5 Steps To Finding the Perfect Mentor
Finding a mentor is a crucial aspect to developing your career. I have always had a mentor or two working with me to help me from a sparring perspective or a skill development perspective. I seek smart people to help me be better. I reciprocate by being a mentor to others.
Although sometimes you'll find a mentor by chance, most of the time, you need to actively participate in finding, and deriving value from, your mentor. There are many core parts of this process that you own….
1) Identify what you need from a mentor. Do you need:
- A sparring partner
- Skill development
- Help for a certain time period
- Something else?
2) Look for a respected and trusted person who you have noticed has the talent/expertise in the area you need help in.
Is there a person in your community you would like to meet? Join Alignable to connect!
3) Ask them if they would be willing to be a mentor for the express purpose and time frame you defined in #1 above.
4) Schedule regular meetings and come prepared. You don't want to waste your time, or theirs. Understand your weaknesses from the beginning, and come with examples of these things, asking your mentor where you could improve, or what they would do differently.
5) Own it! It is your responsibility to drive the mentoring sessions. They won't come to the table with all of the information you need to succeed- you need to ask the right questions to find the valuable nuggets of information that will help influence your abilities.
I know this sounds a bit formal and planned, however, you want to ensure the relationship is a win-win. People are usually open to helping others with their development, however they want their time to be valued by the mentee and valuable as a mentor.
In some cases you may need help from your mentor in order to define the information in the 5 steps above. Give yourself permission to share with your mentor this is what you need help with, before you can fully define your needs. If you have a good mentor, they will help you with these preliminary stages, however you need to come in with some ideas. The mentor is a coach for you, not the police or doer for the mentoring sessions.
I'm a true believer in, "If you want it bad enough - you will prioritize it and make it happen." So, if you are looking for someone to help guide you in your career, you must actively participate in finding, and deriving value from, that person.
Comments (1-6)
Gail, Great article. Mentor-ship is a huge part of every single successful person, if you think about it. No one makes it completely alone. We all learn from someone, somewhere at some time. Whether we recognize them as a mentor is selective. Objectively, it is up to each of use to seek learning, and the best way to move forward is through knowledge. Mentors supply that knowledge. However, you pointed out the fact that mentors worth their salt are already committed to their own projects. It's up to us to seek them out.
Speaking of mentor-ship, I'll be participating in the Business Acceleration Summit 2017 in January, 19-21, in Melbourne, Fl. I have a few tickets to the summit if anyone has an interest in learning.
Feel free to reach out.
Gail, what a great article! You have outlined the problem with most people who want a mentor- they expect someone to adopt them! Your emphasis on being pro-active, going after a mentor with a solid agenda, and driving the conversation are a super summary.
Thanks for sharing this- many who read this will now realize mentors don't knock on your door, each person has to chase them down!!
Hello Everyone from Capture All LLC, Consulting Business in Treasury & Cash Management services.
I am a Local from Union City, who has visited quite a few times but never really declared myself fully. The reason being I have been trying to get FT Employment because I need benefits as a result I have been silent.
I enjoyed reading the overview, invitation and expressions from the Group, Penny, Gail, David and Mark. Its good to see humanity still exist among us and the willingness to share and impart knowledge and help where its needed or for those who may want it.
Congratulations to the Group its always good to have a Mentor who can help to steer and guide you along a new path. I totally respect the thought that you have to reach out for help if you need to, but sometimes you are not sure of your audience. This makes it unappealing and force silence. This was encouraging to network with Everyone. I am on LinkedIn but will come back and set up my Profile. Till then, Happy Holidays! Be SAFE!!
I think the article is good and has some great tips. A mentor is a great idea. You suggested reaching to someone who has expertise in the field you need guidance in. What you didn't mention was if you don't know anyone in that field to mentor you. How do you go about finding a mentor you can outreach and also trust to give you guidance.
Thank you Mark. I like your input about 'adopting them' . It resonates with the message.
Right - you own the session, come prepared with agenda and so on; otherwise, you are wasting both of yours' time.