Being a mentor is one thing- Being an amazing one is a completely different thing altogether!
To serve as a mentor is not only an honor; it’s a position of great responsibility. A mentor helps to shape the foundations and future path of an aspiring entrepreneur and the challenge to deliver on that responsibility is a deeply rewarding process.
Just as the map is never the journey and every relationship is different, these are the valuable lessons I have learned during my time working with talented and creative leaders:
1) Be reflective:
Being a mentor means fulfilling many roles but the most important is being a soundboard that steers an entrepreneur to their own answers to problems. It’s about inspiring someone to think deeply about their concerns and challenges, rather than giving simple answers which only tells them what you think is best for them.
2) Be a story teller:
Stories enrich the learning process and give context to overcoming hurdles. When it comes to delivering advice, a story always serves better than just straightforward solutions. Try to connect entrepreneurial problems with situations you have faced in the past, a story that will create the parallels that enable them to see their own entrepreneurial solutions. As a leader you should aim to resist giving only answers- your role is to guide, counsel and lead by example.
3) Balance ideas with action:
Good business is all about planning, execution and strategy. The problem for some entrepreneurs is that they get ‘hung up’ on strategy when a problem appears, becoming stuck as they try to engineer the right solution to their crisis. The challenges here as a fellow entrepreneur is to recognize that sometimes there are no perfect solutions and you can’t afford to wait until you have one. Being an entrepreneur means not only embracing risk, but most importantly trusting yourself when taking rapid action.
4) Less contacts-not more:
Building networks and trusted connections comes natural to most entrepreneurs, and sharing those relationships are just part of being a mentor. It’s important to remember that just as everyone has friends who don’t mix well together, so too are your connections unique to you and might not connect well with a promising entrepreneur. The key is to focus on icebreaking and match making, building relationships to help grow not only your fellow entrepreneurs’ influence and network, but also your own. It’s about growing together instead of growing apart!
5) Confidentiality above all:
The cornerstone of entrepreneurship is trust: Building and maintaining trust not only to your consumers, but amongst your fellow entrepreneurs and collaborators as well. A lot gets said in the office and on the road, and it’s really important to make sure that nothing is ever shared without permission, even if you think it would be to someone’s benefit. We never know how information will be perceived by others, and perception is everything in our industry-Try to be an entrepreneur and a mentor that can always be relied upon.
In the end, being a mentor for me means being the type of person that enables other entrepreneurs to develop at their own pace, in their own way. It’s a relationship founded on leadership, trust and inspiration. While I would never say it’s an easy process, requiring an immense amount of patience, understanding and perspective, I can say it’s a deeply rewarding and fulfilling one.
While these are the 5 steps that have helped me coach other entrepreneurs, what are yours? Are there additional principles you see as being important to building entrepreneurial development?
