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OPINION
Four questions
F inding a mentor could be one of the best decisions you ever make in your life and career – I know it was for me. Finding a mentor can provide direction, accelerate career growth, and offer valuable insights, but it requires commitment and openness.
About three years ago, I started meeting monthly with a mentor I met through LinkedIn. Since then, I’ve made some huge life and career moves that I may not otherwise have made. It’s been such a fulfilling and productive relationship! In talking with construction professionals around the country, I’m finding that many do not have a mentor they can lean on. If you have ever wondered if you should find a mentor, try asking yourself these four questions to determine if it would be worth your time. Obviously, I highly recommend it, but is having a mentor really for you? Let’s find out: 1. Are you feeling a lack of direction and fulfillment in your life and/or career? I found my mentor when I was 28 years old. At that time, I had recently accomplished a lot of things that should have been considered positive: I was promoted to vice president at 28 years old, just finished getting my master’s degree part-time, recently got engaged to the love of my life, and was gaining notoriety on LinkedIn for writing construction-based content. But the truth is, I wasn’t happy.
This misalignment of my “success” and my happiness helped me to see that something was missing. With the benefit of time and space, I now realize that what I was missing was fulfillment and direction on how to find it. Fortunately, I had been meeting with someone I trusted already, and we naturally stepped into a mentor/mentee relationship. If you are ever going through that same confusion about success versus direction/fulfillment, then it may be time to consider getting a mentor to help you through it. 2. Do you want to accelerate your career growth? On the other hand, you can be totally successful and happy, and still be a good candidate for pursuing a mentor relationship. Why? Because mentors can help you accelerate your career much more quickly than you can on your own. One of my mentors, a serial entrepreneur and Zweig Group founder Mark Zweig, always says, “Failure sucks! Don’t fail just to learn from it. Find people who have failed to teach you so you don’t
Matt Verderamo, MS
See MATT VERDERAMO, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 24, 2025, ISSUE 1574
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