The Art and Science of Mentoring and Coaching Business Owners Through AIT

Mentoring business owners involves a transformative journey that requires special knowledge and skills, vision and creativity, and the disposition to engage in the formation of a mutually beneficial developmental relationship. As a mentor to business owners, I suggest that being effective in mentorship requires listening and reflecting to understand mentees without judgment and bias. To avert judgementoring effectively, the mentor must have a deep awareness of their own emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and actions. By using Zeine’s Awareness Integration Theory (AIT) as the framework for mentoring practices, a mentor can help unlock each mentee’s potential. AIT is a skill-building conceptual model based on multiple theories, including emotional intelligence, choice theory, and mindfulness. It uses cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and body/mind practices to instill considerably greater self-awareness in the mentor about his/her practices. AIT influences the practitioner in developing greater awareness of their influence on the mentee’s patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. As a practitioner who mentors and coaches aspiring and current business owners, I guide mentees' use of the AIT model and teach use of this tool to support mentees intentionality in their decision-making and actions. As mentees clarify their values, thoughts, feelings, and actions, they recognize the transformation that can occur in them as they envision their intended outcome. Through AIT, business owners recognize skills learned and envision new skills they need to create their aspirational goals and intended outcomes. As Clutterbuck professed, everyone needs a mentor, and AIT provides valuable tools for mentorship.