Today I will tell you
how to find a mentor and what qualification a mentor of your dream should have.
First you have to determine clearly in which area of human expertise you would like to achieve top results and if you can do without help. To be successful we need
By going to people who
are ahead of you in the personal or professional arena you can save months
(maybe even years) and thousands of dollars to learn what you need to learn all
by yourself. To be successful, we have to find people who have already paid the
price to help us learn the things, that we need to learn to achieve our goals.
The mentors you choose
should be people you respect, admire, and want to be like. The advice you seek
should be guidance regarding your character and personality and specific ideas
on how you can do your job better and faster. Remember, you can't figure it all
out by yourself. You must have the help of others. You must find men and women
who will guide you and advise you on the road of life, or you will take a long,
long time getting anywhere.
So, for a good
mentor-protégé relationship, you must be wide open to the influence and
instruction of the other person, and at the same time, the mentor must be
genuinely concerned about your well-being and your ultimate success. These are
the two essentials.
Your ability to choose
your mentors can be a crucial step toward achievement in all areas of your
life. So here are 12 steps for building successful mentor-protégé relationships:
1) Set clear goals for
yourself in every area of your life. Know exactly what you want to accomplish
before you start thinking of the type of person who can help you accomplish it.
2) Determine the things
you will have to do in order to achieve your goals, the obstacles you will have
to overcome, and the roadblocks you will have to surmount.
3) Identify the areas of
knowledge, skill, and expertise you will have to acquire in order to overcome
the obstacles existing between you and your goals.
4) Look around for the
most successful people in the areas in which you will need the most help.
5) Join the clubs,
organizations, and business associations these people belong to.
6) Once you have joined
these organizations, become actively involved and volunteer for
responsibilities. This will bring you to the attention of the people you want
to meet faster than anything else.
7) Work, study, and practice
continually to get better and better at what you do. The very best mentors are
interested in helping you only if they feel it is going to be worth their time.
You will have no problem attracting people to you when you develop a reputation
for being up-and-coming in your field.
8) When you find a
potential mentor, don't make a nuisance of yourself. Instead, ask for 10
minutes of his or her time, in person, in private. Nothing more. Remember, most
potential mentors are busy people, and they may be opposed to someone's trying
to take up a lot of their time. It's not personal.
9) When you meet with a
potential mentor, express your eagerness to be more successful in your field.
Tell him or her that you would very much appreciate a little guidance and advice
to help you move ahead. Ask for an answer to a specific question, for a
specific book or audio program recommendation, or for a specific idea that has
been helpful to him or her in the past.
10) After the initial
meeting, send a thank-you note expressing your gratitude and appreciation for
his or her time and guidance. Mention that you hope to meet again if you have
another question.
11) Each month, drop
your mentor a short note telling him or her about what you are doing and how
you are progressing. Nothing makes a mentor more open to helping you further
than your making it clear that the previous help has done you some good.
12) Arrange to meet with
your mentor again, perhaps on a monthly basis, or even more often if you work
closely together.
Over the course of your
life, you will have many mentor-protégé relationships. As you grow and develop,
you will seek out different mentors, the people who can give you the kind of
advice that is most relevant to your current situation.
Successful people are
very open to helping other people who want to be successful.
This is especially true if they know you are willing to be a mentor to others
who are younger and less experienced than you. The more open you are to helping
others up the ladder of success, the more open others will be to helping you.
George Rusky
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