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Julia Louis-Dreyfus launched a refreshing podcast last year entitled Wiser Than Me to seek mentoring from women older than her.
She ended her first season of mentoring conversations with comedic genius Carol Burnett, 90 and thriving. During their lively discussion, Carol shared stories about two of her mentors, Gary Moore and Lucille Ball. In the 50s, Gary Moore hired Carol to work on The Gary Moore Show. Every Monday, the cast gathered to read the script in preparation for Friday’s taping. Regularly at a script read, Gary would review a joke or punch line assigned to him and declare, “Give this to Carol” or “Give this to Bob.” “They can say it funnier than I can.” Carol reflected, “Gary wanted everyone to shine. I brought that concept to [The Carol Burnett Show]. It improves the show when everyone supports each other to look good.” Carol learned a different lesson from her mentor, Lucille Ball. As Carol recalls, “Lucy often gave me advice. One time, she confessed that her husband, Desi [Arnez], was in charge of everything until they divorced. When Lucy found herself at the helm of the show, she decided to be strong and confrontational, like Desi. To her, this meant constantly telling people what was wrong and demanding that it be fixed. Lucy said to me, ‘Kid, that’s when they put the S on the end of my last name.'” But while Carol wanted to be in charge, she admittedly hated confrontation. So, she took a different approach. When something wasn’t working with the script, she’d call the writers down and say, “Can you help me out here? I’m not really feeling this.” Two mentors, each with well-earned but disparate advice. Fortunately, advice is not meant to be implemented; it’s meant to be interpreted. Carol interpreted their advice for her situation. We are not required to execute a mentor’s advice like an order. Mentors – regardless of their title and status – want us to thoughtfully explore their contributions, not parrot them. And so, mentoring requires self-awareness and self-confidence. When wisdom is offered, we must consider the context in which it was gained and apply what we need to our current situation. Doing so strengthens our critical thinking skills and confidence. Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, but it’s not the sincerest form of mentoring. Growth is. © 2024. Ann Tardy and MentorLead. www.mentorlead.com. All Rights Reserved. ps. Have you registered yet for our 2024-Q2 complimentary webinar? |