Story 25 - NHRI Teachings: Extensions of Lessons Learned at Home
When leadership mentors and leadership mentees begin their NHRI experience, they bring a diverse array of life lessons, strengths, and values that stem from their family influences. NHRI Leadership Mentoring embraces the unique experiences and backgrounds of each mentor and mentee and builds on those lived experiences to maximize the leadership potential of our young leaders. NHRI invites families to play an active role in their child’s investment relationship by sharing their perceptions of their child’s strengths with the leadership mentor, maintaining open communication with the leadership mentor, and helping the leadership mentor become a “member” of the leadership mentor’s family by inviting them over for dinner or having the leadership mentor attend their leadership mentee’s concerts, plays, and games. In the Spring of 1983 issue of Projections newsletter, John Wells, wrote the following article, Good Parents Practice NHRRF Principals. In the same issue, John was highlighted as the 1983 Stuart Award Recipient as well.
“A lot of these things were a lot of the other lessons from NHRI were extensions of, being raised by excellent parents, you know, to be a good leader, you need to be a good listener. You know, those kinds of things are sort of baked in, but again, that was all a reinforcement of what I learned at home.”
“NHRI gave our daughters a boost in other leadership roles and early careers. Since Dana and I were both in NHRI we had a common language as a base for working through challenges and opportunities.”
“Treat everyone as you would like to be treated. Have empathy with their situation, even though it might not be where you’re at. At the same time, if you can empathize with them, then you’re gonna, you know, build trust with them. Help them identify what their strengths are, help encourage them to use those to go out and help other people find their strengths.”
“Getting exposed to NHRI early in my college experience was game changing. At the time, I had no idea the lessons and experiences I had by being part of this special organization was going to impact the way I lived my life and raised my family. Teaching my two daughters the value of hot buttons, The Ripple Effect and most importantly being a good listener is something I will always be thankful for.”
“As a parent, I didn’t directly try teach my children specific NHRI skills, but I think there is power in observing interactions. I always try to be a good listener and do the little things that build relationships that I think help make someone people oriented.”
“It really is modeling behavior. And I think it speaks to NHRI, to the way that folks are selected and chosen to be mentors, and it’s a natural way that people are. And yes, the program brings intentionality to it, but there’s so much of that natural aspect of connecting with people that I think is passed down by watching my mom. I feel like even just watching how she interacts with with people, whether that’s friends, family, patients, athletes, all of those different people, she would treat them the same. It was watching the way that she makes people feel and how she’d be warm, empathetic, and listen. So all of those things, as I was learning formal concepts in the class, they were elements that I could relate back to growing up and the way that she and my Dad were raising me and my brothers.”
