5 Reasons Why Mentors Matter

Mentorship can be a slingshot for success.

If you’re not familiar with this idea, a mentor is someone with experience who you can trust for advice and training. While formal mentorships within companies are less common today, I would argue that they are as important as ever.

Here are the top 5 reasons why a mentor matters:

1. Advice
   A mentor has experience and knowledge they can pass on to you. We all know it’s easy to hear advice, but not always easy to follow it. Mentors are not your boss, so you can choose to go against their advice. A good mentor will understand that you have your own path to forge, and they will be there to continue offering advice when it has the chance to benefit you.

   I have learned valuable lessons from mentors in the past that helped shape my decisions and guide me away from making costly mistakes. A mentor is not magic, they cannot prevent you from ever failing, but they can offer guidance to avoid pitfalls.

2. Objective Third Party
   Since a mentor does not have ties to your company (unless they also work for the same company), they can offer an outside opinion about strategies you are implementing, products you are creating, staff you are hiring, etc. They will be able to see things that you can’t because you are too close to your own projects. If you don’t take constructive criticism well, you’ll have to learn how to adapt or discuss another form of delivering opinions with your mentor.

3. Encouragement
   The constructive criticism a mentor provides can be encouraging, but they are also a source of positive reinforcement that can help build confidence in your work. While family and friends can encourage you, hearing positive words from a mentor in your industry who you trust and respect is a better test for how you’re doing.

4. Inspiration
   The day-to-day of your work might start to wear you down. A mentor can help shake up your routine, recommend courses to keep your knowledge fresh, offer a different perspective for facing challenges, help you set goals that keep you reaching for more, and inspire you in both your professional and personal endeavors.

   I cannot stress enough how important it is to have an inspirational mentor throughout your journey to build success.

5. Contacts
   Networking is still very much how the world works. Everyone wants to hire, work with, and support people they know. Mentors are a great source for building your professional network. Your contacts are one of your greatest resources, and the right connections will help your career prosper. A mentor who has built lasting relationships with other leaders in your industry can help you connect with relevant professionals, and your association with your mentor becomes a great reference for you.

Anyone Can Find a Mentor

As an entrepreneur, you may feel like you don’t have access to a mentor—but you do. Mentorships within companies are also less common today, but you have a supply of more mentors to choose from. Search out a person in your industry who you value and respect. Do they have blogs, podcasts, webinars, etc. available online? This content is a direct link to their wisdom and expertise. Does their content offer you valuable insight, guidance and inspiration? If it does, contact them and ask if they are open to being your mentor. Distance is not a problem since you can email and video chat, so don’t limit your choice of mentor based on location.

When you contact someone to be your mentor, explain who you are and why you’re contacting them. Prepare a schedule in advance so you can ask them if they can commit to an agreement like a monthly video chat and replying to your emails once a week. You should also prepare a few notes relevant to their industry that you will share—this should be valuable content that will help their professional life in some way. Keep in mind, age is no longer the deciding factor for who is a mentor and who is a mentee, both parties can have valuable knowledge to share.

Keep It Professional

The person you ask to mentor you will be flattered, but they may decline your offer. Keep it professional and thank them anyway, leave the conversation on a positive note. Contact leaders who you can learn from until you find a mentor, because if you don’t have a mentor you’re throwing away an opportunity to elevate your success.

Mentorship might be a slingshot for success, but you are the one on the ride. Use the resources around you to build yourself into a qualified leader who is ready for success. You may also decide that you have valuable advice and insights to share, so seek out a mentee and keep the successful karma coming.