I’m on my way to dinner with one of my mentors; I’ve dropped what I’m doing to drive several hundred miles to meet with him, since this is the closest he’ll physically be for the next few months.
This person, like all good mentors, has had a significant impact on my life; and, like all great mentors, continues to have that impact in a variety of ways. One way is that he’s a great litmus test for entrepreneurs, bosses and others that I may be preparing to engage with. Bring someone to spend a few minutes with him, and I’ll gain as much insight into the other person – and the mentor’s take on this person – than I would over several weeks or months of general conversation.
The time also provides a blueprint for how best to approach a relationship; and, every so often, it provides an ongoing friendship between this long-standing mentor and a future mentor. Even when I’m disappointed by the reaction of a potential business partner or boss, as I was during a recent engagement that ended badly, I can’t say I wasn’t forewarned by his attitude toward the mentor – and the mentor’s initial and ongoing reaction to him.
What does this have to do with entrepreneurship? Quite a lot, actually. Entrepreneurship is quite like mentoring: sometimes you act as the mentor, sometimes you are mentored, other times you are culled out and discouraged from starting something because you aren’t ready to accept the teaching and advice. No one ever regretted being an entrepreneur, but even the best entrepreneur will tell you how thankful they are for someone who stepped in to tell them they weren’t ready to handle a key situation.
Honesty, not spin, is what entrepreneurs crave. They’re too busy for spin, which smacks of insincerity.
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