Business is tough and not easy, but imagine walking down the path with someone who has travelled the road before. It will make your journey less difficult and you will feel more comfortable. Many upcoming business owners and entrepreneurs are navigating the journey alone without any helping hand or guiding beacon, often leading to them making the same mistakes hence the need for business mentorship.
What Is Business Mentorship
Business mentorship is a business relationship between a mentor and a mentee, in this case, the mentor is a more experienced entrepreneur and the mentee is the less experienced one who intends to gain from the knowledge experience, and support of the mentor in the entrepreneurial journey. It offers direction to the mentees helping them run and grow their businesses and developing the necessary skills for their growth and success. The advice and guidance come from the mentor’s own experience and knowledge.
So many successful and prominent entrepreneurs have had mentors and are products of mentorship, like Mack Zuckerburg, Richard Branson, and Bill Gates. Richard Branson got the mentorship and guidance of Sir Freddie, a British airline entrepreneur when he was building Virgin Airlines. Mark Zuckerburg was being mentored by Steve Jobs and in one of the interviews in 2011 with Charlie Rose he explained how Jobs advised him on how to keep an organization focused on his overarching goal of building “high-quality and good things.”
Benefits of Business Mentorship
Richard Branson had this that most entrepreneurs have this misconception that getting mentors is a sign of weakness yet it shows one is willing to learn, open to different ideas, and adaptable to change. Mentorship comes with many benefits and below we will look at some of the benefits of having a mentor.
- Increased business knowledge and experience
- Long-lasting relationships
- Access to new networks and relationships
- Increased confidence
- Advice and guidance
- Learning from the mentor’s mistakes
- Personal development
- Leadership growth
- Support structure
- A different perspective
Finding The Right Mentor
So many people can seemingly be the right mentors for you, but only a few are the right mentors for you. In selecting the right mentor for you there are many things you have to consider:
- Do you look up to the person? – first and foremost, is it someone you admire or look up to? Have they achieved what you want to achieve?
- Are they willing to mentor you? – mentorship is a commitment and journey best done when two people are willing to walk together. Get a mentor who is willing to mentor you and is interested in your growth.
- Do they have these qualities? – the ideal mentor must have some qualities: approachability, empathy, leadership, knowledge, experience, time, honesty, non-judgemental, relevant skills, mentor, active listening, non-jealousy, etc.
- Can you two work together? – Another critical consideration is if the two of you can work together. Just because they tick all your boxes, you must look for someone whom you can align with and be able to work together.
Being The Right Mentee
Apart from the qualities of the right mentor, as a mentee, you also need to possess the right qualities for the mentorship relationship to work. Below are some of the best-expected qualities of a mentee:
- Take action – the right mentee is proactive and takes action on the agreed suggestions and way forward from the mentor
- Willingness to learn – a mentee must be willing to learn and grow
- Listening – a mentee must be able to listen to the mentor
- Asking the right questions – a mentee asks the right questions and sometimes it’s not always saying yes to everything that the mentor says but you need to ask the right questions.
- Appreciative – most if not all the time, the mentorship is not a paid but voluntary arrangement and the mentee needs to be appreciative of the mentor’s time and commitment to mentor them.
- Good communicator – a mentee must have good communication with their mentor.
- Open to feedback – a good mentee is open to feedback and even constructive criticism from the mentor.
To win in life; we all need mentors in our various spheres of life and the sooner you get one the better. Happy mentoring!