A mentor can help you grow your business.Build a long term relationship with your mentors.Mentors give you their timeThey have more life experience than you'On my walks, every man I met is a superior to me in some way, and in that, I learn from him.’ – Ralph Waldo EmersonInspirational mentor.Need a network of different types of mentors. Can change throughout life as we grow and develop.Have a planYou need to know what your good at and weak in before looking for a mentor so you can find a mentor which will help you grow.Ask yourself what are your strengths, skills, what are you good at and where you need to grow?Your mentor is there to up skill you.Mentors give feedback to help us improve.Who do you look up too – ask who you want to be in life, visualise it, visualise someone/people you admire.You can learn from mentors by watching them or reading there work.List the people you want to connect with and become mentors and research these people and their connections to see if you have any links so you can get a warm connection through someone else.Look for someone with a great network already that they can draw on to help you.You can plan for a mentor but sometimes mentors will just appear in your lifeHave more than one mentor for different parts of your life-network of mentorsSomeone in your network could introduce you to someone or has a connection to a mentor you would like.Have the courage to connect with people.It’s great to ask your manager to appoint you a mentor in the workplace.Not all good mentors are in the same field as youIn his Ted X Talk Doug Stewart voiced the idea that there are 51/2 types of mentors.Mentor type 1 – World View – Someone who can see past your prospective and help you navigate towards your visionMentor type 2 – Street view – Stands with you in your prospectiveMentor type 3 – Time machine – People in your past – can be anyoneMentor type 4 – Stealth mentor – Those people that are mentors but don’t know toMentor type 5 – Categorical – Like a filling cabinet of information which you can take bits of information fromMentor type 5 1/2 – Anti-mentor/Half a mentor – The person that shows you what you don’t want to beTake ownership of your own opportunitiesProve to your mentor that you are worth the time they are investing in youOnce your mentor has agreed to work with you than take the ownership of the opportunities and get the most out of it.Also take ownership of all the other opportunities your mentor provides you and make the most of them.What to ask your mentorTake intuitive and be vocal about what you want to learn - Mentee’s should be the driver of the relationshipAsk them questions about their life, how they have handled certain situations, what their opinion is, what books they read, what they like to learn aboutHelp guide your mentor by showing them what you want to learnPersonal responsibility and countability – Mentorship is for yourself with the help of other people.Be gratefulYour mentor may have a difference of opinion to you so remember to change or adapt your thinkingIf your mentor does correct you than listen to their feedback – they are not picking on youWe can vent our frustrations to mentors but remember that once we have vented we need to fix the problem.Learn how to mentor from your mentor.Giving back to your mentor-use what your good at – listen to episode 3 for more ways to give back to your mentorAs you grow and your life changes your need for mentors will change.Mentors may not last a life time but we should always be grateful for the impact they have had on our lifeCelebrate your success with your mentor.Mentoring can be a very mutual relationship - A mentor mentors the you but sometimes can mentor your mentorGive back and make a better society by mentoring others and pass on the knowledge you receive.Check out our website for more information: www.aquaticmentors.com.au
Take a look at Katrina van Eyk's other services: www.regionalswimclinics.com.au
