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Why Having a Mentor Makes a Difference

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship ArticleStarting your own business can be a very complicated and involved endeavor. While you may have a lot of excellent ideas about the nature of your company and what it is going to offer the public, you also might not have the first idea about how to get your plan off the ground. Of course, it is important to remember to know that you don’t have to figure it all out alone. Finding a mentor might be one of the most practical decisions you make for the future of your business.

A mentor can bring about some positive changes when it comes to your business. Take a moment to look over these reasons to consider getting involved with a mentor and learn about how you can get your business ideas up and running in the most efficient ways possible.

Knowledge is Power

Often, getting started with a particular idea can be tricky from the start. If you have a very specific kind of idea for what you would like your business to be like, you might have very specific questions you need to be answered. When you are speaking to other professionals, you might not be able to get the exact answers you require. A mentor, on the other hand, is someone who has a vested interest in you and your future. He or she is going to want to help answer any and all questions you might have.

Acquiring knowledge from a mentor can help to get your business journey started in a productive manner. You will be able to turn to your mentor for everything from initial budgetary concerns to foundations you should lay early to make future expansions possible. This type of transformational leadership can make a huge difference in the direction a business heads. Asking the right questions of the right people can help you avoid serious mistakes, and a mentor can be the ideal person to turn to for assistance.

A Personal Connection

When it comes to seeking the right advice, a business mentor stands above others due to the personal connection you can forge. Your mentor is going to take a bit of time to get to know you. He or she will figure out how you operate and how you tend to make decisions of varying sizes. Your mentor is also likely to want to get to know your hobbies, interests, and anything else that might play into the way you think. This will help your mentor form a bond with you and provide insight based on your own specific needs.

The bond you form with a mentor can also provide you with a certain degree of comfort. The more your mentor gets to know you, the more you get to know your mentor. When you feel comfortable talking to this person, you are more likely to trust in the advice you are being offered. Building this trust with a professional who understands business can help you feel like you aren’t so alone on your business journey.

Play Around With Ideas

A mentor also helps you explore ideas that come to your mind about your business. It isn’t always easy to get honest feedback from people, especially those closest to you like family members or friends. When you need a sounding board, your mentor can listen to any and all ideas you might have and provide you with honest input. This can help you make the best possible decisions for your business while avoiding serious flubs.

Working with a business mentor can help put you on the right path for the future of your company. Take your time to find the right mentor for your needs and see how it can shape your plans for the best.

How To Find A Mentor

How does one find, or how did you find, a mentor/mentee?

Before finding a mentor, a person should ask “what do I want to be the best at?” and then find the person whom they feel is currently the best at whatever they want to me the best at. Once you identify this person, you become a scholar at their life’s work and then you make every effort possible to make contact with this person. I think one of the best ways of doing this is to offer your potential mentor/mentee a number of ways on how you can help them out. Maybe there are some skills you have that can benefit your mentor’s career. You can offer to do administrative work for them. You need to make a personal connection with your potential mentor – make them see a piece of themselves in your eyes.


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About the Author

Ryan McCormickRyan McCormick is Co-Founder of Goldman McCormick Public Relations (www.goldmanmccormick.com) and Host & Executive Producer of the nationally syndicated Outer Limits of Inner Truth Radio Show (www.outerlimitsradio.com).

Professional Development Best Practice 6 – Peer Coaches

Peer CoachesAn individual’s manager should seek to provide ongoing performance feedback. This, however, is not always the case. Even high performing managers may, at times, be challenged by time constraints or have so many direct reports that it is not possible to provide each individual the amount of feedback desire. Additionally, the StrategyDriven Professional recognizes that performance is best evaluated by several different individuals, each possessing unique perspectives and having demonstrated competency in the areas to be assessed. Consequently, the professional needs others to provide feedback to cover management’s gaps and provide multiple perspectives.


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