What makes a good protégé?

Hello! And welcome to prosperity Cometh…

In the previous post (Understanding The Purpose And Value Of A Mentor) we established the importance of having someone to guide you in your business… a mentor… and today we will discuss about what you need to be or do in order to get maximum benefits from your relationship with your mentor.

Are you ready?

Ok! Let’s get cracking then…

We’ll start with wisdom and advice from Dr Mike Murdock…

“The Instruction You Follow Determines The Future You Create.” Dr Mike Murdock

In other words, the success of a mentorship relationship hinges on the commitment of the two parties involved.

Also your level of commitment and willingness to change play a pivotal role.

Here is something to consider:

How much do you want to get out of this relationship and are you willing to take total responsibility for your development?

Asking yourself this question on several occasions could help you stay focused.

You must also be teachable …

Because …

Your progress will be determined by your ability to receive and act upon instruction.

You should be prepared to accept new challenges and be comfortable with receiving positive feedback.

The frequency of the meetings would be useless if you never put into action what you’ve learned from the previous meeting.

If that’s not enough to get you moving, here is biblical advice for you:

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. (James 1:22)

Don’t just be a hearer but be a doer as well. Its only when you follow the instructions and advice given to you that you can leverage yourself to rapid results. And please, never allow what you already know be a hindrance to your progress; many people fail because they think they already know what the other person has to offer.

For example when I started my keyboard lessons I had a great problem fitting with my mentor’s program. I thought I knew what he was teaching me and I just wanted to get on with playing songs.

It was not long when I saw the beauty of knowing the keyboard, the major and minor scales, inversions, chord progressions and time signature.

Also know that for the mentoring relationship to work, you must put your maximum effort in what you do at all times and be honest with yourself.

If you don’t do what you know you’re supposed to do you won’t be cheating your mentor but you will be deceiving yourself.

You must also exhibit a healthy positive attitude towards learning … be teachable.

Do you pay attention and listen when your mentor speaks?

Listen actively all the times and ask questions when you don’t understand something.

It’s your responsibility to make sure that there is a consistency in communication between you and your mentor. This is very important for your development and just like in any other form of relationship communication must always be valued.

There are many things that can be said about a good protégé or mentee and the best advice for you is to be prepared to face new challenges and embrace change with optimism.

Above all have a realistic expectation and accept total responsibility for your success or failures.

How to get most out of the mentorship relationship

Once the practicalities of finding a mentor has been dealt with, it’s very important to establish the guidelines for the relationship.

The first step is to make sure that the purpose and objectives of the relationship are well understood by both parties.

When the objectives have been set, you can then decide on the layout or format of your program.

Cover as much as possible including things such as discussion boundaries, confidentiality clause and accountability. You can also set up the length and frequency of the meetings.

Another important decision to be made at the start is about the venue for the mentorship sessions. Your venue should be suitable for the kind of the program you have.

If your sessions need you to pay much attention and concentration make sure to get a quiet area with less distraction. The format of your meetings will have a great contribution on what sort of venue to use.

For example if you are learning to use new business software probably the best place to use would be an office at work.

It’s also crucial to establish how and when you’re going to do your evaluation process. Progress evaluation is very important and can help you focus on the areas that need more attention.

For example when I started my keyboard lessons, I overlooked the importance of time signatures only to get stuck at the end. I realized that it wouldn’t be of any use to know all the right chord progressions and scales if you can’t play the notes at the right time. Progress evaluation could have saved me a lot of time. Evaluation could also prove necessary when it comes to terminating the relationship.

Are the objectives met or is there any progress?

As important as it is, sometimes there comes a point where the relationship has to be terminated especially if things are not changing for the better. It is therefore wise to always have conditions and arrangement for terminating the relationship in place.

As a conclusion, I want you to remind you that a mentorship relationship is a powerful form of leverage and should therefore be nursed properly. And Just like in any other relationship there will be disagreements there and there. But through communication, commitment and determination you could easily solve your differences and enjoy the overall benefits of a mentorship relationship.

To Your Success…

Why settle for less…

T B Mosweu

P.S. Remember to take things with ease and simplicity and enjoy your relationship… our next post is… a mystery… whatever you do, make sure you don’t miss this one… it will help you skyrocket your profits…