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Business Growth Advice:
So You Want to Find a Mentor?
05/16/2005 Mary Cantando WE Inc. Business Growth Advisor Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a mentor? Someone to advise you, help you figure out a new approach to your business and tell you when your current idea just doesn't make sense? You often hear others discussing how they rely on their mentors for advice. Maybe you even had one earlier in your life. Either way, you feel pretty sure that a mentor could make a big difference in your business right now, but you don't know how to go about finding one. Well, you may or may not be able to identify a real live mentor who is willing to offer support on an ongoing basis. Even if you did, it would likely take a while to find that person, and it would take even longer to develop an open, trusting relationship. But, you can bypass all that and start reaping the rewards of mentorship today by accessing what I refer to as "Pseudo-Mentors." There are three types of Pseudo-Mentors. Bibliographic Mentors - What exactly is a bibliographic mentor? The best way to understand this concept is to consider all the topics you would ask for support with if you had a live mentor. Then research the periodicals, books and CDs available in those areas. (Here's a tip for those of you who think you have to do it all yourself: Assign this task to someone on your staff or to a college intern.) From your list, create an action plan for the upcoming six months that defines which items you will read or listen to each month. In effect, you are creating a curriculum for yourself that will allow you to tap into hundreds of wise mentors and capitalize on their expertise. You may be accustomed to reading on a regular basis, but there is true power in actually scheduling time to read and listen to additional information sources. Because I speak to groups of women across the country and around the world, I travel a LOT. So, I find it most effective to plan my reading schedule around my travel schedule. This means I spend more time with my bibliographic mentors while I'm on the road than when I'm in town. But regardless of where I am, I always know what items are next on my reading schedule. The idea is to plan your curriculum rather than just thinking you'll do it "sometime." Organizational Mentors - Today's women entrepreneurs have a real leg-up on women of previous decades. Organizations such as the Women Presidents' Organization (WPO) www.womenpresidentsorg.com, the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) www.wbenc.org, the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) www.nawbo.org, and Women in Technology International (WITI) www.witi.org all provide opportunities for collective mentorship. Joining organizations such as these allows you to keep your finger on the pulse of industry trends while building connections with women who are sharing struggles and celebrations similar to yours. If you have built your business to a million dollars in annual revenue, you really should consider the WPO, mentioned above. The whole focus of this organization is to provide access to the "collective genius" of women who have graduated from the school of hard knocks. WPO is mentorship personified. Employee Mentors - Yes, it's true, your employees can actually serve as mentors. The key is to always hire people better than you. Analyze your strengths and weaknesses; your likes and dislikes; and then fill in the gaps with those who have strengths in areas you lack. Once you have these individuals on board, learn to rely on them as mentors in their areas of experience. Perhaps you do this already with employees who have technical expertise; but trying expanding that into other areas. For example, if you have an employee who always seems to know the right thing to say to someone undergoing a personal struggle, pay attention not only to the comments, but to the timing and delivery of such comments. And, if you envy the way a particular employee has the whole work-life balance thing under control, take that person out to lunch and have a serious conversation on the subject, see what gems you can glean from the conversation. So even if you don't have a real live mentor, you can still benefit from a Pseudo-Mentor. As people feel more and more stretched in their lives, they have less time to take on significant new responsibilities such as mentoring, but that does not mean you have to be left out in the cold. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell - If you've read The Tipping Point, you probably don't need to be sold on Gladwell's latest effort. But, if you're not familiar with his work, Blink is a great spot to get started. Although Gladwell never mentions it, I felt myself thinking, "Women's intuition, women's intuition, women's intuition" as I read every chapter in this book. For example, in the introduction we learn about a fake work of art that just doesn't "feel right" to the experts. Later in the book, Gladwell discusses the "delicate art of mind reading." And in his last chapter, he instructs us to "Listen with your eyes." Gladwell states that the basis for his book is cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology. But give it a read and see if you agree that "women's intuition" overlays pretty well with most of his concepts. Copyright 2005 by Mary Cantando. All rights reserved. Mary welcomes your comments, complaints, or compliments. Contact her at www.WomanBusinessOwner.com |
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