How to Find the Right Professional Mentor for You

Hope you had a Merry Christmas! Let’s prep for the new year with some talk about mentorship!

One of the things that great networking and relationship building turns into is relationships with transformational mentors.

The power of mentorship cannot be overstated. Having the guidance, support, and wisdom of someone who has navigated the path ahead of you can be a transformative experience, accelerating your growth and helping you avoid costly missteps. Cultivating meaningful mentoring relationships should be a key priority for any ambitious professional looking to take their career to new heights.

What Does a Good Mentor Do?

When you think of a mentor, who do you think of? For me I think of some of the great stories and movies. Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings. Yoda in Star Wars.

One definition of a mentor is a “wise and trusted counselor or teacher; an influential senior sponsor or supporter.” Thus, a mentor ought to be trusted, influential, and supportive. It’s important to not just find any mentor, but a good mentor who can help you through various challenges that you face. A good mentor should be able to:

• Offer invaluable insights and guidance based on their real-world experience
• Provide an objective, outside perspective to help you navigate challenges
• Connect you with influential contacts and open doors to new opportunities
• Hold you accountable to your goals and push you outside your comfort zone
• Instill confidence and help you recognize your own inherent strengths and potential
• Serve as a sounding board for ideas, strategies, and critical decisions
• Invest in your success

If you find a mentor that is not doing these or related things, it is okay to stop a mentoring relationship and search for a new mentor that can meet your needs. It’s your career, and a mentor is supposed to be an advisor. If their help isn’t helpful, there is no reason to continue working with them.

Find Mentors Early

You should be seeking mentors that are successful so that you can draw upon their success in your own career. There is no point in reinventing the wheel. While everyone is different, it’s helpful to learn from someone who has “been there, done that.”

The earlier you find good mentors the better. Some companies provide a mentorship program for new employees, but I would also suggest you find mentors outside of official programs. These relationships often feel more natural and less forced.

In all cases, remember also that a mentoring relationship is just like any other relationship - it goes two ways. You need to come prepared and willing to invest in conversation and learning so that you are not wasting your mentor’s time. If you take personal responsibility for the success of your time together, you’ll be much happier.

Finding a Mentor

“Your mentors in life are important, choose them wisely” — Bill Walsh

How do you go about finding these amazing mentors?

To help, here are a few questions to ask to identify potential fits:

• Who do you know?
• Who do you want to know?
• What do you want to learn about?
• Who is doing what you want to do?

These questions should bring a few names to mind or at least help you know where you should be looking for them! Anyone who you think you can learn from can potentially be a great mentor whether they are inside/outside your organization.

Your ideal mentor should have successfully navigated the path you aspire to follow. They should have a proven track record of achievement in your field of interest, as well as the wisdom and insights that only come from years of real-world experience.

Know that you might start with a few names and have to explore and make connections before you know if they will be a fit - that’s okay! Don’t get too caught up in finding the “perfect” mentor, as that might actually just lead to disappointment.

Take Intentional Action

Identify one person using the guidelines in this newsletter and make a plan to connect and reach out to them.

In the upcoming newsletter, we’ll talk more about ways to nurture that relationship, so be on the lookout for that.

Accelerate Your Progress

This newsletter is an adapted excerpt from my newly released book, The Intentional Career Guide to Professional Networking.

So grab a copy of it, and if you are interested in being an early reader and becoming part of the “Book Army” to help launch it as well as the rest of the Intentional Career Guide series, sign up at https://www.intentionalcareerguide.com/bookarmy.

You can also find more related resources, courses, and more of The Intentional Career Guide at www.intentionalcareerguide.com.