Lessons I wish someone had taught me about Business

Part II: Great Mentors are Incredibly Rare… and Valuable

Through the course of my education, I had the great fortune to be surrounded by incredible teachers who had my best interests at heart. They went the extra mile in a dozen different ways to ensure that I grasped and mastered the material they were teaching. Imagine my surprise, then, when I got my first job in high school. Suddenly, I was facing managers and customers who didn’t really care if I understood what I was doing – they just cared that I was doing what they wanted me to do.

Now, this isn’t to say I haven’t had some great managers over time, but the simple fact is that the people in the business world who will take the time to help you develop yourself are few and far apart. This shouldn’t come as a surprise when we consider that work is something you do to help us pursue our own interests, but it always felt like a bit of a shock after coming out of a system explicitly designed to develop my knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Those few people who will guide you, those who will take you under their arms and teach you how to improve, are incredibly valuable.

A great mentor will teach you more than any other fifty people will, even if those people are the ones tasked with training you, and your mentor hasn’t been given that job. A great mentor can give you the benefit of experience and perspective. A great mentor can introduce you to people you’d never meet otherwise. A great mentor can help you through the good times and the bad.

When you’re working in part of a large structure, it creates a situation where you can find a mentor more easily. But when you’re starting up your own business, it can be difficult to find a mentor. If you’re running the show, there might not be anyone else in the company. If your concept is particularly novel, you may be the best versed in your particular field.

So, what can you do, as an entrepreneur to find a mentor?

1. Ask your family and friends: Whether it’s an aunt, an uncle, mom, pop, your brother, sister, cousin, cousin thrice-removed, best friend, college roommate, or running buddy you have an entire network of people out there who will likely help you in any case. The wealth of knowledge in your family alone is probably humbling, but the people they know who might be able to help you is an even more staggering list. If you’re facing a single tricky issue, or you just need to have a long conversation about the overall scheme of your business and life, start by asking your kin and friends.
2. Keep in touch with former employers and co-workers: Most of us have held more than a few jobs, and consequently had more than a few bosses. Hopefully, when you left there you didn’t burn all your bridges behind you. The people you’ve worked with can provide guidance, help, and incredibly valuable advice. It may take a little time investment to make sure you’re building a real relationship rather than always calling with questions, but it’s worth your time.
3. Hit up social networking sites: Still stumped your family, friends, supervisors, and co-workers haven’t panned out? Fortunately, there’s a whole world of people out there who could potentially provide you advice, and a lot of them have found their way onto social networking sites. You’ll definitely want to be cautious and make sure that you aren’t spending more time playing on Facebook than actually looking for help, but if you leverage these technologies correctly, you can find incredible help and advice.

TJ Wihera blogs regularly at http://www.generationwhy.com/whysperspective
You can follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/timothy_wihera