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This past week, I had the opportunity
to sit in a brainstorming session about entrepreneurial mentoring.
During the discussion, we kept coming back to the notion that the
would-be mentee needs to have a sound business idea before being
accepted as one to be mentored. A friend at the meeting made a statement
that I thought was truly insightful. He said, "We need to distinguish
between mentoring the person and mentoring the idea."
I agreed that the two ideas were very
different, and I began to think of the best professional mentors
that I have had in my life. These are they who cared about my professional
development first and foremost and cared less -- much less -- about
an idea that may or may not be successful. As such, I can think
of at least three reasons to mentor the person -- and not the idea
-- who has come to enlist you as a mentor.
First, to focus on the idea as a mentor
is, in my opinion, shortsighted. Ideas are often fleeting, but a
relationship with a passionate entrepreneur will endure. If a mentor
to Rowland Hussey Macy had been more interested in mentoring Rowland's
idea rather than Rowland himself, then the relationship would have
been short-lived. Rowland's first entrepreneurial venture failed,
as did his second and third. Rowland persisted, however, and today
the Macy's department store is an American icon.
A mentor is one who acts as a counselor,
adviser and teacher. As such, ideas may come and go, but a true
mentor-student relationship will be long-lasting.
Second, if you are mentoring the idea,
you likely are not giving the budding entrepreneur the opportunity
to come to his or her own conclusion. Likely, coming to this conclusion
will involve making mistakes. Many suggest that more is learned
through small failures than through major successes. In some cases,
failure is even the fertilizer for great businesses.
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