Moderating the Mentor

Ferrari is a dream car for a lot of people. The moment a person has the affordability, one goes on to buy a Ferrari. Having the best for yourself is always good, and one should also.

It’s the same thought process which prompted Paul to buy a Ferrari. Paul is owning a mid-sized business, and he is in his early 40’s. Paul loved his Ferrari as much as his business. The Ferrari gave Paul the much-needed esteem. Before Paul bought Ferrari, Paul had been driving another economic range car. Even today Paul drives that car many times. Paul, as a human, is a very good person, but feeling insecure is his general pattern. Paul’s insecurity is reflected in his driving too. Paul drives his Ferrari and the other car in the same manner. Stepping up the speed to even 80 miles per hour is a distant possibility for him.

Because of this driving habit, Paul’s friends started questioning his decision to buy a Ferrari. They started pointing out the fact that a Ferrari’s charm is when you drive it at a particular speed. The very charm of driving a Ferrari comes from the fact that you can customize to add the best features, the automobile industry offers, in a single car, and then get it produced. In other words, you can have all the best your taste, knowledge and money can afford.

Likewise, it is a dream of every dynamic entrepreneur to have a dream Mentor. A Mentor is a person, who becomes the friend, philosopher and guide for every step the entrepreneur takes.

As I mentioned, every entrepreneur wants to seek a mentor who is superlative. Which is in some way good –  a mentor has to be very experienced in understanding the need of the entrepreneur, somewhat like a Ferrari – best among other mentors.

Like Paul is under-utilizing his Ferrari because of his insecurity, similarly, if an entrepreneur is underutilizing his Mentor, due to insecurity, the entrepreneur is wasting the vast experience, knowledge, intellect and most importantly his instincts.

The very fact of having a Mentor is to save you from ‘re-inventing the fire’ or ‘reinventing the wheel’. The very fact of having a mentor is to get the courage and confidence to move with optimal speed, with all faith on the Mentor. It is a big failure for the entrepreneur if the entrepreneur underutilizes his Mentor, and keeps his internal pattern of insecurity intact.

A tried, tested and experienced Mentor has a lot to give to an entrepreneur. And the entrepreneur should be in all frame of attitude and attribute to utilize the Mentor to the fullest and grow the business to the desired milestones.