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If you look closely at any successful person’s career, you’ll find a mentor who has played a meaningful role in their success. Mentorship is an essential ingredient in career growth and development, yet many people skip this step, silently believing they are not worth the investment.
The truth is that everyone can benefit from a mentor, and finding one is nowhere near as difficult as you might think.
For example, professional organizations and communities are excellent places to find mentors – there are often formalized channels for just this. These individuals are often willing to volunteer their time and expertise to help others because they have received the same professional courtesy in their careers. It may seem like a burden to find a mentor, but the investment of time (and potential humbling rejections) is well worth it.
If you’re considering reaching out to a potential mentor, we recommend scheduling a discovery call, which should last between 15-20 minutes.
The goal of the call is to see if you and the potential mentor are a good fit for each other, so make it clear in advance that at the end of the call, you should both be able to safely say yes or no to moving forward with the mentor relationship.
Then when you snag a good fit, mentors are invested in someone’s career and can meet weekly or monthly depending on what you both agree to. It’s important to note that mentors are not business coaches or life coaches, and results are not part of the equation. If you need someone to tell you what to do instead of confer with you, it’s best to hire a coach.
The key to a successful mentor relationship is chemistry and everyone misses this ingredient. Mutual respect and enthusiasm for subject matter expertise are helpful, but chemistry is what ultimately makes a mentorship work. A mentor can be your guide, your sounding board, and your champion. They can help you see things from a different perspective, challenge you to grow, and provide valuable feedback.
In conclusion, mentorship is critical to any successful career, and finding a mentor is not as difficult as you might think. By reaching out to potential mentors through professional organizations and communities, you can find someone who is willing to invest in your career growth and development.
Remember, you are worth the investment, so don’t skip mentorship at any stage of your career; it might just be the missing ingredient you need to take your career to the next level.
