Business Mentors come ready to share their time and insights to support you. They’re motivated only by your success, so their value is enormous. However, when your Mentor’s experience is different to your own, you can access a whole new dimension of benefit for your business. By sharing their unique perspective with you, a Mentor can help make your business journey easier and more rewarding. They can help you find innovative solutions, overcome your biases, and help you avoid hard lessons.
Uncover innovative solutions
In business, diverse experiences can help uncover fresh approaches to problem-solving. Generating solutions often means connecting tasks and ideas in new ways rather than simply repeating what you've done before. A Mentor who can draw on a different set of experiences to your own will be invaluable when you consider how to address challenges. Decades of research show that companies perform better when there is diversity in their leadership. You can gain some of the benefits of diverse thought with the alternative viewpoint of a Mentor.
See beyond your usual perspective
Every organisation and leader has their style of thinking. Usually, these involve mental shortcuts that help us process lots of information to decide on actions. Sometimes, these tighten into unconscious biases, which limit creativity and can undermine good decision-making. A Mentor’s different experience and thinking style can be a critical circuit breaker for overcoming ‘groupthink’ or a fixed mindset.
A Mentor’s contrasting vantage point may mean they’ll see things you cannot. Happily, this illumination often applies to the most positive parts of your business. Mentors regularly shine a light on capabilities and opportunities you take for granted. When you’re inside a business it's sometimes hard to see what you're doing ‘right’. A Mentor is likely to see this more clearly, so they can help you identify and amplify your strengths.
Learn without the hard lessons
It’s said that clever people learn from their mistakes, but truly wise people learn from others’ mistakes.
When a Mentor has had different experiences to your own, they can help you avoid pitfalls and even fast-track you to success. A business journey is rarely a straight line, but when you can consciously avoid common problems, you can save time, money and stress.
It’s often less threatening and feels less judgemental when someone explains their own journey rather than just telling you what you should or shouldn’t do. In fact, this approach is at the heart of mentoring. Unlike a professional advisor, a director, or a staff member, a Mentor is there to support you in building your own capability. If you're willing to listen, you may jump past obstacles and avoid dead ends, giving you a distinct advantage in achieving your goals.
Make your journey easier
People often seek out a Mentor with experience and a career path that matches their own. Yet sometimes, the best fit is a complementary one. If you make the most of a Mentor's different experience, you can add balance and breadth to your thinking. You'll have the opportunity to enjoy new insights, see beyond your usual viewpoint and, best of all, avoid hard lessons.
There's a lot about being in business that's difficult, but when it comes to learning, you can make things much easier with the support of a Business Mentor. If you don’t yet have a Mentor, then it’s a simple fix! Our online registration process helps our coordinators match you with someone whose skills and background complements your own. You can begin now by visiting Business Mentors NZ.
