subject: Mentors Just Don't Fall From the Sky [print this page] Mentors Just Don't Fall From the Sky Mentors Just Don't Fall From the Sky
Shorten your learning curve by finding and approaching a great mentor for your practice
In my travels across the country, I often hear people talking about how they want to get a mentor. But I don't hear a lot of people saying they've asked people to become their mentors. It's as if people think mentors are just gonna fall out of the sky.
But mentors don't fall from the sky. You have to seek them out.
On some level, I think most people recognize the value of a good mentor. You have likely experienced having a mentor sometime in your life. Maybe it was a sports coach or a teacher you had in school.
If you want to build a successful, vibrant practice, you will benefit from a mentor. But how can you find the right mentor? Here are two key suggestions.
1) Identify someone who can be a good mentor
A great mentor serves as both an advisor and role model, and draws from both past successes and failures. This person is willing to encourage and support you, and has the experience, motivation, and time to devote to your personal and professional development.
Look for someone who can be a role model, help you avoid pitfalls and potholes, and is in the same business as you who has achieved some measure of success. This person might be in your community or a nearby city, or you might find a prospective mentor on the other side of the country. The best mentors are the most accomplished, most successful, most willing to share their good fortune, and least likely to feel threatened by serving in this role.
2) Ask that person to become your mentor
This is where many people stumble. Anyone qualified to be a good mentor has plenty of stuff to do already, so this person isn't out there searching for you! You must go to that person and ask him or her to become your mentor!
I've worked with thousands of students preparing to become optometrists, and I can count on my hand the number of people who've ever contacted me with mentoring questions. "Would you be my mentor?" just isn't a question I hear coming out of many people's mouths but you must take the initiative and ask.
It's a great goal to want to build a bigger, better practice and to learn from others further down the path of success. Learning is a lifelong process, and there's always someone doing it better, faster, or more successfully. Identify someone who can become your mentor and then take the initiative and ask.
Want to learn more about how a good mentor can help you build a better, more successful practice? Become a member of the Practice Management Academy or purchase my dynamic resource Pulse Points of the Million Dollar Practice. Lesson 2 offers a wealth of wisdom on observing, following, and modeling a mentor's approach to leading and building a practice.
