THE BUSINESS OF DAIRY
Choosing
a Mentor BY ART WASKEY
I
have had the honor of mentoring several highly talented executives, all of whom share certain characteristics. They tend to be open to teaching, have a passion for learning and ask a lot of good questions. Their other attributes include humility and a willingness to make sacrifices in order to succeed. Those characteristics enable a good coach to do his job. Likewise, the mentee must also look for characteristics in an advisor that fits his or her personality and outlook. When choosing your mentor, be sure to seek someone that suits your needs.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Here are some qualities I suggest you look for in a mentor. Chemistry The first consideration when looking for a mentor is personality fit. Do you have shared interests with this person? Is he or she suited to your approach to learning? Are your values and passions in alignment? Do you look forward to being in the presence of this person? What attributes does he or she have that will help you meet your goals? A person with a very dominant attitude recently sought my help as
a mentor. I almost had to get hostile, something I do not like to do, in order for my point heard. I realized a mentor relationship with this individual would be too emotionally draining for me. I kindly suggested that he find someone who was more of a polemist and could engage with him in a manner more suited to his personality. You want a mentor who has the kind of chemistry that encourages and challenges you to make changes in areas that often are difficult to navigate. Competency Choose mentors who are the most competent people you can find, and invite them to pour their knowledge into you. Don’t worry about finding everything you need in one person. Successful people tend to have multiple mentors who offer different competencies. Currently, I have mentors for four areas of my life — professional, educational, spiritual and physical. For example, my professional guide is a senior statesman in our common industry. We meet weekly to discuss the strategic changes the business, where we have both enjoyed long careers. My spiritual mentor is a doctor of divinity. He guided me through a Master of Ministry degree in my 60s. An excellent counselor
and teacher, this advisor stimulates my passion for religious study, which has propelled growth in my spiritual life. Humility Choose a coach who is humble and willing to share his or her failures. Vulnerabilities provide valuable lessons and illustrate how new paths can be forged. The right mentor will want you to learn from his or her failures. A good mentor can help you avoid mistakes you may not be aware you are making. For example, I recently learned that a former colleague was hurt by prejudice I did not know I harbored. I was put in touch with this individual through my outreach efforts on LinkedIn. He is a successful executive today but expressed surprise that I would contact him. He related that I never offered him an opportunity to succeed when we worked together 20 years ago and that I had acted with prejudice towards him as a minority. I had no idea that I had offended this gentleman. I apologized and asked him to forgive me. A humble advisor is consistently learning from his failures and will care enough to share his life stories. Discernment Look for specific characteristics when choosing a mentor. In the book NED Magazine | Third Quarter 2022 • 33
