105: How to Find a Mentor

In Greek mythology, Mentor was a friend of Odysseus and was placed in charge of his son Telemachus when Odysseus left for war. Merriam-Webster's dictionary calls a mentor, "A trusted counselor or guide." What do you want to get from mentoring? Probably what you aren’t good at (or at least not yet) Plus, it's something that's important for you to get better at Advance planning Who do you know who's good at that? Are there multiple people? You don't have to know them today Your greatest mentors will never expect anything Identify specifically how someone can help and begin there Make a mind map of the people who could help Create a board of directors Getting Started Start off with a specific question Know that not everyone will respond or won’t be willing to help Wait on asking someone to “be a mentor” Everyone has a different context for this It could seem like a huge commitment It's awkward if they don't want to make that committment Find a way to connect regularly This is where proximity and formal programs can help Make a point to connect regularly It’s great to be influenced by those that you don’t speak with regularly, but find people you will see Be willing to ask for help Get out of the “asking for help is a weakness” mentality What’s something in front of you right now that a new perspective would be helpful with? My challenge to you is to go out and identify a person and approach them with a specific question and ask advice. Remember, you don’t have to take the advice. If they don’t respond, identify a second person. Past shows that might also be helpful to you on the topic of mentoring: Episode #61: How to Start A Mentoring Program with guest Stella Cowan Episode #63: Practical Advice for Mentoring with guest Kurt Allebach Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.