8/28/2023-Finding a Mentor

Mentors played the same game you’re playing, and that means they can provide insights that maybe even your manager can’t. Develop life-long mentors, and they’ll help develop you.

You’re having coffee with a business acquaintance you used to work with, and you realize this person knows a lot about your industry… and about you.

The more you listen, the more you’re lovin’ what you’re hearing. Whatever they’re selling, you’re buying!

It hits you that it would be fantastic to have a steady diet of this person in your life. Managing your job, clients, and career is easier when you have support.

As you plot your move to recruit your mentoring team, start preparing your list of issues you’ll want help with. Mentors need to be guided.

And most importantly, get ready to bring your most honest self to the table!

Today, contact three acquaintances you think might be good mentors and invite them to lunch. But don’t tell them it’s a tryout for a mentoring relationship…merely suggest that you want to talk about a few issues you know they can help you with.

Bring those real issues to the lunch and see how they respond.

Most of the mentoring game is about chemistry. You won’t know how you click with the mentor candidate until you see what that chemistry looks and feels like.

If it feels right, ask if they’d be open for more lunches down the line. BOOM, you’re off and running and will be enriched for sure.

Mentors provide immense value to sellers because they’ve seen every fastball, curve ball, and all the other pitches. They’ve been through it all.

B2B selling is one of the hardest jobs on the planet, and you are best served with help that comes in many forms: skill development, situational issues, manager issues, compensation, team, customer, career management….blah blah the list goes on and on.

It’s a jungle out there, man (and woman)! Build your team. Build a team with diverse perspectives. And then, open your mind.

Mentors want to help so when you find someone to trust, use them, but guide them too. Bring specific issues to them and ask for their advice. But just like your manager, mentors will best respond when you share your strategic insights and thinking.

guider makes software that helps companies create mentoring programs for their employees. This 6-minute read from their site might inspire you to take action and find a good mentor.

A notable excerpt might pique your interest: Don’t get stuck on an ideal. If you have an image in mind of what your ideal mentor may be like, forget about it. It can be easy to get stuck waiting for a perfect person to come along that, in reality, doesn’t exist.