential”.
Life planning as a life skill can and must be taught, just like financial literacy or any other skill. We should encourage everyone to develop their life plan to include purpose, vision, goals, budget, career plan and more. LSN has a toolbox focused on Purpose; let’s use it and grow it. All of this is Mentoring for Purpose.
The Life Solutions Network is a collaboration of volunteers and service professionals in the Cincinnati/NKY area working to improve the capability of people in need. This newsletter aims to present information, ideas and tools to grow personally and to better serve others. Our target audience includes potential volunteers, new or experienced volunteer mentors and mentor program leaders. We hope to touch you with knowledge and skills to allow you to “live, work and serve to your purpose, passion and potential”. Please share this with someone who might consider life skills or mentoring as a volunteer role.
GCMLA Updates Live with Purpose. I will present Live with Purpose at the Life Learning Center in Covington, KY on January 14 from 1-3PM. In the first hour, I want to inspire you to live with deeper purpose in your own life. In the second hour, we will have an open discussion about incorporating Purpose more deeply into our mentoring programs. This builds on the Live to Your Potential event I presented at the November 2019 Summit.
Volunteerism event. On February 26, Carol Rountree of Cincinnati Cares will present “Online Solutions to Relieving your Volunteer Management Pain Points". The workshop will cover online recruiting tools, retention tools and ideas, as well as information about BoardBank and board recruitment, Skills-Based Volunteer recruitment and Service Enterprise. It’s another great opportunity to network with fellow volunteer leaders.
Summit 2019. Our second Summit was held on November 7 from 8:30am – 12:30pm at the Life Learning Center. Living to Your Potential, Trauma (and it’s impact on mentoring) and the future of the Alliance were key topics. Forty-nine people from 22 organizations attended.
From the LSN Toolbox #1 – Toolbox Overview
There are extensive free resources available on theLife Solutions Network website. Our target audience includes the non-profit mentoring staff and volunteer mentors. We want to equip you to perform your roles with excellence. Anyone can use most of these resources though including clients.Click herefor our downloadable Toolbox Summary.
Life Skills Wiki on LSN Web Site. This vetted compilation of life skills topics can be used by mentors to personally prepare for mentoring conversations. You will find links to articles, web sites, videos and more.
GCMLA on LSN Web Site. Here you will find our Charter, Masterplan and other key organizing documents for the Greater Cincinnati Mentor Leadership Alliance. In particular, theSharable EventsandSharable Skills Databaseare worth looking at regularly. The Alliance has many people who are willing to share their time and talent with you; all you have to do is ask. Most pages are open to the public. A few pages requireregistrationto view. Click hereto see even more.
From the LSN Toolbox #2 – Role Descriptions
Our latest addition to the LSN web site is a collection of key role descriptions. These role descriptions are consistent with the philosophy of the Life Solutions Network. They share an overview of responsibilities, key metrics and desired skills. The actual position can be done by one or more people. For example, one person can do Programming, Mentor Leader and Volunteer Leader or these roles can be done by 3 separate people. They can be full or part-time, paid or volunteer. The choice should be based on your chosen organization design and organization capacity strategy. We use the word Leader in most titles but you can easily choose Coordinator or Manager.
Recent Social Media Postings
Unlike the LSN Blog which is original content, the Facebook and LinkedIn postings are articles gathered from the internet. The themes match the blogs. Here are recent favorites:
Live with Purpose on Facebook: Align Your Inner and Outer Self. Our outer self is what we present to the world, and we usually try to curate it to reflect the best. However, problems arise when this becomes a habitual pattern at the expense of your true feelings.
The Life Solutions Network seeks "to inspire people to live, work and serve to their purpose, passion and potential". Thank you for your friendship, partnership and service. Let me know how I can support you.
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