One of the most important thing in developing our career is finding good mentors. So how does one find good mentors and how do you define a good mentor?
There is an expression "When the student is ready, the teacher will come." The same thing applies to mentoring. When you are ready to be mentored in some area, send out the vibes and the mentor will appear. You ready need to have your antenna up so you can notice the mentor appear. I often use the example if you are looking out the window you may see lots of things; if however you are looking for a specific bird, you will likely see birds and very likely the bird you are looking for. You need to "keep you ends up for the tie that binds" to quote an old Johnny Cash song.
Now another key idea with mentoring is that they are not permanent relationships. We will often grow to point where our existing mentor is not what we need at the moment. We do not sever the relationship but look for someone new to help you in a new stage of your career. I have found that mentoring relationships are not permanent. You will keep in contact but your issues have changed.
As a young professional, I needed to know how to progress in my chosen professional. I was an entry level fellow and I turned to people whom I respected and were more senior than I who have dealt with my issues. As I advanced in my career, I moved on to look for people who were successful in my specialty. These were people who I respected in this area. Every few years, I found that I needed new mentors to help me deal with my current issues. I am found people very generous with their time if you are authentic is your seeking of help and not being manipulative. What I mean in being authentic, is that the relationship is sincere as opposed to an opportunistic relationship. For example, trying to impress some senior person to advance your career. Not an authentic relationship.
So from a practical point of view, to attract the right mentor for you right now, take a piece of paper and write down quickly all the things you would like to have in a mentor for you right now. Put some feeling into the exercise and keep the list handy to review. You will be truly amazed how quickly the mentor or mentors will appear. (It is the Law of Attraction, at work,)
Thank you, Abundance for your comment and demonstration of the Law of Attraction. How good is that?
Let us all go out and find our ideal mentor!
I could not agree more the need to have a mentor if you want to succeed faster in life. And as you rightly pointed out, you need to be aware of this need and visualize the kind of mentor you need.
I did exactly that a year ago and within a short span of time, I got 2 mentors! Both complemented each other to become the one mentor that I visualized!
Abundance Always!