The Skip podcast

How to find a great Mentor

Sep 10, 2023

This podcast episode explores the complications of mentorship, including navigating available resources, being coachable, and tips for mentors and mentees. It discusses the importance of separating company success from career success, forming a 'Personal Board of Directors,' and finding alternative mentorship options. It also highlights the value of free online content, the importance of providing context in mentorship conversations, and the cautionary tale of extremists and contrarians. Building relationships, maximizing mentorship, and finding a supportive community are also discussed.

50:30

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Quick takeaways

Invest in your own resources to advance your career and don't rely solely on your company or manager.

Form a diverse network of mentors and advisers who can provide valuable advice and support in different aspects of your career.

Deep dives

Take control of your career

You cannot rely solely on your company or manager to advance your career. They have different incentives. Advocate for yourself and invest in your own resources.

Taking Control of Your Career

01:21

Developing Soft Skills and Unlocking Professional Boundaries

01:21

Developing Coaching Skills: Mindset, Effort, and Prioritization

01:22

Introduction

5min

Finding a Mentor and Building a Personal Board of Directors

14min

Importance of Soft Skills and Emotional Intelligence in Career Development

7min

The Importance of Providing Context and Being Specific

12min

The Cautionary Tale of Extremists and Contrarians

4min

Building Relationships and Learning from Others

6min

Maximizing Mentorship and Finding a Community

2min

This episode is about mentorship. Mentorship is a powerful personal development tool that naturally attracts ambitious people. However, it can be a complicated tool to maximize. Mentorship comes in many forms, with varying degrees of accessibility, quality, and suitability for a given individual. In this episode, I answer questions on 3 topics surrounding the complications of mentorship: how to navigate the resources available, how to be coachable, and tips and tricks I’ve learned as a mentor and mentee.

In today’s episode, we discuss:

Why you shouldn’t conflate success at your company with success in your career
How and why you should form a “Personal Board of Directors”
Resources for people who can’t access certain types of mentorship
How to identify and avoid bad advice
Actionable tips for becoming more coachable
Why coaching others improves your ability to be coached

Referenced in this episode:

Meander: Match your career ambitions with the perfect mentor (Nikhyl is an advisor)
Shreyas Doshi: links to his content and his courses
Lenny’s Podcast
Reforge

Timestamps:
[00:00:00] Intro
[00:01:54] I feel like I’m not doing enough to advance my career, what should I do?
[00:04:34] What if I can’t access mentorship?
[00:06:11] The 4 buckets of people in your network
[00:09:55] The “Personal Board of Directors” framework
[00:12:02] How to connect - not “network” - in 30 mins per week
[00:13:31] How to find people to connect with
[00:15:16] The value of free online content
[00:16:31] The value of communities
[00:18:41] Paid resources
[00:21:24] 2 things to consider when it comes to executive coaches and therapists
[00:24:48] 3 unique strengths of therapy
[00:25:51] The skill of being coachable
[00:26:43] Use specific requests when engaging with potential mentors or coaches
[00:30:33] The courage required to listen to feedback
[00:31:38] How to run an efficient process when being coached
[00:34:55] Why coaching others helps you to be coached
[00:36:42] How do you know if you’re getting good advice?
[00:38:45] Beware of extremists and contrarians
[00:40:04] Beware of copycat coaches
[00:41:12] Coaches must know you and your situation
[00:42:19] My own personal board of directors
[00:46:03] How I think about new requests to be coached by me
[00:47:07] My new idea for a live coaching format
[00:48:21] Conclusion