How to Find and Keep a Mentor

Whether you are a professional, an entrepreneur or a student, having a more experienced person to guide and direct you can make the difference. It would save you the time and energy you would have wasted on trial and error

In this post, we will look at who is a mentor? And the 10 tips to find and keep a mentor.

Who is a mentor?

A mentor is a more experienced person who offers support, guidance, advice and direction to a less experienced person. A good mentor would have the mentee’s best interest at heart, the style of mentorship would have to meet the mentee’s needs.

Let’s dive into the 10 tips to find and keep a mentor

1. Know Your Goals

The first step to finding a mentor is to make clear what you want to achieve, learn and get out of the relationship. The best way to create effective, easily achievable goals is to work SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timebound.

Making a short term goal help you have a clear picture of where you want to go. for example, what kind of job do you want? if you are already doing the job you want then the next thing to consider would be, what level of success or achievement do you want to reach in that job? is it to become a director or manager??

The goal of a mentorship relationship is to help you overcome those roadblocks that may stand on your way to success and help you become better in a specific area of challenge.??

2. Who Do You Want to be Like?

Take your time to find someone you look up to. In fact, have several candidates before committing to a single mentor.?

When trying to figure out the people in your life that may be a good candidate for a mentor, consider those who are ahead of you in terms of their careers or professional growth. Another way to identify possible mentors is to seek out those who are already in the position or level you wish to grow into in the future.

3. Make a Research on the Person

Try to know who the person is, check out his blogs if he has one. Check his social media posts

In case you barely know the person, it’s best to ask someone who knows him. See if he is really like his public persona projects. It is very important you understand his strength and weaknesses.

Here are some questions that would help with the research:

• Is their presence something I can relate to?
• Does their Bio speak to me?
• Do we have a common interest?

4. Reach Out to the Person

Never make the mistake of asking the person to be your mentor at your first contact. It is advisable to invite the person for a drink and then you get to have a casual conversation with them about work and the challenge you may be facing. You can as well establish common grounds. For example, we work in the same industry or we belong to the same professional body. Tell them about yourself, your work and the purpose of the meeting.

The reason why it is not advisable to ask a person to be your mentor?on your first contact is this; at the end of your official meeting, you might discover they don’t have what it takes to be your mentor or they are just not the right fit for you

5. Evaluate the Outcome of the Official Meeting

What are your discoveries at the end of the meeting??

• ?Do you want to spend more time with the person?
• ?Did they offer encouragement and advice?
• ?Did you feel better or worse at the end of the meeting?
• ?Was there a connection between you and the person?

If the answer to these questions is negative, it would be advisable to get someone else. But if your answers are all positive then it leads us to point number 6??

6. Establish the Relationship

In establishing the relationship with your mentor, you have to be opened and honest, tell them of your fears and doubts. You have to be willing to be vulnerable and honest about your challenges and weaknesses. If you don’t open up about your challenge, your mentor will not be able to help you.

7. Be Specific About What You Want to Achieve

Be clear enough about what you want to achieve through the mentoring relationship. Tell your mentor your goals, for example, is it to reach a particular level of success like becoming a manager or direction. Whatever it is, just make it clear to your mentor

8. Let Them Know You Value Their Advice

As your relationship with your mentor progresses, putting into use their advice and feedback is a great way to grow. Your mentor may recommend you to take a step or read a book. It is important to be action-oriented in order to put their advice into practice.

Find ways to reflect back on what you are learning from the mentorship relationship, for example in your next meeting, you can make reference to a book they recommended or a piece of advice they gave.

9. Show Commitment?

Nobody wants to mentor someone who is not committed. If you have an appointment with your mentor by 2 pm make sure you get there at least 15 minutes before time, it shows that you value the meeting and take it seriously.

10. Be Grateful

Accepting to mentor you doesn’t mean they are not busy. It might mean taking out time from their resting hour or something of importance for them to give to you. Find a way to show them how grateful you are, it could be by writing a short note, sending them an email, gifting them or offering to help them with a task. You can check in from time to time to know how they are doing. It is important for your mentor to know you care about them as much as you expect them to care about you.

In conclusion, do you have a mentor yet? Or you are still searching for one? We at Mentortribes would love to help you get the best mentor you will need for excellence.

Now I’d love to hear from you; Do you have a mentor? If yes

How did you find him or her?

Let me know by leaving a comment below right now