I personally run a mentorship program under Boss Chiq SA because as a mentee I have seen the value of having a mentor especially from an early stage in my entrepreneurship journey.
The successful businesswoman I am today is not only as a result of prayer, hard work, planning, and lessons learned from failure but also because of mentorship. Having a mentor opened up my vision and helped me gain practical experience from someone who had gone before me and succeeded.
Often, people think that a mentor has to be someone you meet with face-to-face but that’s not always the case. I have been mentored by people who didn’t even know that I exist. I journeyed on a mentorship program with entrepreneurs and brands by simply reading their books, watching their interviews and following their journey. Sometimes, you may be fortunate enough to have a personal mentor who can mentor you over monthly meetings, video chat sessions or via email. The most important thing to do when you have the privilege of your mentors’ time, is to use it wisely. Ask all the necessary questions, research, follow up and voice your opinion. The fact that you have a mentor doesn’t mean that you have to follow their every move. Everyone has their own journey and you need to allow yourself to make your own mistakes and learn from them. What a mentor is there to do is to help you make sense of your plans and offer to advice from an experienced point of view. A mentor is not there to do your work, you need to pitch in 90%. The more effort and progress your mentor sees you asking, the more willing and available they’ll be for you
Below are FIVE reasons why you should have a mentor:
- To set & achieve goals – a good mentor will help you set and achieve your goals in a realistic manner. It’s not their job to follow up on your goals, but it’s always good knowing that you have someone who will keep track of your progress with you and help you stay focused on the goals at hand.
- To inspire and motivate – if you have a good mentor, they will inspire and motivate you by sharing their personal story. This will help you gain more confidence in them as a mentor and in yourself knowing that what you are hoping to achieve is attainable.
- To never get comfortable – it’s very easy to get comfortable and become complacent especially when you reach a certain level of success. A good mentor understands evolution and is there to push you even further because they know that you can do so much more.
- Access to an unbiased opinion – having a good mentor is much like having a voice of reason. As opposed to a family member or loved one, your mentor will be able to remove their emotions from a situation in order to help you by giving you the best advice.
- Network – a good mentor will help you or encourage you to network in the right places in order for you to learn how to create and maintain business opportunities and nurture professional relationships. The smartest and most successful mentors will tell you that your network is your net worth!
Allegro Dinkwanyane is a South African born entrepreneur and media personality. In October 2011, Allegro launched her entertainment website Orgella Entertainment, followed by her PR & marketing agency, Orgella Communications. She is one of the youngest owners of a 100% black owned media company in South Africa.