If studies by the Harvard Business Review reveal one thing, it's this: Mentoring doesn't come naturally to everyone. It is a unique form of management behavior. Training – even short training – on what mentoring looks like, how best to do it, and where it fits into the management mix – is essential. There are times when you have to lead, times when you have to closely buy email list manage delivery, and times when you have to coach your team. Some people are naturally better mentors than others, but all team leaders can improve their mentoring prowess by taking these initial steps. Abandon the myth of the "fairy godmother"Recently, a good friend of mine started working for a powerful woman she greatly admired. His hope was that this woman, who was incredibly busy and focused on a variety of causes, would become his mentor. When buy email list her desire for mentorship didn't turn out the way she had hoped, I didn't want my friend's opportunity to engage with that leader to pass. I asked how things were going in her new position, and my friend replied, “She didn't make any overtures. I guess she doesn't see anything worth mentoring. At that point, one of the most amazing people I know buy email list fell into a mindset that I myself have experienced and which I think is all too common. This is what I consider to be the “Choose Me” or “Fairy Godmother” model of mentorship.The idea is quite simple. It goes something like this: someone will come to see our natural talent, creativity, virtue, or whatever other form of cultural capital we think we're trading on, and decide to bestow their wisdom, insight, and friendship on us. While that may be the case from time to time, the reality is that the person you've been waiting to notice you is mired in their own commitments.