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I can tell you from experience that it is extremely frustrating for someone to continually ask for your advice, then ignore it and do things their way regardless. Change is one of the fundamental benefits to mentoring under someone, and most mentors don’t want to work with someone who is close-minded and unwilling to change. HOW TO FIND ONE. If you find yourself going through this exercise and getting excited about your desire for a mentor, then great! Now, you just need to find one. While there are so many ways you could go about this, this is how I have had the most success: 1. Identify a potential mentor. 2. Schedule a call or lunch to get to know them. 3. Repeat three times. 4. Ask them to be your mentor. I think it’s important to meet multiple times with someone before asking them to be your mentor because you need to figure out if you are really a fit for each other, and you need to figure out if they are willing to commit time to you as their mentee. Both of these things seem to naturally work themselves out over time. You will know if you are in the right position to ask for a more formal mentor/mentee relationship. I hope this helps someone out there, and if you have more questions about how or why to get a mentor, reach out any time. Matt Verderamo, MS is a consultant at Well Built Construction Consulting. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
MATT VERDERAMO, from page 3
have to fail as much yourself.” Such wise and simple words, but they are so often lost on people growing their careers. I think our egos tell us we are “supposed to figure it out on our own”, and I have found that this couldn’t be further from the truth! So, if you want to accelerate your career growth, getting a mentor is probably for you. But be sure to consider questions No. 3 and No. 4 before you do. 3. Are you willing to make a commitment outside of work? It is not easy to be a mentee. Even more, it’s not easy to be a mentor! So, before you consider asking someone to be your mentor, you really need to ask yourself: Are you willing to make this commitment? Are you going to show up bright eyed and bushy tailed at each call/lunch? Are you going to put in the work that your mentor incites you to put in? Are you going to be insanely respectful of their time? If you don’t feel confident about all of those answers, then you may not be ready to be in a mentor/mentee relationship. 4. Are you willing to open your mind and apply other people’s perspectives? One of the benefits of a mentor is that they can help you see the world – whether that is yourself, your job, your personal relationships – in a different way. If you have trouble opening your mind and applying other people’s perspectives, then you may need to work on that before you pursue a mentor.
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THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 24, 2025, ISSUE 1574
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