Working with a Mentor

To be successful while working from home, it is helpful to work with a mentor (or two). Mentors can guide you, teach you, and challenge you. A mentor is not a boss - they don't tell you what to do. Instead, they help you determine what you need to do and how to get it done. And they gently confront you when you haven't followed through on your goals.

So where do you find a mentor to work with? Often it's someone within your business already - someone who has more experience or knowledge about your particular industry. Or it might be someone you've known in the past - a professor or colleague. Jeffrey Gitomer, in his Little Red Book of Sales Answers, suggests that you make a list of potential mentors, and find a way to build a relationship with them. Obviously, when choosing a mentor, you want to choose someone who is more successful than you are! That way, you can learn from their success. Jeffrey also suggests that you don't ask someone to be your mentor - they just become a mentor over time.

This is what has happened with me: One of my mentors is someone I have known since high school. She was my cheerleading coach, and I learned to respect her then. She pushed us to work hard - not just in cheering, but in academics, in relationships, in life in general. We lost touch when I went to college, but once I was back home & married, I ended up at her home for a scrapbooking party. Long story short, I began to build a business as part of her team with that company. She taught me so much along the way, but never pushed me more than I wanted to be pushed. Now, we work together in a different business, and I continue to learn from her to this day. I never asked her to become my mentor - it just sort of happened, and I am so thankful for her and all that I have learned. Now I've also found other mentors along the way, and have been inspired and challenged by them as well.

So, have you found a mentor? Have you been looking? For more tips on working with a mentor, visit www.gitomer.com, register, and then enter "Mentor Value" in the RedBit box.