Learning from Others

Today I had a great conversation with a woman that I met through a leadership conference that I spoke at. She "won" a mentoring session with me at the conference. I didn't really know what to expect from our meeting, I planned to just chat with her some and see if I could share some advice from my experience.

We had an enjoyable discussion, she shared her background and I shared more about mine. She is a busy working mom, but started her family at the beginning of her career. Whereas, my career was in full swing when I had kids. While I struggle to integrate my kids into my working life, she is struggling to give her career a boost.

While I don't think I gave her any unusually remarkable advice, she had several 'ah-ha' moments during our discussion. I gave some suggestions that I thought were very simple, but they were things she hadn't thought of.

It reminded me that often we get so wrapped in our own worlds, it is difficult to take a step back and consider what we could be doing differently. We are too close to our own situation to look at it objectively.

This is why it is important to learn from others. I take every chance I can to network and talk with others. Whether it is about raising kids, harmonizing my work with my family, or just advancing in my career, I find that other's opinions help me to see opportunities I might be missing.