WHAT IS A MENTOR


A mentor is a leader - a guide. A mentor can be any person who knows more than you do about any subject. They become a mentor when they agree to provide you with help and guidance towards teaching you what they know best. A mentor can be hired. For example if you wish to learn to fly, you will go to a flying school and be assigned an instructor who you will pay to teach you about flying. Your flying instructor is a mentor particularly when he tells you about his experiences – and not just the “how” of flying. However, the word mentor is more commonly used for a person who provides you with information and guidance – simply because he or she wishes for you to succeed.

 

The trick is finding a person who is successful in a specific area where you lack expertise and then convince them that it is worth their time to help you. Why on earth would anyone who doesn’t know you well – agree to do such a thing? And, perhaps more importantly – do you have the guts to ask?  This is the secret to Finding Mentors.

DO YOU NEED A MENTOR?

Imagine that you want to be a mountain climber. You have a new pair of boots, a tent,and a backpack. You have read lots of books on mountain climbing and have endless enthusiasm, but you have never done much more than climb the stairs when necessary.

There are two ways of becoming a mountain climber. In the first case, you could fly to Colorado or Alberta and rent a room in a picturesque mountain village. Bright and early in the morning you could fill your back pack with candy bars and water bottles and the other stuff the books tell you to take with you. You can put your map in a plastic bag and walk to the base of the mountain and start walking. That is a pretty stupid way to start learning how to climb a mountain, but believe it or not, there are people who would rather take such an appalling risk than admit they are a beginner and do not know how to do something.

Very few people become successful simply because they want to be successful. If you don't make it to the top of the mountain on the first try, you may try again. If you fall and injure yourself it will be more difficult to go back again. Unfortunately, when people fail more than once their enthusiasm disappears, and they will look for ways to avoid similar challenges in the future.

On the other hand, you could do all of the same things as in the first choice, but ask someone who has climbing experience to be your guide and go with you so you can take a practice run with somebody who has experience and the ability to share it. The guide is a mentor.

Regardless of what you want to do - there is always someone who knows more about it than you do. Finding mentors is finding the guides or teachers to help you learn new skills.