I cold-called a self-made millionaire for entrepreneurial mentorship; he agreed and now I'm a bit nervous. How do I get as much value from this as possible?
Question from Quora about how to maximize value from mentors.
This is part 3 of 5 of a series called, “People and Career”.
In case you missed it, here’s part 1, and 2.
Last May, I started at zero at my mentor's investment company and now I'm his right hand man. It was not an accident.
I patiently and consistently executed and outperformed everyone around me and became hard to ignore in the best way.
I became an asset. I became indispensable by learning better and faster than anyone else; I was a sponge at every moment. I was also very loyal.
At multiple points, my mentor gave me opportunities to take advantage of him and created situations to reveal my character. It is because I passed these tests (combined with my work ethic) that he has trusted me with a multimillion dollar operation.
I'll give you a framework for how I engineered the success.
Traits and qualities that make a student worth mentoring:
1.) Humility
You are not 'too good' for grunt work, every task is important and worth understanding
2.) Teachable
Readily learn new concepts
Don't come across as a know-it-all, but blind obedience isn't beneficial either
3.) Right Priorities
Value learning over monetary success (put in your time before you think about how much money you're making)
Value relationships over tasks (the agenda shouldn't be just to learn something, treat your mentor like a person, not a slot machine)
4.) Commitment
Be there for the long haul, not to learn and then jump ship (this is huge)
5.) Value for the opportunity (gratefulness)
Don't come across as an entitled brat
You are privileged to have the chance to learn
Your mentor does not "need" you (they got to where they're at without you), appreciate the fact that they are kind enough to help
6.) Availability/Consistency
First one there, last one to leave
Responsive
Always be on time or early to meetings
Be ready to learn and execute on the fly, on call, at a moments notice
7.) Mentally sharp or a quick study
Ask good questions, show capacity to think
The goal is to understand how your mentor thinks, not to merely find out what they know
Do your own self study, match it against what your mentor says, bring new ideas to the table
Remember every concept, instruction, direction, resource, and tool that is given or mentioned
No one likes repeating themselves, especially a busy person
Pre-screen your own questions before asking (have they already answered this? have they already taught you the principle around it?)
One additional thing that was very integral was that I actually told my mentor about 6 months in, "I don't care what I make. As long as you cover my expenses, I'll build the business."
I understood that the most valuable thing I was getting was education. Money is the bonus. I knew that if I learned how to think like my mentor, I would have the same mental tools and frameworks to make the millions he's already made. If I can make some bucks as I learn, that's cool, but it's not a necessity. This is where patience comes to play.
If you can understand that, it will be much easier to focus on the learning and not worry about needing to make 'big bucks' as soon as you can and will make you that much more valuable to your mentor.
If you do all of that, and your celebrity millionaire is a good mentor, you will go far!
On the flip side, I've also mentored a good handful of people in the last 5 years, there are a quite few things I learned from being on the other side of the table.
As mentor, I hate it when:
Mentee says they want something, but doesn't do anything about it (no follow through, no action)
Mentee says XYZ is important to them, but don't remember something that I share with them regarding that topic (not serious about learning)
I have to remind them multiple times for them to do something they already agreed to do weeks before (no organization, no priorities, inability to execute)
I have to engage them to update me on something I told them to get done, and there's no progress or effort shown (no follow-through, no initiative)
I teach them something and they don't ask any clarifying questions to fully understand it -- I end up having to explain a second time in another context (poor learning habits, lack of focus)
They wait for me to teach instead of creating opportunities to ask and be inquisitive (lack of initiative, lack of desire to learn)
They do no study or learning outside of our one-on-one interactions (lack of desire to learn, lack of resourcefulness), this is even worse when it's something specific I tell them to do like read a book or article (no execution, lack of seriousness)
They ask me a question I've already either 1) answered multiple times in different contexts or 2) given him resources that would have answered the question if they had read/watched it
All those factors communicate to me that I'm more interested in the student's success than they are themselves. It seems like I put more thought and energy into leading them than they do themselves. These are all reasons that make me NOT want to mentor people and it's the reason why I don't readily accept anyone under my mentorship.
When a mentee does the things I noted above, it makes me feel like I'm wasting my time and energy that could be better spent elsewhere either building my business or investing in a better pupil.
Of course, every mentor is different in how much time they commit to you, how transparent they are, their teaching style, their personality, and how much you two "click." There are so many nuances, but hopefully everything here gives you a good enough framework to start with to make the most of your amazing opportunity!
Congratulations on finding a mentor, most people don't have the privilege of having one, hope it's a good fit!
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