Mentoring Future Leaders

Mentoring Future Leaders
Collecting neutral information refers to facts and figures. Change sets
the imagination and the grapevine alight like a veld fire. To determine the
facts, ask questions such as how many, how often, under what
circumstances, which outcomes. It can be difficult to move into the
neutral frame of mind that is required, because so often we are required to
use “facts” to defend a position, or to take an adversarial approach.
Thinking in this way, freed of the emotional implications, can have a
calming effect. This can be true even in situations where the facts are
themselves horrific. The calming effect is partly due to our ability to use the
facts to develop a strategy.
Mapping and planning focuses on the necessary steps to achieve the
overall purpose. In order to develop a strategy, one takes an overview of
the problem, reflect on what’s required and articulate and clarify the
questions to be asked. This is a disciplined kind of thinking that with an
element of control over the way others fit into the plan. In this moment of
thinking you have to create a “map” of the situation, while focusing on the
overall purpose.
Individual Exercise
Use the frame on the next page to structure your
thinking. Then reflect on which style of thinking
you are more likely to engage in, and which ones
you tend to overlook. Find a way to widen your
thinking repertoire to include all six perspectives.
Group Exercise
Choose the “thinking hat” that resembles your
preferred way of thinking. Share your thoughts
with the rest of the group.
© Learning Link International
April 2005
Module 4 - Mentoring Skills Page ! 1