Mentorship Impacts Tomorrow, Today

Mentorship is what grows us.?Mentorship creates the opportunity to learn from high knowledge individuals who have displayed real-world business acumen.??Mentorship is a live, living and breathing laboratory where you get the chance to harness the incredible experiences that your mentor has experienced, without having to make the same mistakes they made in the process.

Mentorship enables you a sounding board that allows you to have multiple options to the outcomes you have envisioned or may not even recognize.??It provides a next-level advisory bank that you can frequently withdrawal from, thus growing your own business and leadership identity in the process.?

Mentors are selfless leaders who give of their time and experience so that less experienced future leaders can gain sage experience thus helping that growth turn into the cycle of teaching.?If you are like me and read a lot of biographies on successful movers and shakers, you will find the common denominator of mentorship growth which occurred in that individual’s lifetime that enabled them to achieve greater success.?They all seem to be lead at some point by a mentor or mentors.

I have had the incredible fortune of being mentored by two of our era’s industry titans and visionaries, Mr. Sam Walton and Mr. Bernie Marcus Both are entrepreneur legends who have had a significant impact on the way we do business today, and how we live our lives.?For it is almost impossible not to shop at a Walmart store, subsidiary, or a Home Depot during one’s life.

Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, began his career in retail in the 1940s as a management trainee at J.C. Penney. He later went on to open his own variety store in Arkansas in the 1950s, which eventually grew into the Walmart empire we know today. One of the keys to Walton's success was his focus on offering low prices to customers, which he accomplished by cutting costs in his stores through a variety of means, such as buying in bulk and keeping tight control over expenses. He also focused on providing excellent customer service and creating a culture of integrity within the company. Bernie Marcus, the co-founder of Home Depot, began his career as an installer of plumbing and lighting fixtures in Detroit. He co-founded Home Depot in 1978 and opened the first store in 1979 in Atlanta. His vision for Home Depot was to create a "do-it-yourself" retail store where customers could find all the materials and tools, they needed to complete projects around their homes. This approach was unique, as most home improvement stores at the time were primarily focused on supplying professional contractors.

Both Sam Walton and Bernie Marcus were known for their innovative approach to retail, and both men were extremely hands-on in the running of their companies. They were also heavily involved in the communities in which their stores were located and were known for their strong focus on customer service.?

And they both were dedicated mentors.

Their legacy can be seen in the way retail stores operates today, the idea of big-box retail store and warehouse store, which provides low price and wide variety products, was established and perfected by them. Both Walmart and Home Depot have become household names and are among the largest and most successful retail companies in the world. Walmart has become the largest company in the world by revenue, and Home Depot is the largest home improvement retailer in the world. Both companies have had a major influence on the retail industry and have set the standard for other retailers to follow.

Here are two individuals that helped the world economy in a way that the stores' low prices could help the overall economy, as they could save consumers money, which would then be spent elsewhere, thus stimulating the economy.? Yet, they still had time to mentor individuals.? Individuals like myself.?? It is not everyone that can be mentored by one, yet two of our centuries leading business icons, but mentorship is not about how successful your mentor is at leading global markets.? It is about how you as a mentee can learn and gain knowledge that you lack in rounding out your leadership abilities.? It is about making a change in this world by paying forward that which you have learned to others.

If you are a mentor today, thank you. You are the reason we can progress as a profession and advance our future leadership group.?If you are thinking of becoming a mentor, please do.?We need all the great influencers we can wrangle to help define tomorrow’s leaders.??If you are looking to be mentored, just ask.??Ask someone in your company, in your industry, in your network, in your life, just ask.??Mentors are giving people, and I am assured you will find that one person who can help you grow and learn.

I am forever grateful for my mentorship with Mr. Sam, and Bernie, and the other mentors I had in my life such as Dave Gorman, the VP at Walmart, and Captain Steven Barry, USAF.? There are life lessons and learnings that I get to pass along in my mentorship practice.?It is because of these two individuals dedicating time out of their busy life for me that I clearly pay forward the gift of mentorship to this day.