As we transition into this new year, the MCI social media and blog posts will be focused on ideas and tips for supporting ourselves and our mentees in adapting to the ever-changing conditions that surround us.
In this post, I’ll focus on trust in self.

Why start the year here? Because without trust in self, it is very difficult to access the agility and resourcefulness that managing uncertainty and making changes requires. The centre needs to hold. We need to feel like we’ve got what we need, both within and beyond ourselves, to see us through.

“Only when people begin to see from within the forces that shape their reality and to see their part in how those forces might evolve, does vision become powerful.”   Senge, Scharmer, Jaworski, & Flowers, 2004, p. 132

Working from the Inside Out: Building Trust in Self

People always bring more to “the job” than they realize. As mentor-coaches, this is a valuable idea to hold onto, particularly when change and instability are so pervasive and mentees may be showing up feeling under-equipped, discouraged or stuck. Helping them access and engage with what they’ve got, their internal and external resources, when it feels relevant, is prudent and can serve as an antidote to discouragement or reluctance. The more we have to tap into within ourselves and beyond, the more resourced we feel, the more we trust ourselves.

What are internal resources?

  • Strengths and gifts
  • Wisdom from past experiences, previous training, memories, etc.
  • Specific capacities developed, such as resilience, interest, creativity, self-regulation, perspective, boldness, openness, “grit” (Duckworth, 2016), adaptability, imagination, patience, core values, and sense of humour

And external resources?

  • Support from people, colleagues, mentors, friends, family, community 
  • Physical resources such as online resources, books, the mentee’s home environment, district office, tools and virtual support, etc.

Mentor-Coaching Tips

  • Listen and watch for energy, focus, emotional connection and fortitude and reflect back what you are noticing. Be careful not to interpret.
  • Dip in engagement? Use your questions to help the mentee identify what’s needed and how they’ll recruit it- either within themselves (most likely) or beyond.
  • Not feeling like a good time for an inquiry-based approach? Consider offering some timely and relevant (laser focused) encouragement- reflecting back specific capacities, wisdom or qualities you’ve witnessed and help them lay claim to those internal resources

These are challenging times. So above all, take care of you. Keep checking in with yourself. How am I doing? How resourced am I feeling? What am I needing more of? Have a look at the questions provided (see links below) to support your check-ins.

For a curated list of questions to support expanding awareness of internal and external resources see WMMC p. 212-215 or read the updated lists of curated questions on our website:

Remember to watch for the latest MCI Twitter and Instagram posts for more related ideas!