Please help, on second thought, please don’t.

Let me tell you a story. Meet James. James is a successful professional. He has achieved results that his peers and even elders did not expect. His success has also led him into a world he does not know. Family members want favors now he has money. Business leaders want to do business with him, but some are asking him to make deals that does not fit with his values. In this whirlwind of success James keeps moving forward, but he finds that he is losing momentum.

I know it’s a short story, and I can even add more detail, because I see this weekly. Young and older leaders find themselves isolated by their success and they do not know what to do.

So, here is another story. Meet Linda. Linda is also successful. Linda has been mentored teenage years. Mentorship is part of her life and she has currently 5, if not more mentors. These mentors are both younger and older that her. She seeks advice, learns from the mentors and they help her to make various decisions.

Which of these stories do you relate to? The reality is, we cannot do it by ourselves, but it is not always easy to engage this process.

I know finding a mentor is not the easiest job in the world. I have often spent 6 months or more to find a mentor myself, especially if there were specific areas, I wanted to grow in. What is stopping you from finding a mentor? Here are a few thoughts.

1. I am too busy. Really? I know it sounds lame, but if mentorship is not a value we will never make time.
2. It does not work. Yes, true, not all mentor relationships should continue forever. The question is; did you reached your goals in the mentorship relationship? If not, stick to it until you have.
3. I get bored having one mentor. Yes, me too. That is why I intentionally want more than one mentor, and even have mentors for only 1 year and then we close the journey. My mentorship journey is in my hands, not the mentor’s, unless there is something pertinent that comes out in the chats that I need to work on before we close the relationship.
4. I have made it by myself. That is also true, and well done so far. However, the journey is long. If you can say that at 70 years old and still be ok to never have had a mentor, please give me a call and I will apologize.

What else might be keeping you to take the leap into this unknown phenomenon?

In the next blog we will discuss how to keep the fire in the relationship.

For now, find out what is stopping you to tap into these rich oceans of wisdom and be honest about these assumptions and perspectives. Your next mentor might just share insights that can save you years of unnecessary turmoil.

If you need practical mentorship training, or someone to mentor, or if you would like to join a mentor tribe, please feel free to contact us at office@xpand-sa.com. We will gladly support you.

This blog in the series was written by Cias Ferreira.