I've Been Paired Up - Now What?!

The following was written by newly appointed PK chef Russell Bird of the Promo Addict

I have a mentee/mentor, what the heck should I talk to them about?

The following tips are from a couple of different places, so I will reference them as I go.

I personally like to start my mentor calls with discussing the top 5% of family, personal life and business as well as the bottom 5%... Basically, let's talk about the best things in your life and the worst things in your life. This will help us decide where you want to go and how we are going to help you get there. 

Here is an example of what I mean:

Top 5% personal: I have a week long vacation coming up next month and I can’t wait to get away!

Top 5% business: I closed the biggest deal of my year with a new customer!

Top 5% family: I took my kids swimming and my son went off the high dive for the first time, so proud!

Bottom 5% personal: I need to find time to workout more and or cook healthier meals for myself because I am getting kind of chubby.

Bottom 5% business: I had a client complain that they don’t like their products and I’m losing sleep trying to decide how to handle it.

Bottom 5% family: Nothing right now, things are great.

Once you have discussed the top 5% and bottom 5% each month, you can pick your talking points. As an example, my mentor might have a scheduling trick to allow for 4 times a week workout routine, or have experience dealing with upset clients and have options for how to deal with them. We might also discuss things like the desire to take a week vacation and how to actually disconnect, while being confident that things will still function in my absence. 

If you open up with top 5, or bottom 5,then the talking points/advice/mentoring can get really awesome.

If you want to get a little less personal, you can discuss what I like to call GAINS (Goals, achievements, Interests, Networks, Skills). This model has been run very successfully by a the well-known networking company, BMI.  You can find a worksheet about it here: http://www.bni-inspire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/BNI-Gains-Worksheet.pdf

No matter how you choose to develop a relationship with your mentor, we do advise you to dig deep. Ask the meaningful questions, and don’t be afraid to give/get advise. As both a mentor and a mentee you'll be blown away by just how much you can both learn from each other, and how much you open up your business to growth.