Most successful men might or might not have a woman behind them, but they do have a mentor guiding them! Yes, with my personal experience, I have realized that not only is it important to have a mentor but equally important to imbibing his teachings when you have one!
Recently I had a meeting with a CEO. He shared the hurdles/struggles/mistakes he is facing, and he faced from the days he graduated to this day. He shared how he slept in his office for the whole year because he had no money to pay for the rent. How they kind of got busted 3 times in 4 years, because he hired people who were not ready to take up responsibilities. He said there was a moment where their product completely stopped working. Client started complaining and they were not aware how to fix that. He later replaced the whole team.
I also shared a lot of my personal experiences, learning, mistakes with him. I told him how we decided to open an office in Chennai which was completely opposite to the philosophy of the company. Our whole company was designed and structured to work on high value projects (projects where results matter a lot to the end client). However, the Chennai office was opened so that we can also take low cost projects that a lot of our competitors were taking. We burnt a lot of money and effort in that office and in the end, we were not successful. So, it was a disaster. Never do something that does not match with the DNA of the company. Similarly, in between we hired people who were very good for the job role for
which they were hired for but they had a negative attitude towards things. It was also a disaster which gave a huge learning – Never hire for just intellect.
So, the experiences were very mutual. Then, he asked me a question that if you look back what change you would do that would have made you avoid the mistakes that you just shared? My answer was instant – Getting a Mentor and gaining more Exposure. I said the only thing that I regret the most is that I did not have a mentor. I said if there was someone who had already walked down the same path, his experience would have been very very valuable and could have helped us avoid a lot of mistakes.
Personally, I believe that I could have fared better if I had had a mentor, or when I actually had a mentor, followed his insights in shaping my career better. I have taken my share of bad decisions – in the veil of being bold decisions – which cost us a great deal of money, time and anxiety. I am sure, if I had a mentor by my side at the time when I decided to go away from the core philosophy of our firm to associate only with projects that delivered a lot of value to our clients, ending up opening a division that aped competitors in engaging with low-involvement/low-value projects, I would have avoided a debacle.
If there was someone who had already walked down the same path, his experience would have been invaluable and could have helped us avoid a lot of mistakes!
‘Your mentor is trading away hours he could spend to build his own career to shape yours. He is eager to invest in your career, and you must make use of this selfless opportunity until it lasts!’
To Dos:
- Find a mentor who has experience in your field to guide you in the right direction.
- Follow the advice of your mentor to succeed.
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