When I was in high school, I had an AP Statistics teacher say to the class after our first exam:
“ If you got an A on this exam your job is to help your classmates to the left and right of you get an A on their exam too. Success doesn’t end with you, it begins with using your strengths to help others.”
This was my first experience with mentorship.
Mentoring has the capacity to accelerate your growth and when your mentor happens to be an industry leader it can quickly give you that edge. Some of the biggest leaps I’ve made in entrepreneurship didn’t come from trial and error but came after getting powerful advice from a mentor.
In a recent interview with Geoff Woods, Vice President of The One Thing and Founder of The Mentee Podcast we dived deep into how to get an industry leader to become your mentor
You can watch, like, and share the full interview below:
Here are the 4 key steps mentioned in the interview that you can take action on now to get an industry leader as your mentor:
STEP 1: Change your mindset on who you think you are capable of reaching out to
In the interview Woods says to, “Reach out to someone who lives the type of life you want to be living. Not the person who you think you can reach.” When it comes to choosing a mentor your comfort zone should be nowhere near that decision. What you uniquely bring to the mentee/mentor relationship is valuable so don’t be afraid to set the bar high. As discussed in the interview every successful person is looking to leave a legacy and mentor the next generation. So why can’t it be you?
Do you question if you’re ready to reach out to large influencers and brands now? One mindset hack that Woods mentions in the interview that can help you switch from Who am I to I’m ready is to ask yourself this question: How can I bring value to this person? Create a list of all the ways you can bring value and then PITCH one of those opportunities to them.
STEP 2: Become the individual who provides value and shows up with a plan
When you make a decision on who you would like to get connected with you also have to make a decision to say yes to providing value that you can uniquely give. Woods describes an event he went to and how he was able to get backstage (nearly missing getting hit by a bodyguard!) and get an opportunity to connect with Brendon Burchard and exchange e-mails. The key, Woods admits, is that he didn’t just show up backstage on accident —he went in with a PLAN and VALUE to give. Woods confidently reached out to Burchard and asked to interview him for an Entrepreneur.com feature. He gave something that he freely had and was able to start a relationship from there.
Do you write for publications or have a popular blog, vlog, or podcast you can interview the industry leader on? If not, grab my free workbook on how to write articles that get featured in major media outlets here and start pitching your mentor!
STEP 3: When you are given advice the next step is to TAKE ACTION on that advice
The biggest compliment you can give an industry leading mentor is to take action on the advice they give you. Time is one of our most valuable resources and the quickest way to accelerate your growth and get more mentorship from your mentor and the network they might introduce you to is to respect everyone’s time and take action on the advice that’s given. The results are born from the action.
What inspires you to consistently take action and follow-up on powerful advice? Think of your bigger why and take action towards your goals.
STEP 4: You can always teach from where you are and start mentoring now
When asked when was the best time to become a mentor Wood responded, “Now. Teach from where you are.” We all have something powerful to teach at any given moment in our lives and can help those who are just starting on the journey or a couple of steps behind. You don’t have to be an industry leader or have a large platform to be a mentor and teach what you know to someone who could benefit from it.
What was a recent result you created in your life or business that you were especially proud of? Offer to teach someone who is struggling in that area what you did to get your result step-by-step.
While we don’t all have statistics teachers giving lectures on mentoring classmates we can all look at our unique talents and gifts that we bring in this world and see how we can get the advice to scale our platforms with more ease and share that advice with future generations to come.
#ThoughtLeaderChallenge: Get an industry leader as a mentor using the 4-step formula above and use the hashtag #ThoughtLeaderChallenge on social media with a photo of your mentor!
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