UrbanSpeaker

Two Perspectives on Mentorship

February 13th, 2009. Published under UrbanSpeaker. 2 Comments.

This is officially the first guest article on UrbanSpeaker. So to start off strong, I present Jason Daley and David Lavoie. Jason is a self described Creative Catalyst that works with businesses on their growth strategies and perfecting their sales and marketing programs through his company Conduit Solutions. Here Jason and David collaborate to give their perspectives on mentoring; why it is important to the inexperienced and how it can help you in the long run.

David

It pays to have someone who’s been where you need to be, and done what you need to do.

As a young entrepreneur, the pitfalls are many and the learning curve steep. Having a mentor has been instrumental to my success and development. Mentors avail more than critique and direction; they act on your behalf and in your best interest. Mentors provide a competitive, social and professional edge. Closed doors swing open, errors diminish and new options emerge beneath their tutelage.

When shoes seem hard to fill, remember that footprints are easy to follow. Having a mentor will speed your success. It did for me. Again, the benefits are endless and the education free. Invest the time, create the opportunity and find yourself a mentor. It’s good business.

Jason
Mentoring fulfills a necessity for career growth and development, surprisingly, both for the mentoree and the mentor. From the vantage point of having been mentored and now taking on the challenge of guiding a protege there’s a stretch effect that occurs automatically because of the dynamic of the relationship. Dynamic implies change, and change evolves into growth.

The growth of the mentoree comes naturally from the experience sharing and feedback mechanism that is mentoring. For the mentor it’s not so apparent because the growth comes from taking on the responsibility itself. Proper tutelage puts an onus on providing sound advice, and that requires understanding your instincts for decision making, in effect, it sharpens your business sense! If its a good mentorship pairing then its a worthwhile endeavor to both mentor and mentoree.

Photo by: Fillmore Photography