ASEAN COMMUNITY OF ENTREPRENEURS
ENTREPRENEURSHIP LEARNING
How To
Find & Utilise
A Mentor
BY TRENT HAMM
7
TACTICS FOR
FINDING A MENTOR
W
hat exactly is
a mentor? It’s
a term often
bandied around
in
business
books, but it’s often not looked at
outside of this context.
A mentor is any person who
can help guide you to the goals
you desire through example
and discussion. You can have a
parenting mentor just as easily as
you can have a business mentor.
You can have a blogging mentor,
a golfing mentor, or a chess
mentor. Whatever it is you want
to succeed at, you can likely
find a mentor who will help you
get there.
What can a mentor provide?
The key thing that a mentor
provides is advice. They’re
a person that can provide
suggestions based on their
own experience that will point
you towards the success that
you want.
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MEET PEOPLE IN
YOUR WORKPLACE:
Not only will you have
a
better
chance
of
discovering good potential
mentors within the organisation you
work in, you’ll also build up valuable
relationships for your own ends. Plus,
you’re much more likely to have a
person or two in common with the
person you want to be your mentor.
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MEET PEOPLE IN
YOUR COMMUNITY:
Similarly, if you’re looking
for mentors in nonprofessional
areas,
look
around your community. Get involved
in interest groups related to what
you’re engaged in and volunteer
within those organisations. Another
tactic is to simply find people who
write for niche publications in your
area of interest, as well as people who
blog on that topic – you can at least
be sure of their passion in the area.
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ASEAN COMMUNITY OF ENTREPRENEURS | ISSUE 2 : 2016
MEET PEOPLE IN
YOUR INDUSTRY:
If you’re simply looking
to excel within a particular
industry, attend conferences. There
are few better places to meet people
within your industry than a trade
conference. You should also make
an effort to follow trade publications
within your field and contact
interesting authors.
IDENTIFY THE PEOPLE
WHO HAVE ACHIEVED
WHAT YOU WANT TO
ACHIEVE:
As you meet more and more
people and get more involved, you’ll
probably start to realise what levels
of success you want to achieve,
particularly in the shorter term. Look
for the people who have already
achieved that level for potential
mentors.
4
DON’T GO OVER
YOUR HEAD:
If you’re a newly minted
MBA, don’t go try to swing
Jack Welch (former chairman
and CEO of General Electric) as your
mentor – you’re wasting your time.
Instead, look for people who are a few
levels up the chain. Don’t burn your
time trying to get a mentor too far up
the chain – work your way up there.
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