How to Find a Mentor

It seems that the idea of finding a mentor has become "hip," but it has been a key to success for professionals since the beginning of time. Think of someone you admire as a leader in any industry, do an online search, "who is ______'s" mentor, and you will find that he or she has one. Successful frontrunners in any industry have a mentor they credit for much of their success in that area of their lives.

What better way to examine how to find a mentor than to look at how a few successful people found theirs.

1. Warren Buffet's mentor was Benjamin Graham. Inspired by Graham's book The Intelligent Investor, Buffet went to Columbia Business School because he knew Graham was a professor there, and later worked for him.

• "Benjamin Graham had been my idol ever since I read his book The Intelligent Investor. I had wanted to go to Columbia Business School because he was a professor there, and after I got out of Columbia, returned to Omaha, and started selling securities, I didn’t forget about him. Between 1951 and 1954, I made a pest of myself, sending him frequent securities ideas. Then I got a letter back: “Next time you’re in New York, come and see me.” So there I went, and he offered me a job at Graham-Newman Corp., which he ran with Jerry Newman. " ~ from "Warren Buffett's $50 Million Decision," by Warren Buffet for Forbes Magazine, Forbes.com. Mar 6 2012.

2. Bill Gates's mentor was Edward Roberts. After reading about Roberts' and engineer Bill Yates's launch of the kit computer, the Altair 8800, Popular Electronics published an article which featured the computer on the cover of the December, 1974, issue of the magazine. Paul Allen and Bill Gates read the article, and contacted Roberts's company MITS to tell pitch software. Allen eventually worked for MITS, and Gates credits Roberts with creating the first personal computer.

• "The Altair was the first personal computer by most definitions of the term. It was before the Apple 1 or any other machine people know. A company in Canada sold a few machines and MCM in France sold a few machines but they were a bit after MITS and not aimed at low price high volume. MITS sold over 10,000 of the Altairs and had to hire people to deal with the volume. Ed deserves to be called the father of the personal computer." ~ from "Bill Gates Remembers Personal Computer Pioneer" by Bill Gates for the Wall Street Journal, Apr 20, 2010.

Specifically, Real Estate Billionaires*

3. Donald Bren's mentor is Ray Watson, who ran Irvine Company before Bren, and served as Vice Chairmen with Bren at the helm. "The United States' richest real estate developer, Donald Bren's net worth climbed $1 billion since last year thanks to rising values for homes and apartments. His Irvine Co. is focused largely in California, with a portfolio that includes nearly 500 office properties, 116 apartment communities with 45,000 units, more than 40 shopping centers, three hotels, three golf clubs and five marinas." * Forbes.com "The World's Billionaires"

• "Among his mentors is Ray Watson. The Irvine Co.'s former president ... preceded Bren's involvement in the company by 17 years. Watson is credited with thinking beyond the San Fernando Valley-ization of the [Irvine] ranch. Rather than sell things piecemeal, and end up with a landscape of helter skelter, why not consider a grand plan? A master plan?" ~ "The Irvine Co.'s chairman marks a 20-year anniversary of building, and preserving, the Irvine Ranch." By Craig Reem, OC Metro.
  Donald-Bren.com. Mar 6, 2003.

4. Donald Trump often cites his father as his mentor. He also credits George Ross with that title.

• "George Ross met Trump when he was a young ambitious investor and helped him land his very first real estate deal that netted him $85 million. He is the Executive Vice President and Senior Counsel for the Trump Organization." ~ "The Savvy Communicator: The Man Behind Donald Trump." by Kimberly D. Hardy for Examiner.com. Oct. 24, 2012.

(*Source: Forbes.com "The World's Billionaires")

It may go without saying, but is extremely important to keep in mind that a business mentor is not usually a life mentor. Warren Buffett has a reputation as being a "down to earth" family man, but his mentor had several marriages and affairs. Donald Trump is a billionaire real estate mogul who's business savvy is worth heeding, but his lifestyle and moral compass does not align with what many people would want to follow.

TIPS TO FIND YOUR MENTOR

1. Know what business or industry you want to master.

2. Look around you, read the local newspaper, and research online to make a "top ten" list of masters in your field.

3. Scratch anyone off your list who does not absolutely blow your socks off! If you are not nervous -- or even terrified -- to contact someone on your list, he or she should not be on there. Your mentor should be an absolute knock out in your industry.

4. Send a nice note cards in the mail to your potential mentors and tell them what you think about them. Be specific.

5. A week after you send note cards, send e-mails to your potential mentors asking a few questions. Keep the questions brief, clear, and relevant. Be creative and surprising.

6. Always reply to any response you receive from your potential mentors. This process is to get to know who you enjoy working with.

7. Ask any potential mentors if they would be willing to visit with you in person (take him/her out to lunch), or on the phone to "pick their brain."

8. Take any opportunity to WORK FOR a mentor you respect and want to emulate, even offer to volunteer, if it would be valuable to you.

WHO IS YOUR MENTOR?

How did YOU find your mentor? Is it a paid mentorship, or a friend or relative mentorship?