Mentorship!

Mentorship, a thought that I have been wanting, struggling, grappling with quite some time now. Years already.

I follow quite a few Business(Start-ups) heads on twitter. Twitter is an amazing tool to get direct access to all these amazing people. Because not everybody has the bandwidth or inclination to write a book, these amazing people, often share snippets of Knowledge in form of Tweet Threads. But this is invaluable Knowledge. For this I am greatly thankful to all these amazing people and twitter.com

A lot of such business leaders today increasingly talk about the importance of mentorship in the growth of their Business & Life. This makes me dream about the thought, a wish, "What if I just had a Mentor". I am not somebody who regrets about the past. I am in a good place today, I only have immense gratitude for everybody who has touched my life in anyway. Even if they meant harm to me, thank you! You have made me strong. I do wish that atleast now I have a mentor.

Dad & Mom - Hero & Mentor:

For most of us this is how things start. Our Dads & Moms are both our Heros & Mentors, alteast in the early stages of our lives. Lets say till we are in school, after which many get lost, confused & overwhelmed. Also their mentor-ship some how is limited to studies & our academic growth, few parents break into arena of mentoring their children for arts & sports, even fewer into the National/Global stage. For most success = Doctor/Engineer/IAS, this simple thought comes from their world view from their younger life. This is what they aspired for. World has moved on too fast, too far.

Please dont get me wrong, I am not trying to find fault in anybody's parents. I am greatly thankful to the Cosmos, God, Chance, to give me such great parents, who have only encouraged me and lifted me beyond the scope of 90% of populace. The problem is that though my parents wish, hope & pray for the best for me, often paying in toil, sweat, pain mostly, maybe even blood, sacrificing their dreams & needs for my luxuries, they have too much on their plate. They are overwhelmed with the information, advise & technology in the global arena, which is as new to them as is to me. So though they are good Sounding boards or advisors, they fail to don the cap of a mentor.

Elder Siblings:

Many people are fortunate to have a Sibling few years elder to them. These people often make great mentors for their younger kiddos. The Parents happily pass on the baton. Though this is something great but what-if You are the Eldest kid in the family? What if your elder brother/sister just isn't so ambitious or somebody with not so much of a drive as yourself? What if the both of you are on completely different fields of work. How does a sports person, an Athlete mentor a business man? What if you both have completely different world views, where every discussion is an argument?

Teachers:

A lot of people have their teachers as their Mentors. This is absolutely great, if you have it. Many people go to great lengths to maintain relationships with their past teachers. By doing this, they have this readily accessible pool of Knowledge & Network that they tap into at will. In many cases teachers mentor the students even when the students are in school/college & the student just lifts-off after the academic pursuit. I salute all these great teachers, who pour their soul into their students.

There is an old-adage "When the student is ready, The teacher appears." I was dumb & naive when young. I didn't see the big picture. I didn't have imagination, vision, nothing. A lot of teachers were willing to mentor me, they saw potential in me, they told me about it but alas I wasn't listening. I don't know how great a mentor would they have been, but I should have been listening at the very least. Those bridges no longer exist, there is no connection. The loss is all mine. I am sorry & thankful to every teacher who believed in me, you were successful in imparting the wisdom where I can look into my flaws, albeit too little , too late. But I can course correct, its not really that late after all.

This post can go on impossibly long this way. The idea is to understand how do I get a mentor now. A Mentor who is knowledgeable, not just a domain expertise, but somebody who also understands my psychology so that he can effectively communicate to me his thoughts. Somebody who is great at communication. Most of all, somebody who believes in me.

Can only a successful person, who has made it, can be a mentor? or somebody who failed can also be a mentor? 

Can somebody who is mostly content but a good observer, basically a theorist be a good mentor? or only somebody who has done things practically be a good mentor?

Does good mentor-ship need the mentors to have a financial incentive in my success? or should there be no economic interest for the mentor, for him to stay completely neutral & real?

Do you need different mentors for different areas, like one for finance, one for marketing, etc...? or should one mentor be followed for everything?

Should we be open to changing the mentor with time? or should we stick to one?

I am sure, life presented me with a lot of mentors but because of my stupidity I failed to recognise them. How do I make sure I dont be stupid again?

One of the things that I have understood that I need to do is communicate with the world more. I cannot have all these questions in my head & expect the world to magically answer them. So hence forth I would blog more, tweet more, interact more with the world. This will help me in getting, partners, friends, colleagues & hopefully mentor/s whose thoughts align with mine & if my thoughts are wrong, to correct me. When people know what I think, where I stand, they would be in a better position to decide & collaborate.

So basically I am giving Serendipity(Chance) a better chance :)