Mentors That Lead to Business and Personal Growth

In my career, I’ve been both a mentor and a mentee. Finding a mentor can be an invaluable resource for avoiding costly mistakes that a more experienced professional has overcome. But the wrong pairing can be a frustrating waste of time. Earlier in my career, I went through many mentors and felt that some were more beneficial to my growth than others.

A colleague of mine recently told me about the 1 Million Cups Series where a group of established entrepreneurs invite in one or two new entrepreneurs that are struggling with a particular challenge. The new entrepreneur has a prime opportunity to use the group as a collective mentor to get suggestions on overcoming that problem. What a great way to get insightful feedback on their business. Furthermore, it also occurred to me that their series of presentations is the perfect scenario to test out a mentoring relationship before actually getting started.

The 1 Million Cups series could serve as a live trial to explore some of the questions that I typically suggest before engaging a mentor.

1. Do they have the necessary experience?

A mentorship should be a long-term relationship, founded on the basis of fostering growth. Making sure that your partner has the skillset to assist you is an important first step. Additionally, most experienced veterans have been mentees before, and know the importance of having someone take them under their wing. An experienced mentor is the one that will best prepare you for the constantly changing tides of your industry and provide effective business development strategies. It’s also an important rule of thumb to identify a mentor that will help you in the areas where you need the most improvement.

2. Are they innovative?

You must identify if your prospective mentor has the creativity and ability to innovate before you enter a relationship with them. As you look for someone experienced, you may run into individuals who are stuck in their ways and struggle to provide guidance outside their defined constraints.

3. Does your prospective mentor have ample time to devote to you?

Being a mentor can be rewarding, but it’s no easy task and can consume a lot of time for both parties involved. When selecting who you want to engage with, be sure that they can carve out enough time to be accessible when you need them.

4. Do you share common goals?

Speaking of a mutually beneficial relationship, try to find a mentor whose goals align with your own. This will strengthen every other aspect of your relationship. By sharing a common goal with your mentor, you can work towards shared success.

5. Will this individual hold you accountable?

A mentor is no good for you if they’re just going to be a friend. Mentorships are less effective if the mentee is continually let off the hook for failing to improve, or make strides in the right direction.

Selecting a mentor is a challenging task and can be overwhelming at times, but opportunities like 1 Million Cups can help you define that relationship rather than making assumptions on what you think would be best. Ideally, it might even lead you to your perfect mentor.