Have you been helped in your career by a mentor? I haven’t myself, but after attending a panel discussion featuring the CEOs and founders of five early stage companies, it has me thinking about the value of them.
I am on the board of directors of a local TiE chapter. TiE is a non-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals, established to foster entrepreneurship and nurture entrepreneurs. They put on regular events via 57 local chapters in 14 countries around the globe, and they sponsored this event I am writing about.
Anyway, one of the first definitions of a good mentor the panel offered is someone who “sees the opportunity without asking for a business plan.” Another attribute is someone who truly cares about you, and not just about the business you are trying to build.
Dr. Arvind Raghavan, who has co-founded two startups, says, “Find someone who can look at you and tell you what you are lacking.” He also likes mentors who ask more questions of him than he does of them.
“Find someone who can look at you and tell you what you are lacking.”
The value of mentors is fairly obvious. A mentor is someone who takes an interest in you and helps you learn what you need to know to become more successful. Having mentors lets you learn from people with more experience, diverse perspectives and different personal and professional styles. By observing and interacting with a mentor, you learn more quickly than by trial and error; you get individual attention, encouragement and feedback. You are challenged to stretch, grow and become more self-reliant.
That all sounds great. I mean, who wouldn’t like someone to come alongside us and act as a guide in our profesional journey? But how do you find one?
“If you don’t have an idea about who to ask to be your mentor, find professional organizations that work in the area you’re interested in and look to their leaders,” advises Ken Williams, senior technical advisor at AED Center for Leadership and author of Mentoring the Next Generation. ”Asking to do something as simple as getting a coffee together can be very successful,” Williams said.
“If you don’t have an idea about who to ask to be your mentor, find professional organizations that work in the area you’re interested in and look to their leaders.”
Another great way to engage a mentor is to collaborate on a project that is of interest to both parties. ”Choose something that supports your potential mentor’s work and ask for some help putting it together,” Williams suggested. “This way, you are both invested in completing a goal together that can lead to a deeper relationship during the process.”
So, what are the characteristics of a good mentor? They include:
- A desire to help
- Broad-based and up-to-date knowledge and technical skills
- Life-long learner with aptitude for teaching
- Strong people and communication skills
- High energy levels (and not the first person out the door at closing)
- Positive outlook and sense of humor
- Good manager of time and resources
Here’s what you need to do for your part if you want an effective mentoring relationship:
- Accept responsibility for your learning
- Be open to new ideas and ways of learning
- Communicate effectively
- Accept feedback and act on it
- Cooperate
- Be able to ask for help when you need it
I have been the beneficiary of plenty of good advice and support over the years, but as I said, I have never had an actual mentor. Have you? We would love to hear from readers who have had mentoring relationships, either good or bad, positive or negative. Do you have any tips for finding a good one, or on how to structure the relationship so you both get something out of it?
We look forward to hearing from you.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I find it very hard to believe that you have never had a mentor.Now you may have had many single-serving mentors but they were if fact mentors who more than likely possess the qualities lined out in your bullet points.Those that strive for professional excellence often find mentors in their work environment.A mentor doesnt need to be older than you nor do you have to shake hands declaring that they are now your official mentor. A mentor is someone that you can learn from.You learn from their demonstrated work. You learn from the way they handle certain professional situations. You learn from them by asking questions.Chances are you have a mentor you are currently working with yet you’ve never really stopped to think of the influence and expertise they offer you within your career.I found my current mentor by observing my workplace. We have those that come to work for the paycheck, those that care but not enough to give maximum effort, and those that bleed loyalty and commitment for the company. I found my mentor in the midst of the bleeders. If work isn’t challenging, you’re on auto-pilot. Do yourself a favor and find a mentor.
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I can’t promote mentorship enough.
I had my first mentor in the Marine Corps and saw the immediate value. When other ‘boots’ were struggling with inspections, over-packing for a 10 mile hike, etc. I was always squared away.
When I first left the Marines, I worked in retail for a few years. I found a mentor there, working for a large corporate store. He was on the Executive Team. He helped me to prepare for promotion panel interviews, the job responsibilities of the job I wanted vs the job I had and truly coached me through my promotion.
Shortly after I entered the Staffing Industry, I found a new mentor. He had multiple years in the industry and had been headhunted into a management role above me. He recognized certain talents and told me, “We need to develop your sales skills.” I admitted that I was terrified of sales and he laughed at me. “I listen to you selling clients on candidates, on markups, on pay increases every day. You sell candidates on jobs. You have the warm sale down, we just need to show you how to do it on your feet.”
In short order I was in downtown San Francisco cold calling, competing against other seasoned sales people for lead generation. I grew comfortable and even confident in my sales.
Over the next few years, though we worked at different companies, we continued to stay in touch. He advised me through promotions into management, running a start-up staffing company and still to this day we meet every so often to catch up.
In turn, i have been able to mentor a receptionist into a Staffing Specialist and ultimately into an HR Generalist, as well as a couple of other candidates into positions they never dreamed of.
In Staffing, especially on a desk, it is a mentoring approach to the candidates that sets a Staffing Professional apart from the crowd.
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COACH CANDIDATE, CANDIDATE GET JOB. COMPANY GET GOOD EMPLOYEE. WIN WIN.
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Elise, I have had professional advisers over the course of my many careers, I have certainly tried to emulate – and been influenced by – people I have worked with, and I have even had a couple of coaches. But a mentor? Nope. I don’t think that’s so exceptional. I’m not sure where you connect the dots between not having a mentor and being on autopilot though. For 12 years I have had a successful communications consulting practice, including making it through the last few very challenging years. And I am in the process of launching a new consulting and sales training platform of my own authorship, as well as writing the book, al while operating my current business. I think now might be the perfect time to get a mentor. But again, I am hardly on autopilot. Thanks for the comment.
And Steven, congrats to you that you have indeed benefited from some fantastic mentor relationships. Thank you so much for your thoughtful and detailed reply. When I first started reading your “comment,” I was thinking you should have your own blog post on the subject. But as I continued reading, I realized you did basically write an entire piece. Thanks again for sharing. You really added a nice postscript to my article.