 |
| Photo credit: MTV Base meets… |
10 Reasons Why a Mentor Is a Must
From not making certain
business decisions to fostering certain partnerships, a mentor can help guide
you through your entrepreneurial journey.
As an entrepreneur,
it's exciting to go it alone and create something on your own. However, the
reality is that, while you have a great idea, you may not know exactly what you
should be doing with your business at which times to develop it into a sustainable
business.
I've
had several mentors over the years and learned a large amount of valuable
lessons from each and every one of them. From not making certain business
decisions to fostering certain partnerships, a mentor can help guide you
through your entrepreneurial journey.
Here
are ten other reasons why you need someone like a mentor:
1. Mentors
provide information and knowledge. As Benjamin Franklin said, "Tell me and I forget,
teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn." When I was starting
out, I had no idea what was involved in running a business, including making a
business plan, budgeting, handling daily operations, making strategic decisions
or running a marketing campaign. With a mentor there from the start, I tapped
into a wealth of knowledge that got me up to speed faster and shortened that
learning curve.
2. Mentors
can see where we need to improve where we often cannot. Movie maker George Lucas noted, "Mentors have a way
of seeing more of our faults that we would like. It's the only way we
grow." They will always be brutally honest with you and tell you exactly
how it is rather than downplay any weaknesses they see in you.
This constructive criticism that my
mentor offered helped me to see things in myself that I could not recognize. I appreciated
that insight because I didn't want someone to pad my ego. (Well, I did want
someone to pad my ego, but I had to decide that the business was more
important.) Instead, I wanted to know exactly where I was lacking so I could
improve those areas.
3. Mentors
find ways to stimulate our personal and professional growth. Another famous movie director explained,
"The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your
own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves." My
mentor would often pose questions for me to think about and ask me to come back
with answers later.
He would also set various goals for me
and let me loose to see if I could accomplish them on my own, all the while
watching from a distance to see how these projects helped me to develop. He
then made a point to sit down and tell me what he'd observed about me through
the project process, what he thought was worth keeping - and definitely what he
would immediately throw out. He also focused on character and values, which
nurtured my personal growth as well as my leadership abilities.
4. Mentors
offer encouragement and help keep us going. Inspirational entrepreneur Oprah Winfrey stated,
"A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself."
They are there no matter what and offer moral support sprinkled heavily with
cheerleading. There were times that, if there wasn't a mentor there for me, I
could have easily, "caved-in," emotionally, or given up on the
business. However, I had a mentor and each one I had wouldn't let me stop but
provided the encouragement and guidance that gave me hope and confidence that I
could do whatever was asked of me.
5. Mentors
are disciplinarians that create necessary boundaries that we cannot set for
ourselves. I
experienced a lot of tough love from my mentor. He
did this because he understood that being an entrepreneur can be challenging
when it comes to self-motivation and self-discipline. He took on this role of
parent to teach me good work habits and provided the boundaries for me to work
within. This solidified my work ethic, sharpened my focus, (I really missed
some important essentials), and clarified my priorities in a way that I could
not do on my own.
6. Mentors
are sounding boards so we can bounce ideas off them for an unfiltered opinion. When I started, I had numerous ideas for all types of
business ventures and products. I relayed all of these to my mentor who then
helped me see which ones had potential and why others were better left alone. I
appreciated his candor because I might have otherwise pursued a business idea
that had no legs.
7. Mentors
are trusted advisers. In the
world of business, it can be hard to know who to trust - and that you can trust
someone, especially with proprietary information or intellectual property.
Since he was an objective third-party with no stake in any idea or venture, he
was happy to let me know what he thought. In return, I knew that he would keep
everything I told him confidential rather than sell it to someone else or steal
an idea from me.
8. Mentors
can be connectors. Playing
a dual role of teacher and connector, a mentor can provide access to those
within your industry that are willing to invest in your company, offer their
skills and expertise, introduce you to talent that can fuel your business and
help you get closer to your target audience. My mentor willingly shared his
network with me, taking me to events and making introductions that led to many
opportunities I would not have otherwise had.
9. Mentors
have the experiences you can learn from to prevent making the same mistakes
beginners make. Starting
a business is challenging enough, so if you can skip doing things the hard way,
why wouldn't you? A mentor has been there, right where you are, and has made
numerous mistakes that they can now use as a basis for helping others to skip
the devastating effects of not knowing.
I am all about doing things smarter,
so my mentor shared many stories about the mistakes he made along the way that
became learning lessons for me minus the pain and lost resources that come from
making those mistakes.
10. Mentors
are free, which makes them priceless in more ways than one. Typically, a mentoring relationship will grow organically
through connections within your industry and network. A mentor does not do it
for the money. Instead, they are driven by the satisfaction of helping another
entrepreneur, paying it forward from a similar experience they had when
starting their own business.
I feel fortunate enough to have had
this experience and am now in a position to return the favor to others that are
just starting out. Not only is the price right, but your mentor is also
providing priceless access to everything noted on this list and more.
Having a mentor is not a sign of
weakness; it shows you are smart enough and are driven enough to succeed.
Culled from
inc.com
No comments:
Post a Comment