Why Having A Mentor Increases Your Earning Power

There is no getting around it; sometimes you learn lessons in hindsight.  One of the lessons I learnt rather late is the Importance of mentor-ship.   People who have mentors in business and career are twice as likely to be more successful than those without.  The reasons why mentor-ship is important, are obvious to me now but were not immediately obvious to me while I worked various jobs at different companies, back then all I was interested in was going to work, doing what I needed to do and leave when work was done, then I started noticing that those who had a friendly relationship with generally older more senior members of the organizations I worked, usually got better assignments sometimes even promotions.  Those of my colleagues that had mentors seemed to get noticed more and kept getting in positions that where more successful and ultimately made more money.  The mentors in the entrepreneurial world or the career world are extremely valuable because of some of the reasons below.

Value

Mentors provide great advice and in entrepreneurship, great advice is extremely valuable.  A mentor is a great person to bounce ideas off of especially if they have been in a similar business as yours.  The benefit of the mentors experience is more valuable than money in the bank, they can see minefields before you are aware they exist; they can quickly let you know if an Idea can work or can’t work and why, they can suggest better practices that they have tried etc.  Having a mentor is like having an extra set of eyes and an extra brain that you can tap into whenever you need to.

Network

Mentors typically have a better network than yours; successful people tend to have successful friends.  If you do your job well and have a great relationship with your mentor, they gladly introduce you to their friends who can help your career on several levels as valuable contacts in different organizations that you could probably work with or you can do business with in the future.

Discomfort

A good mentor will push you beyond your comfort zone; they will encourage you to take risks with your career and business which forces you to think outside of the box and therefore acquire new skills and grow in confidence.  The more skills and experiences you have, the more tools you have to leverage to earn more.

Good advice is hard to find, at the end of the day a good mentor would only be valuable if you are open to listening to advice and acting upon it. I found some great mentors that truly pushed me and encouraged me to do things differently.  How have mentors helped you in your life?  Please share and comment below.