Colonel Candid

There are some mentors who can convey knowledge and valuable lessons through both their words and actions. Examples of this are Nobel Prize winners mentored by previous Nobel laureates. In the military, aides to general officers are more likely to make general themselves because they fall under the umbrella of someone who can tell them about their profession. Similarly, a mentor can expand your vision. Serving as an example, guider, and demonstrator to how the keys to the castle work. The mentoring advice I’d give you is to immediately seek someone in your profession, in your workplace to start this process. Foster a work relationship and start to explore your role as a mentee through commonality, character, and influence. If you find someone with the skills in these three areas, you’ll be off to the races in no time at all. COMMONALITY. There are limits to finding someone to assist you and most of the time this fire needs a spark to create it. Most of us are somehow connected ...

Have you ever had an idea that you so completely believe in that it subsumes you? That thing that keeps you up at night and sets your brain on fire? Here’s a chance to make it happen. To make this idea come into a reality you’ve got to work extremely hard with a knowledge of how to persuade others to your idea. Here are a couple of examples from Colonel Candid on how to get after turning your idea into a reality. To start off, take an assessment of who really can make this thing happen. Who is the big kahuna? Now, who influences that person? And again, what feeds those people? Are your ideas nested within a broader concept that needs shifting? You can look at what they read, listen to, and who they work with. Your research will pay off here. In the working world a great place to start is LinkedIn. What a golden tool of information! Use this along with your search engines to find out more information on your idea, on those who’ve gone before you and how to start to specifically tar...