“The people closest to me determine my level of success or failure. The better they are, the better I am. And if I want to go to the highest level, I can do it only with the help of other people. We have to take each other higher.”
– John C. Maxwell
The Power of Mentorship
No matter what stage we are in, we all need a mentor and can give back by providing mentorship to others.
Those who are willing to invest time in us must be sought after. Those who desire to mentor must have a platform to be able to do so easily and effortlessly.
In our day and age of technological advancement, InstantMentor connects and equips the next generation through intentional mentorship.
By having a platform to easily connect with mentors and mentees, both parties are able to profit from both growing and investing.
This leads us to some main points to consider when comparing and choosing the best mentor. Thankfully, InstantMentor does the heavy lifting after sharing information about you, your work, and what you are interested in.
Here are several aspects to note when considering a mentor:
- Have some ideas about what realm, stage, or aspect of life that you would like to be mentored in.
- Write down precisely what you want to learn or what current challenges you are facing.
- Decipher what’s important to you in your mentor (experience, credentials, etc.).
- Determine how long you are willing to meet and at what frequency.
- What is your end goal?
- Do you desire a long-term mentorship and friendship with this person?
- Answer the question, “What makes finding a mentor important to me?”
Seven Ways to Compare & Choose the Best Mentor
1. Have some ideas about what realm, stage, or aspect of life that you would like to be mentored in.
Many times we desire to begin something with good intentions, but life gets in the way leading to being unprepared, falling short of our goal.
In order to receive the most out of being mentored, you have to start by having ideas of what it is you desire to be mentored in.
Are you trying to make the most out of your career or choose a career? Are you wanting to learn how to start a business? Are you a newlywed trying to figure out how to be a loving spouse? Are you unsure of how to take care of your first born? Are you struggling with keeping friendships? Do you have a desire to grow spiritually? Are you interested in learning more about chess, cooking, or writing? The list goes on and on.
By understanding what you desire to be mentored in, it will help lead the trajectory of the relationship and discussion moving forward.
2. Write down precisely what you want to learn or what current challenges you are facing.
By writing down what you want to learn and what challenges you want to overcome, you will feel more accomplished and heard within each meeting. Some guiding thoughts could be:
- I just started my career but I’m not sure that I made the right choice. What should I do?
- I want to become a teacher, but my parents are telling me I won’t make any money. I have a passion for teaching kids. How should I proceed?
- I have been feeling stagnant in my career and I just got passed over for a promotion. What am I doing wrong?
- I have always wanted to learn how to read faster. What are some ways I can do that and begin to read more books throughout the year?I want to continue training to be a starter for my team, but I am struggling with becoming faster. What are some ways I can increase my speed and agility?
- I have this business idea that I want to start, but I don’t know where to begin. What are the steps, softwares, resources, and financial commitment needed to start my business?
3. Decipher what’s important to you in your mentor (experience, credentials, etc.).
Figuring out what is important to you in your mentor is crucial.
Do you want someone in the same career field, or stage of life as you? Do you desire them to have a certain level of education such as a Masters or Doctorate? How many years of experience do you want them to have? Are you wanting someone who is proud of their successes, or remains humble? Do you want someone who is flashy and materialistic, or someone who focuses more on the deeper things of life?
We all are philosophers to some degree. How we see the world and what we desire is different amongst each of us. By figuring out what is important to you in your mentor, your mentor will not only better be able to serve you, but the relationship itself will have a greater chance of succeeding in the long term.
4. Determine how long you are willing to meet and at what frequency.
What does your availability look like? Are you willing and able to meet once per week, per month? Setting a realistic expectation of your availability will help in finding a mentor who can make the same commitment.
By figuring out how often you are both wanting and willing to meet will determine your discipline and the depth of each meeting.
The relationship between a mentor and mentee will grow prosperously with consistent, dedicated meetings, as opposed to the people who meet infrequently and randomly.
Meetings that last between 30-60 minutes will bring about greater depth of conversation, as opposed to talking for only 5-15 minutes each meeting.
5. What is your end goal?
What are you looking to gain from your mentorship? What is your end goal?
Understanding what you want in the end can help lead you throughout your journey.
Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish”.
Some ideas you could put as your end goal could be:
- To gain a lifelong friend.
- To perfect my craft so I am better prepared for a promotion or job change that will give me more money for my increased skillset.
- To learn how to become a better loving spouse.
- To complete my book by the end of the year.
- To launch my startup in 6 months, as opposed to one year.
- To find someone who will listen to my burdens and encourage me to keep going.
6. Do you desire a long-term mentorship and friendship with this person?
It is always important to understand what this relationship is going to look like long-term.
If you desire to make a friend for life with your mentor/mentee, it is important to start with this in mind.
Those who take time to invest in the person, not just to do good for the sake of how one feels, has the best interest at heart. More often than not, strong mentorships turn into lifelong, mutually beneficial relationships.
Those who are in mentorship for a season will do good for others, but it will only be for a short period of time. Though doing something for a time is good, sometimes it is not always the best.
Figure out whether your relationship will be one that is temporary or lifelong. This will help you to understand how much you are willing to share within meetings and will help guide you to your end goal of why you started.
7. Answer the question, “What makes finding a mentor important to me?”
We all have a different reason as to why finding a mentor is important to us.
Figuring out our “why” is imperative in the mentorship process.
What is for you may not be for me. What is for me, may not be for someone else.
Figure out why it is essential for you to find a mentor at this stage in your life. What is going on? What are your hopes and dreams? What do you desire out of your life? Where do you want to go? What is a mentor going to do for you? What do you want your mentor to bring out of you? What do you want your mentor to share and guide you in?
These questions are essential to answer in understanding what makes finding a mentor important to you.
Take the Next Step & Join InstantMentor
Now that we have reviewed how to compare and choose the best mentor, we would encourage you to read the following articles:
- Nine Considerations When Choosing A Mentor
- A Review of InstantMentor - Pros & Cons
- Best Mentorship Platforms & Services
Are you feeling ready to sign up? Visit InstantMentor and download our app.
Get started today! It’s free. No one ever regretted growing. Begin your journey with mentorship and ascend to new heights! The future is limitless.
Become all you can be, and join InstantMentor now.
Lance VanTine
Co-Founder & CEO
