Most dictionaries describe a mentor as a 'wise and trusted counselor'. Keep this def'inition in mind as you read on.

WHY A MENTOR?
No matter what you want to do with your life, sing, invest, act, sell, repair, invent, compose, manufacture or whatever, there is someone out there that has already achieved success in your chosen field. These individuals have weathered the bumps and pits of their chosen profession. They have failed the requisite number of times, they have suffered absolute defeat and have risen again and again, and frankly, they have lived by my motto: "If Nothing Changes--Nothing Changes!"

Why would you want to travel their path? Why would you want to fail and regenerate over and over again? Why not learn what not to do from their mistakes and what to do from their successes?

If it took the successful person (potential mentor) 20 or 30 years to learn the secret of success in their business, why not take advantage of their valuable history, talent, and knowledge to cut that process to 2 to 5 years for you?

YOUR TASK
Your task is to find the successful person in your desired field, make their acquaintance, tell them you want to be like them, ask them what you should do, and then do exactly what they tell you to do.

You will need to trust your mentor explicitly. The mentor may or may not make more money as a result of your activities.., that's unimportant. What is important is you must truly believe he or she can help you, and you must have absolute faith that the mentor is WILLING to do so.

Next in importance is you must be willing to do EXACTLY what the mentor tells you to do, even if it goes against every fiber of your body. I'm not talking about moral decisions; I'm talking about decisions on what to do and when that will affect your career.

Is this easy? Of course not! "Well, what if my mentor tells me to do something that I can't do?" If you can't do it, you have no business in the business. Find a way to make it happen!

YOUR RELATIONSHIP
First of all, you must initiate the contact. You will have to convince the potential mentor of your sincerity and willingness to do what they tell you. Your goal is to build a personal friendship with your mentor such that you can tell him or her ANYTHING about yourself. You cannot play games, be secretive, have a hidden agenda, or be a phony-baloney.

Remember the definition of a mentor? "A wise and trusted counselor." The success of the mentor tells you they are wise, now you have to trust the person implicitly! Anything less, and you're just kidding yourself.

WHY COMPANY SPONSORED MENTORING FAILS
A true mentor has your interest at heart. Does your company? Of course not! Their goal is to obtain more money for the company by making you more productive! Your interests are secondary.

Can you mentor with peers or your boss? Of course not! Their interest is in maintaining or improving their own position in the firm, and helping you succeed looks a lot like training their replacement! Company sponsoring mentoring should be called what it really is: 'On-The-Job-Training.' It certainly isn't mentoring.