Success By Example
Most new and emerging businesses face problems at one time or another, and can benefit from the help of a more experienced person. Traditionally the mentor has offered support for the business operator. However, Business and Lifestyle coaches have taken over the role of mentoring and differ in one important aspect. They get paid for their services.
Generally it has been considered that mentors give their time freely, but that doesn’t have to be the case. If a mentor gives their time to assist and support you then there is no reason why you should not pay them.
A problem with a business coach or a single mentor is that the business operator will be restricted by the experience and expertise of the mentor or coach. It is more logical to have a mentor who has expertise in certain areas e.g. marketing; finance; production; technology etc.
A Mentor can give tips, advice and support, although you make the decisions as they do not own or run your business! You must not become too dependent on them or expect them to solve all your problems. Instead, regard them as teachers, who have knowledge based on their own experiences in business.
Mentors should be a combination of a parent, teacher, counsellor and friend. As well as giving advice and listening to you, your Mentor should also inspire you, be trustworthy, open doors of opportunity, build your self-esteem and provide constructive criticism. But perhaps their most important role is to ‘push’ you past the point of ordinary development.
Remember, mentors are busy people running their own businesses. They are kind enough to give some of their valuable time to assist you. Do not ask too many questions too often. Your relationship with your mentor is a business relationship. It may develop into a friendship, but you shouldn’t expect too much or become a nuisance.
As with all business relationships, you need to consider what you are prepared to give, as well as what you want to receive.
Apart from having personal attributes that the Mentor relates to, you should also be prepared to show your appreciation. Such things as hand written notes/cards thanking them for some particular assistance they were able to give, certainly makes them feel valuable.
You can promote them and their business to your contacts as ‘word of mouth’ promotion is a very valuable tool. Keep your eyes/ears open for any information that comes your way (newspaper clippings, flyers, seminars, etc) that might be of interest to your Mentor that you can pass on. Just taking them out for lunch or coffee (when it is not a planned Mentor meeting) to say ‘thanks’, makes your Mentor feel appreciated.
Mentoring is greatly underestimated as a method to successfully train ‘by example’. When a mentoring programme becomes a formal structure, with written agreements in place and it is monitored, to enable results to be measured and quantified, the outcome can be quite unbelievable.
Signature: Barbara Gabogrecan is an expert on HBB; she is an award winning artist and author and is in great demand as a mentor, speaker and presenter of workshops www.mbnsolutions.com.au
Success By Example - To learn more about this author, visit Barbara Gabogrecan's Website.
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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