One Minute Mentoring: How to find and work with a mentor - and why you’ll benefit from being one

A Note to Readers

One Minute Mentoring is a fictional parable about the power of finding—or being—a mentor. Perhaps you’re wondering about the title. Why One Minute Mentoring? Because we have found that the best advice we ever gave or received was given in less than a minute. In other words, the guidance that really made a difference did not come in the form of long, complex theories—it came in short, meaningful insights.

Introduction

Are you feeling less than certain about the path forward in your career? Are you wondering if you really have what it takes to reach your goals? Are you wondering what your goals should be? Then perhaps it’s time you found a mentor.

Maybe you answered all the above questions with a resounding, “No!” If so, perhaps it’s time you became a mentor.

The Business Hall of Fame is filled with the names of people who discovered that finding a mentor made all the difference in reaching success, as well as the names of leaders who attained greatness by mentoring others. You can be in that good company.

Most people agree that having a mentor is a good thing, but they don’t know how to find one or use one. And while most agree that being a mentor is a good thing, they don’t think they have the time or skills to do so.

That’s why we wrote this book: to give readers simple knowledge and easy-to-use tools to find and leverage mentoring relationships.

No matter what kind of mentoring you get involved in—new hire, peer-to-peer, adult-to-adolescent, or cross-generational—we know that it can positively transform not only your life, but the lives of others as well.

What is cross-generational mentoring? That’s when a young person is paired with an older person, so they both can learn and grow. Ken is a leadership expert in his midseventies and Claire is a former Twitter executive in her midthirties, and that makes us a living example of the lessons we are teaching. Through our own mentoring partnership—and through others—we have personally experienced the life-changing power of this practice. That said, we do want to point out that the age spread doesn’t have to be as wide as ours for mentors and mentees to get value out of the relationship.

In One Minute Mentoring, we tell the story of Josh Hartfield, a young sales rep whose motivation is flagging, and Diane Bertman, a sales executive whose crammed schedule isn’t delivering the satisfaction it once did. As the story of Diane and Josh unfolds, readers will learn the six action steps to creating a successful mentoring relationship, as well as key insights such as:

 How to find a mentoring partnership—whether you are a mentee seeking a mentor or a mentor seeking a mentee.

 How to work with a mentoring partner to make the positive changes you want to see in your work and life.

 How to apply succinct, One Minute mentoring advice.

 How to tap into the wisdom and skills of people from all age groups and backgrounds.

Successful people do not reach their goals alone. Behind even the most independent achiever is a person or group of people who helped that person succeed. So no matter your age, we encourage you to start finding a mentor today.

We also encourage you to mentor someone else, because those who extend a helping hand to others have much to gain. In the words of an ancient Buddhist proverb, “If you light a lamp for someone, it will also brighten your own path.”

If you are ready to build a powerful mentoring relationship and watch your work and life transform, then read on!

KEN BLANCHARD

coauthor of The New One Minute Manager®

CLAIRE DIAZ-ORTIZ

author of Twitter for Good

No Compass, No Map: Life in a Mentorless Land

Josh Hartfield sat at his desk and stared at his computer screen, paralyzed about what to do next. His in-box contained fifty priority e-mails. He had seven urgent voice mails from existing clients, and he needed to finish a new presentation before a sales appointment on Friday.

In terms of work, he had plenty. In terms of motivation, he had none. It wasn’t exactly the ideal frame of mind to be in for his quarterly review, which was coming up in five minutes.

“Ready?”

Josh looked up to see his boss, Eva Garcetti, who managed western regional sales for their company.

“Sure,” Josh said with a halfhearted smile.

He followed Eva into her office and took a seat facing her imposing mahogany desk.

“Let’s not beat around the bush, Josh. Your numbers this quarter have been mediocre at best. This is becoming a pattern with you. What’s going on?”

“Just a slump. I’m pulling out of it,” he said, doing his best to believe it.

Five years after joining JoySoft as a sales rep, Josh was treading water. His job was stale, and he was no longer progressing in his career.

“I’ve heard that before, Josh. I think you could use some help. I recommend you spend some time with Eric. He set a new sales record last week.”

Josh tried not to wince. Eric Aguilar was the upstart new sales rep now sharing a cubicle with him. Eric was just a year out of college, and already he was outperforming Josh two to one. So Josh wasn’t surprised by Eva’s recommendation. Still, it was depressing to think that he was in such bad shape that he was being told to take pointers from a new hire.

Do some personal reflection about what your strengths and weaknesses are.

“I know my suggestion might sound discouraging, but I’m concerned about you, Josh. It’s like you’ve lost your motivation. The first few years you were doing all right. As you know, though, sales isn’t for everybody as a long-term career.”

Josh swallowed hard.

“What are you getting at, Eva? Should I be dusting off my résumé?”

“Not necessarily. What I’m suggesting is that you do some personal reflection about what your strengths and weaknesses are. By spending more time with Eric, you can get a sense of why he’s doing so well.”

“Beginner’s luck?” Josh said with a weak grin.

“I don’t think so. Seriously, why don’t we talk again after you’ve had some time to think about how you can either get your numbers up or maybe redirect your career energies? I’d like to help in either case.”

Walking back to his cubicle, Josh reflected on Eva’s advice. He hadn’t always felt so discouraged. Back when he had just graduated from college with a degree in business, he’d had all the energy in the world. The results of a vocational preference test indicated that he might be good in sales, which led him to a job as a junior sales rep at JoySoft. He’d fantasized about becoming a top salesperson.

Five years later, reality was staring him hard in the face. At this point, he was just hoping he could hold on to his job for another year or two—enough time to figure out what he really wanted to do.

As Josh entered his cubicle, Eric was pumping his fist in the air.

“Signed!” Eric shouted happily, slamming down the phone. He pulled out a red marker and drew a big X across the day’s date on his wall calendar. As Josh had learned from Eric, the calendar was a motivational tool he’d picked up from a business book. Every X represented a new client. According to Eric, the more Xs in a row you got, the more likely you were to get more.

Eric had a lot of Xs this month.

Good thing I don’t have one of those calendars up, Josh thought.

With a sigh, he picked up his mug and headed for the break room. He needed a breather from Eric’s enthusiasm. As Josh refilled his mug, he realized he was at a crossroads. He needed consoling—and good advice.

Fortunately, at times like these he knew just the right number to call.

ONE MINUTE INSIGHTS

Pause, Reflect, and Learn

 Where are you in your life? Are you on an upward trajectory, or have you hit a plateau?

 Do you feel uncertain about the direction you’re heading?

 Are you open to learning from others?