May, 29, 1953-
Today a Edmund Hillary shy unassuming beekeeper from New Zealand stands at the top of the world. As he looks out into the distance from the 29,028 ft summit, it begins to set in. They have done it, they are the first to climb to the peak of Mount Everest. Hillary looks over to the man who he most certainly could not have done it without, his guide a Nepali-Indian Sherpa by the name of Tenzing Norgay and take one of the most famous pictures of the 20th century.
Life changing journeys are almost never completed alone. If we have to make all the mistakes there are to make, all the pitfalls, learn all the lessons ourselves we may not live long enough to finally get to the top of our Everest. This is why having a guide, a mentor is so vitally important.
Now the why in the mentor equation is pretty simple and most of us understand on some level the reasons why having one is so important, so for the rest of this article I will be touching on the "who" and focusing on the "how".
"Who?"
Most people don't put enough thought into their decisions for mentorship. Any old mentor will not do, not if you actually want to get to where your going. Anyone can tell you what you want to here, anyone can take guesses, neither of these things help you at all. A simple test to determine if someone is a good mentor for you... have they already achieved what you wish to? Have they done it in a way you want to do it? You wouldn't take financial advise from a homeless man would you? Sadly however many people do the equivalent to this for some of their lives most important goals.
"How?"
So you have decided on a short list of potential mentors, but how on earth are you going to get in touch with them? Well I have a few simple tips that I have used in the past to begin relationships with MLB coaches, state Senators, best selling Authors and millionaire Entrepreneurs.
1) When you make the call to their office and their secretary (gatekeeper) answers, ask for them simply and directly. Some variations after she asks how may I help you are "Yes, First and Last name please please" then when she asks who is calling simple give your first and last name... you would be amazed at how often this works if you simple speak with a tone as though they are expecting you. If you really want to try a higher risk higher conversion rate style, use first names only.
2) When the gatekeeper asks what this is regarding... Now is the time to throw yourself to the gatekeepers mercy... they know that you don't know Mr.Mentor but you still may get them on the phone. Explain that you are a long time fan and after reading/viewing/hearing a recent piece on Mr.Mentor you finally mustered up the courage to call... you see you have a question for Mr.Mentor and you promise it won't take more then 2 minutes of his time. You realize how busy he must be, but if you could just ask him this one question you would be eternally grateful and you promise it won't take more then 2 minutes of his time. Now this works a fair percentage of the time and you'll often here "Let me see if he's in" followed by "One moment" as you get connected to your new mentor.
3) The most important part of this process happen here, when you are first speaking with your new mentor... you basically want to sum back up what you said to the secretary... and ask for permission to ask your one question. Once the permission is granted (often in a very reserved fashion) ask your question... get straight to the point. You said you would not waste this persons time so do not and make sure before you call that you have a genuinely good question, that is related to something about them you recently read/watched/heard etc.
4) Building your ladder... Now we are going to build the ladder. After they have dispensed their answer, thank them genuinely and ask for their email address so that you might ask the VERY rare question in the future. I have found that an email address is one of the least invasive things to ask for and so long as you were respectful and understanding that they are doing you a favor, you do not deserve their advice, you are not entitled and you keep you word that it would be short (about 2 minutes) then you will very often get that email address. Build from there.
5) Send them a very short 1-2 sentence email thanking them for their time and advice. Do this the next day. About 2 weeks later email them asking them another very short question, similar to the one you called them for... when they email back, thank them and ask 1 or 2 small questions for clarification on their answer. You have opened the lines of communication now... do not abuse them, remember to be respectful of their time and to understand that their helping you is a favor... If you do this you should be able to build a solid friendship with you mentor in the months to come.
Subscribe