As we’re covering more and more information on topics such as business growth, we couldn’t just skip over the importance of mentors. Even the leaders of companies of all sizes need someone to Mentor them in the workplace.
A mentor can help you in life, and in your career as well. A workplace is a place where constant improvement is supposed to happen, and if you have a mentor to help you with it, then it’s going to happen much faster.
The often lack of perspective is normal when you work alone. A mentor in the workplace can help you by guiding you through difficult times or when you just want to advance in your career.
Table of Contents
- What is a Mentor?
- How to Choose a Mentor?
- Define What You Want for Your Mentor
- Choose a Mentor That Challenges You
- Making a two-way connection
- You and Your Mentor Should Have the Same Values
- How a Mentor in the Workplace Can Benefit a Company
- Exchanging experience
- You can grow your network
- Better emotional intelligence
- Keeping you on track
- How to Ask Someone to Be Your Mentor
- Make a Real Life Contact
- Start Before You Seek
- Give That Person a Reason to Mentor You
- How Fantastic Services Mentors Its Franchisees
What is a Mentor?
By definition, a mentor is an experienced advisor. A mentor can be anyone who you see fit, as mentorship doesn’t end with them guiding you through business decisions. You can have a mentor to improve your lifestyle, people who can make you a more HR driven manager and so on.
Mentors can, and in fact, should change your life
Because of the vast meaning of mentorship, successful people understand that they need many different mentors for various aspects of their life. After all, there is a complexity of things that make a person successful.
How to Choose a Mentor?
Choosing a mentor isn’t like hiring a new employee. While you can hire a mentor for your business, finding your personal mentor requires conscious seeking.
You may already have a mentor, or had a mentor and never realised it, It may have been a family member, colleague or even an employee that you’ve taken knowledge from them and applied it in your life to better it. Does anyone come to mind?
Your mentor can be someone you work with on a daily basis, or it can be someone you admire. They don’t have to be with you. Often times your mentors may not be alive, with you absorbing their knowledge from books and publications of theirs.
Define What You Want for Your Mentor
Do you have a clear understanding of what you want from your mentor? A definitive understanding of what you want to gain from your mentor is needed in order to learn as much as possible from them. Remember that your current mentor may not have the skills and knowledge to help you grow in four or five years from now.
Sit down and understand what you need from your mentor, and assess if your current mentor is the right one for you. This can also help you understand what type of mentor you’ll need.
Choose a Mentor That Challenges You
Rarely anything happens if people don’t challenge themselves. This is an always-going process that makes a person better more capable.
If the person you choose for your mentor doesn’t challenge you on a daily basis, then he isn’t doing his job right, and it’s most likely not the right person for the job.
Making a Two-Way Connection
Having a mentor isn’t a one-way street. It’s a relationship that goes both ways, so you’ll have to return the favour to the mentor. You will have to bring as much value to your mentor, as he gives to you.
Speak with them, engage actively and create a genuine relationship with your mentor. If they have agreed to be your mentor then that person sees something in you. Look at the bigger picture, if you do your job right, grow a business or succeed because of your mentor, then they would have a beneficial relationship with you.
This would make your relationship last longer, meaning that you will get more for much longer.
You and Your Mentor Should Have the Same Values
If you are going to share your business journey with a mentor, you should have the same values. It’s hard to make it work with people who cherish different things than you.
When choosing your next mentor, we suggest you spend 20 minutes speaking with the mentor, deciding if they are the right person for the job.
How a Mentor in the Workplace Can Benefit a Company
All companies need a little extra push from time to time. Sometimes that new energy comes from within the company, other times – outside.
Know-how sharing isn’t a new concept, neither is mentorship, however, a lot of companies refuse to get a mentor and learn from mentors. The truth is that all companies should have mentors. They can be once that work in the company and have vast experience or hired once from outside of the company.
Exchanging experience
Most mentors are great professionals in their field. They can teach and show you and your employees’ new things.
While books can give you some knowledge, a mentor can share a unique experience, which you can’t find anywhere else.
You can grow your network
Business is always made on people basis. Like it or not, your success relies on who you know, and how you use these business relationships to grow your company.
Hiring an outside mentor can vastly increase your network opportunities, expanding the chance of your company to grow and even acquire the right people along the way.
Better emotional intelligence
Passion, love, less thinking more doing – all things that come to mind when you think of career growth.
An older mentor can bring another, much-needed part of the equations for success – emotional intelligence, or EQ.
You have to think clearly when you are going to take new decisions. Sometimes that’s hard, sometimes not so much. However, a mentor can keep you grounded, closer to reality and emotionally intelligent.
Keeping you on track
A set of failures can shake everyone, even the most ambitious of entrepreneurs. However, having a mentor to keep you going when times are rough can change you from a quitter to a doer.
When you have a mentor it’s much easier to keep going. He can show you when you are wrong, and offer another point of view.
How to Ask Someone to Be Your Mentor
As mentorship is more of a relationship and lifestyle than just work, how do you ask someone you admire to be your mentor?
Sure, it isn’t as simple as going next to someone and asking them to be your mentor (though it may do the trick). There isn’t a set rule to asking someone to be your mentor.
Instead, there are things that may grab the attention of mentors. Here’s what’s considered the proper approach when asking someone to mentor you, or your business.
Make a Real Life Contact
Yes, we do live in times where a DM is less than ten seconds away, however, this tends to not work at all.
The old school method of real-life introduction, shaking someone’s hand, looking them in their eyes, and simply developing that first impression relationship is vital.
When you know the person you want to be your mentor, try to find a reason to meet him. At a party, or through mutual friends. A casual meeting is best when you are yet to make a name for yourself.
Of course, if you are well-known in your niché, then you can arrange meetings specifically for the purpose of discussing a mentorship.
Start Before You Seek
Entrepreneur or not, you do have to have something to show. A project, functioning business that’s looking to get to the next level, a plausible business plan, etc. Rarely someone would agree to mentor something that is in the dream stages.
When you are seeking mentorship make sure you are at a point where you really need that person to come and advise you.
Give That Person a Reason to Mentor You
You have to understand that money isn’t always the best motivator. Realise that mentoring requires people to put in a lot of time.
You can understand when a person is asking to get paid, and when they’re looking to mentor an interesting business just for the sake of it. You just have to find the right people.
Of course, it’s completely fine if a mentor wants to get paid. After all, they are doing their job.
How Fantastic Services Mentors Its Franchisees
We, at Fantastic Services, like to bring value first, and then expect something in return. It’s something that we preach and practice every single day.
Every day we help our franchisees with whatever they need to overcome.
We have dedicated franchise consultants which personally help and guide our franchisees with growing and expanding their business and expertise.
Fantastic Services is one of a small number of franchisors who help their franchisees grow as much as the market allows while respecting the vision and decisions of the franchisee.
If you want to take your life into your own hands, making decisions for yourself and growing on your own terms sign up for one of our franchises.
It can be hard to find a mentor. Sometimes the people you admire most won’t be the right for the job. It’s about cleverly analysing what can a mentor bring to the table so you or your business grow and advance.
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