If you google mentorship you can read hundreds of articles about why you ‘need’ a mentor to survive in your career— particularly in entrepreneurship. I am, by no means,
here to debunk this theory but rather, I wholeheartedly agree. It’s not to say that one cannot succeed without a mentor, however it is my belief— which is supported by experience— that you can get a lot further, a lot faster with someone who has already run your race advising you.
A mentor is defined as an experienced and trusted adviser. To go further, mentorship is considered guidance provided by an experienced person in the field or in an adjacent industry.
What exactly does mentorship do for you? Mentorship allows you to hold a mirror up to your life and see all the things that need to be improved not as flaws but as challenges that will grow you. It also allows you to help yourself by doing something for someone else— because it is very much a two way street. If you know you have nothing to offer your potential mentor then hold off making the connection until you do.
It’s also wise to recognize that learning requires a certain level of humility. A big part of becoming better is accepting that there are people with more knowledge than you—you don’t know everything— so finding someone who knows more will only sharpen you. Iron sharpens iron— and one of the growing pains of business is that it requires an insatiable need to continually become better.
There are so many times that my own mentors have been able to spot a problem in a decision I was making, and could show me the error in my thought process. All of these moments saved me thousands of dollars and months in time not wasted.
It was my first mentor who helped me to understand the value of my time, literally breaking it down for me when I was still in College and helping me give it a dollar value.
This simple calculation— that it had never occurred to me to make— shifted my entire mindset about work and the cost of my time and effort, at a very pivotal stage in my life where I was constantly making decisions that would impact me years down the line.
A benefit of mentors that should never be overlooked is the network that you become exposed to simply because you are associated with this person. The right mentor can do for you in one phone call what a dozen networking events could not achieve.
According to Robert Green in his book Mastery, “by nature, mentors feel emotionally invested in your education. They do not give you a shortcut, but they streamline the process of your development allowing you to flourish more naturally in a shortened time frame. ”This emotional investment can be vital to your growth professionally. While often discounted, having the emotional and psychological support of someone who sees the talent in you and has also been where you currently are, can help you to remain steadfast when you’re in one of the many valleys that come with professional and entrepreneurial growth.
I connected with my first ‘official’ mentor when i was twenty, fresh off the boat in Canada, at my first internship and very first foray into the fashion industry. In so many ways she was pivotal to the direction my career went, and continues to be an incredible asset as i venture out on my own.
This relationship grew very organically— but I get it— not everyone has the perfect mentor appear out of nowhere in their new job.
My next article will talk about what to look for in a mentor and will give some ways to approach them.
Let’s continue this conversation on www.buildingbrooke.com; and please don’t hesitate to email me at glasfordstyle@gmail.com.
