This month our featured topic is Mentorship. In this featured topic, you will find books, articles, websites, videos, and more, to help you explore this incredibly valuable aspect of your professional life.
Big Ideas Summary
Mentoring is much more than another “buzz” word. It is an effective way to reduce the learning curve while gaining valuable experiences for professional and personal development. Whether you are an employee, an entrepreneur, a volunteer, a student or a master, the knowledge and skills acquired are critical for long-term success. For mentoring to be effective you must begin with the end in mind. Know what your expectations are and what you want to gain from the exchange of ideas, perspectives, experiences and learned lessons.
Books
John C. Maxwell author of over 20 books including Winning With People has the definitive guide for mentors and mentees – Mentoring 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know. Mentorship is a two-way street and as much as you might need mentorship, you likely also have a great deal to contribute as a mentor to someone else. Maxwell’s book explains how to choose the right person to mentor, how to create the right environment for leaders to thrive and grow, and how to get started.
Power Mentoring: How Successful Mentors and Proteges Get the Most Out of Their Relationships is a nuts-and-bolts guide for anyone who wants to create a connection with a protégé or mentor, or to improve a current mentoring relationship. Filled with illustrative examples and candid insights from fifty of America's most successful mentors and protégés, Power Mentoring unlocks the secrets of great mentoring relationships and shows how anyone (including those who are well established in their careers, or those who are just starting out) can become a successful mentor or protégé.
Articles
How to Start a Mentoring Program: Whether in a company or a community, you can have a positive impact by starting a mentoring program. By gathering lessons from mentorship programs at Morgan Stanley and McGraw-Hill Education, this article guides you on how to establish mentorship within a company, and these lessons can be gleaned to bring mentorship to your community or to aid in your own search.
7 Habits of Mentor Ready Entrepreneurs: Written by the Founder of MentorNetwork, Jeremy O’Krafka, this short how-to article outlines the 7 key habits that you should practice when meeting with prospective mentors.
Early Stage Enterprises Need More Than Money: In this Stanford Social Innovation Review article, author Perzen Patel discusses the widely recognized benefit of providing start-ups with structured support as they encounter challenges and opportunities in the growing field of social innovation.
How to Land an Amazing Mentor: 5 Tips: In this Inc. article, Karmaloop CEO Greg Selkoe reflects on how he found two mentors who taught him most of what he knows now about running a $130 million company.
How a Mentor Can Accelerate your Career: This Mashable article outlines the benefits of having a mentor and provides tips on how to find a mentor.
Mentors: A Young Entrepreneur’s Secret Weapon: This Entrepreneur article provides tips on how to find the best mentor for you.
Websites
30 Second Mentor: Industry leaders share expertise in business and life to help nurture the entrepreneurial scene.
Young Entrepreneur, Ask the Expert: Business consultants and entrepreneurs offers their advice to your burning questions. Check the site for past advice articles and upcoming “Ask the Expert” features.
Twitter Accounts to Follow
Videos
How to Land the Mentor You Want: Having a tough time landing a mentor? Scott Gerber provides great strategies on how to pitch to “one-callers” or mentors in this INC Magazine video. The video also features Jeremy Johnson, co-founder of 2tor.com who talks about the compelling case he made to land his first mentor.