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Finding a Mentor
A mentor can help boost your job performance and advance your career. But how do you go about finding a good mentor? Follow these tips!- Look for someone with skills similar to yours but who has progressed further up the professional ladder. Don’t assume they have to be in the same city. With e-mail and the phone, they could be anywhere.
- Don’t limit yourself to one mentor. You may want to have several to help with different aspects of your life, a kind of mentoring “board of directors.”
- Once you have someone in mind, don’t grovel. The surest way to scare off a potential mentor is to beg them to be your mentor. Most successful businessmen and women don’t want to have a formal title. They would prefer to have a friend they can help, rather than a protégé.
- Be mindful of the amount of time a mentor can commit to the relationship. It may be necessary to discuss your expectations and whether you should have an agenda for your meetings to keep discussions on track.