5 Ways to Keep a Mentor Engaged

Writer

Ashley Lucas

Ashley Lucas refers to herself as a “recovering entrepreneur” after having spent the last nine years working in the startup space, as a founder, a co-founder, and a venture accelerator director. After launching and leading her own digital media company that took her through the MassChallenge accelerator in 2010, Ashley was recruited to co-lead a startup called The Welcoming Committee, a national events and travel company. There she helped grow a Boston-based community of 2,000 people into a membership base of 35,000 across ten cities. 12 employees, 300+ annual events, and a one million dollar investment raise later, she stepped away from the company to join the team at Babson's Center for Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership (CWEL). There, Ashley spearheads thought leadership, research, and program marketing efforts in order to disseminate critical information and opportunities that can help female founders reach their ultimate potential.

July 11, 2018

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In the world of entrepreneurship, consistent evidence demonstrates the importance of mentors to entrepreneurial success. Mentors provide coaching, guidance, and can even be champions at critical moments during the entrepreneur’s journey. In fact, according to an article by Lisa Calhoun of Valor Ventures, almost half of female founders (48 percent) cite a lack of available mentors or advisers as holding them back.

SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer expert business mentors, released a report earlier this year that looked at the impact of mentoring on business success and found that:

Mentorship increases the likelihood of a business opening and staying open.
Working with a mentor for five or more hours greatly increases an entrepreneur’s likelihood of business success.
Women entrepreneurs experience greater success when they are mentored, regardless of their mentor’s gender.

There are plenty of articles on the importance of mentorship, but how do founders find and keep engaged mentors? It takes a lot more effort than scheduling a monthly meeting after finding a startup supernova at a local networking event or conference. A meaningful relationship, where the mentor provides sound business advice and coaching, requires that the entrepreneur be both prepared and committed in order to keep the mentor interested in continuing that support. Here are five pieces of advice for entrepreneurs who want to find, and keep, a mentor.

Respect Their Time

The number one way entrepreneurs kill their chances to build solid relationships with good mentors is by not being prepared. Schedule meetings ahead of time and send an agenda—in addition to any major updates, give enough notice that mentors can review and prepare. Good mentors who are interested in an entrepreneur’s success will review an agenda and do their research, including asking their network for advice if there is a challenge their specific skill sets do not address.

Ask for Help and Be Specific

When a mentor reports that they are unsure whether they have been helpful to an entrepreneur, it is typically a polite way of saying that the entrepreneur did not ask questions specific to their area of expertise. Mentors want to help, so ask for it—but ask them for guidance and information around challenges that they have a depth of knowledge around. Do not simply ask them to retell their startup stories.

Send Updates Regularly

Keeping important people in the loop without inundating them with emails is easy. At the beginning of each month, send stakeholders a company update—note the milestones and the successes—identify challenges mentors might be able to help with. These simple, regular email updates give an opportunity to reconnect and keep mentors in the loop on how a business is growing. They also can chime in and provide support if an entrepreneur is facing a challenge that they might be able to help with.

Respect Their Network

Even when mentors do not have the answers to a problem, they may be willing to open up their Rolodexes and make introductions to people who can help. When this happens, entrepreneurs must respond quickly to set up a time to talk at their convenience. Then they must do the homework to understand who this person is and how they can help. That way, entrepreneurs are not only utilizing this new contact’s time effectively, they also are not wasting their own. Once the meeting takes place, let the mentor know and identify how the new contact was helpful.

Follow Up

A handwritten thank you note may not always be necessary, but an email certainly is. After meetings, especially if in person, send a quick note thanking mentors for their time and expertise. Later on, after successfully implementing specific advice from a mentor, tell them. These individuals want to know that they are being helpful—it also never feels bad to have someone tell you that you were right.