What is a mentor?
What is a mentor and how will engaging with a mentor benefit you?
A mentor will:
- Look from the outside at you and your business and offer another perspective
- Listen, confidentially, to the areas which concern you about your business
- Give friendly, unbiased support
- Assist you by drawing on their own experiences of both failure and success
- Give you honest and constructive feedback
- Act as a sounding board for ideas you have
- Guide you in your decision making
- Suggest alternative ways of doing things
- Support you on an ongoing basis
- Encourage you
- Motivate and inspire you
- Help you gain new contacts and networks for your personal and business development
These are just a few of the many different elements a business mentor can bring to your business. I like to mentor using the technologies available to most of us phone, email, video chats. If my clients are located near to my Berkshire office, face-to-face meetings are another great way to connect during the mentoring process.
It’s important to keep in mind that a mentor is someone you can call on at any time of your business life cycle. There’s no rule on when you should engage a mentor. You will only know when there is the requirement for assistance and guidance – this could be once a year, or once a week – depending on your individual or company needs.