A mentor will help you get an insight to real world experience and know-how, while also creating a relationship with a leader in your field.

1. How to Choose a Good Mentor to
Become a Leader?
By David Kiger
Courtesy of Flazingo Photos at Flickr.com

2. Those who want to become leaders may go about this in a
variety of ways, but one good way to get started, and to
network while you’re in the process, is to get yourself a
mentor. A mentor will help you get an insight to real world
experience and knowhow, while also creating a relationship
with a leader in your field. You may think it’s very difficult to
get a mentor, but it’s actually not, you just need to know
where to look and how to go about getting just the right
mentor for you. Of course, there are tons of things you could
do become a good leader, which you can actually read more
about on the David Kiger SlideShare page, but another way to
boost your leadership skills is interacting with leaders in your
city and getting feedback and growing alongside a mentor.

3. First, you’ll need to identify what a great mentor looks like, so you
can start with making sure it’s a person who can help you set up
your short-term and long-term goals. Once you’ve set up your
career expectations and goals, a mentor will help you stay focused
and make sure you start doing everything you need to do to
accomplish them. This process will include not only guiding you in
the right direction, but providing you with enough advice that
overcome any obstacles you may face along the way. The mentor
you choose will also need to be leaders in your field, so they can
help you develop specific professional skills, join networks, and
hone in on field-related capabilities. The motivation factor in a
mentor is very important, because this will be needed to
continuously encourage mentees on their professional path. Time
is sometimes a difficult factor, but it may only require a quick chat
over coffee once a week, allowing you to bounce ideas off of them
and get feedback on different career choices. It may seem that it is
very difficult to find a mentor and to build a relationship with them
in order to learn and be guided by them.

4. How to find just the right mentor?
First, you need to choose someone you admire, as a professional and
as a person. Now, this doesn’t mean that their career is an identical
replica of what you want your career to be, but it does mean that they
show professional skills and traits that can help you build the career
you want. Their past experiences will come in handy when making
decisions, so you’ll need someone you can trust, and who is willing to
invest in you and your future. This means that the first place to look is
within organizations or companies that have people that you admire
as leaders and have jobs that you potentially see yourself doing in the
future. A good way to meet your future mentor is by networking and
getting into contact with as many experienced professionals as
possible. If you are able to build these relationships, you are sure to
find someone among them that will be able to take on the task to be
your mentor. Many companies have mentoring programs and they
promote finding a senior within in the company to build a mentor
relationship with, so as to ensure that the younger executive’s career
stays on track and is built on the skills required by the organization.

5. How to continue your professional development process?
Don’t forget to study the original literature in your field.
These classics will bring a perspective that only they can, and
allow you to be up to part to more senior leaders in your
company or field. Beside this, it is just as important to stay in
tune with online sources that can allow you to grow
professionally. Being part of specific groups on social media
may help you keep your ear to the ground and learn more
than you could ever imagine. With a mentor, you’ll soon be
able to recognize the gaps that need filling, and it’ll be your
job to make sure you strive to fill those gaps to become a
better leader. Of course, besides spending your time reading,
networking and investigating your field, don’t forget to
actually lead. To be a great leader, you’ll need to find
situations where you can put in practice your leadership
skills, be it in your office, as a volunteer or even in your
neighborhood.

6. When entering in a mentor-mentee relationship it will also
be important to cultivate it, be appreciative and be prepared
so you make the most of each encounter. Lastly, it will also
be vital that you know it is time for a change. No relationship
lasts forever, and this also goes for your relationship with
your mentor. It may be because of many different factors,
such as change of career paths, relocation or simply that it
has run its course. This is ok, and the natural process, so
make the most of it while your mentor still represents the
career path you’d like to follow.