Creating A Personal Board of Mentors

Hi, I’m David Timis and my mission in life is to prepare people for the future of work.?

In this week’s edition of the newsletter the theme revolves around mentoring, which, given the incredibly volatile times we live in, has never been so important. Why is that? Because, a mentor can anchor us, so we don't lose our inner compass, support us on days when we are close to giving up, and guide us as we navigate our career transition. However, in today’s fast-changing world, finding one mentor that can do all that has become difficult at best, if not impossible (unless your mentor is Elon Musk). What I suggest to overcome this challenge is to ditch the notion that you are meant to have only one mentor in your life, and be open to the possibility of having a board of mentors. Below are some insights and thoughts that will help you create a personal board of mentors.

Timeless Insight

“If you want great mentors, you have to become a great mentee.” – Tim Ferriss

This quote from author Tim Ferriss, who became well-known through his "4-Hour " self-help book series, underlines one of the key aspects of mentorship that is often forgotten, which is that it should be approached from a place of reciprocity. Expecting your mentor to be this infinite flow of advice, while not making yourself valuable to him/her in return, is a way to make sure that the relationship won’t stand the test of time. For mentorship relationships to endure it’s important to become a great mentee and find ways to make the relationship reciprocal, so you’re both learning from each other. It can be something as basic as offering your help to update the LinkedIn profile of your mentor or provide him/her with your perspective on the latest technological trends, basically anything you’re adept at. That way you’re both ‘benefiting’ from the relationship and feel it’s worth the time invested.???

Food for Thought?

Nowadays, most people would agree that having a mentor is beneficial to one’s career. However, it’s increasingly likely that the same people don’t actually have a mentor. One of the reasons for this lack of success in finding a mentor boils down to the fact that many of us are looking for a person that represents our ideal future self. And while that’s possible in theory, it’s much harder in practice to find a mentor that ‘ticks all your boxes’.

What if instead of looking for ‘the one’, you would look around you, in your circle and outside of it, for people that you admire and would like to learn from, and approach them to be part of your board of mentors? They can be colleagues from work, people you’ve met at conferences or at the gym. They can be more senior than you, but also more junior, because you have to go beyond the classic, outdated notion that a mentor must be someone who is older and wiser than you. If you can learn something of value from a person they already fulfil one key criteria of your search. The other key criteria is to go as broad as possible when it comes to the people you approach to become part of your board of mentors, because diversity of thought is vital.? Having a diverse group of people guiding you can be beneficial in multiple ways. First and foremost, it alleviates the pressure of finding 'the one' mentor that can support you with everything. Second, you can learn from a variety of different people, and each mentor can help you hone in a different skill. Third, since mentorship should be approached from a place of reciprocity, you need to get out of your comfort zone and find ways to add value to each one of your mentors' lives.?

Now that we’ve clarified why it’s beneficial to have a diverse board of mentors at your side, let’s see how you can go about creating a personal board of mentors. Everything starts with a few questions that you have to keep in mind before you start approaching people:?

1. What do I want to learn - before figuring out the answer to this question you have to take a step back and take stock of where you are right now professionally, and where you would like to be in six months to a year. Then, as part of the same self-assessment, you have to take note of the skills you have and the ones you need to build to get there.?

2. Who do I admire the most - now that you have your list of desired skills and at least a rough idea of where you see yourself in a year’s time, write down the people you admire the most who already possess the skills you would like to learn or already are in the roles you aspire to be in. It’s useful to cast a wide net and not only focus on your work peers.

3. How can I get to spend more time with them - figuring out who are the people you would like to surround yourself with is just the first step of the process, the second is actually making time for them. In some cases that will be easy, if the mentor in question is a work colleague. In other cases you will have to make an effort to spend time with them.?

4. How can you make the relationship beneficial for both parties - as with any relationship, an enduring mentorship relationship is based on bringing value to each other. So, for each person you would like to approach to become part of your board of mentors, think about what skills or qualities you bring to the table and may be able to offer them.

Article of the Week?

What Great Mentorship Looks Like in a Hybrid Workplace

Caricature of the Week

Source: Condé Nast

Thank you for reading and keep on growing!

David

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