I told “Sally” about how I used to do emotional processing. The loud kind. I explained that my first experience started out directed against someone who had just broken up with me, and ended up being about…
“Yourself?” Sally interjected.
No – my late husband, but then that ended up being about…
“Yourself!” Sally declared.
No, that took me to my issues with my dad.
If Sally had stopped feeding me answers, she might have learned something. We might have learned something. Her “mentoring” interfered with exploration.
It WAS about me in the end, but it was about how I relate to men who usurp the process and take control. How I relate to men with all the answers.
And women with all the answers, too. Like Sally. It doesn’t shut me down like it once did, but it does make it difficult to engage and explore.
Plato believed we are born with innate wisdom that needs to be drawn out. Socrates developed a method to do that. However, even the best methods can be distorted and manipulated.
I’ll be talking about conversational leadership at The SpeakStrong Method Intensive in Baltimore next month. Sally didn’t have it all wrong, but she did miss an important piece of real mentoring and leadership. It’s a piece my attendees will be getting at the intensive. Join us!