One step ahead: how mentorship can help you level up

Mentorship is one of the best ways to advance your career, but for many of us, actually /finding/a mentor is a bit of a mystery. After being both a mentor and a mentee, Danae is a huge fan of mentorship and will walk you through how it’s done: the different types of mentorship, how mentor relationships can work, and how to find the mentors you need to stay a step ahead in your career.

Transcript

1. v alla ONE STEP AHEAD How mentorship can help you level up
2. v alla ABOUT ME Co-founder and CEO of Valla Have had multiple mentors and coaches over 7+ years Mentored or coached 50+ people
3. v alla LET’S EXPAND THE DEFINITION OF MENTORSHIP And help you actually get one
4. v alla 👩💻
5. v alla 👩💻 👩💼 👳 👩🦱 👩🦲 🧕 👨🦳 👩💻 🧑💼 👨💻 👨💼 👩💼 🧑🦲 👩🦰 👵 🧓 🧔 🧑🦰 👩⚕
6. v alla WHAT WE’LL COVER Who could benefit from mentorship How to figure out what you need Scripts for getting a mentor Checklist for your first meeting
7. v alla WHO WOULD BENEFIT FROM A MENTOR?
8. v alla EVERYONE! At every point in your career!
9. v alla WHAT DO I NEED FROM A MENTOR? Skills Doing something for the fi rst time
 
 Coming back into a fi eld Access Learning about a new industry
 Switching careers Accountability Someone to help you stay on track Someone to o ff er constructive criticism New perspective Want a new approach to a problem
 
 Want to expand your perspective
10. v alla HOW LONG DO I NEED IT? Ongoing Working together for an open-ended or long duration Examples: * Ongoing accountability * Ongoing skills development Short-term Working together on a speci fi c problem for a short amount of time
 
 Examples: 
 * Help write my new strategy
 * Help fi nd my fi rst job in this industry
11. v alla MENTOR WORKSHEET - NEEDS I want to improve my _________ skills. I need access to _________ in the ___________ industry. I want to hear new ways of thinking about ___________. I want someone to keep me on track as I ____________.
12. v alla HOW DO I FIND A MENTOR?
13. v alla TYPES OF MENTORSHIP Classic mentor relationship An experienced person working with someone at the earlier stages of their career “Reverse” mentoring A junior person working with a more experienced person Peer mentorship / “Mastermind” groups People at roughly the same level of experience supporting and challenging each other “One step ahead” mentorship A person working with someone who is just a year or so ahead of them (“one step ahead”)
14. v alla WHERE CAN I FIND A MENTOR? People you’ve worked with Ask for an introduction Online communities Mentorship programmes in your industry
15. v alla MENTOR WORKSHEET - SOURCES Who have I worked with that ______________? Who can introduce me to someone that ______________? Who is one step ahead of me in ______________? What online communities focus on ___________? Who is doing the same _______________ job as me right now? Are there any mentoring programmes focused on ____________?
16. v alla OKAY COOL, BUT… how do I actually ask?
17. v alla BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR AN ASK Mention their expertise - people like to hear that you think they’re great at something! Keep it simple Keep it small - only ask for a meeting
18. v alla ASKING SOMEONE YOU KNOW Hey _______, I’m doing ________ and you’ve done this so well at ________, I was wondering if I could talk to you about how you approached it?
19. v alla ASKING VIA AN INTRODUCTION Hi _______, it’s great to be introduced! 
 My friend _________ says that you’re the best SEO marketer she knows and I’m thinking about moving into SEO as part of my career. Would you be willing to have a chat about what you think makes a great SEO marketer?
20. v alla ASKING IN AN ONLINE COMMUNITY Does anyone want to set up a mastermind group for _____________? It would be great to compare notes with other people in this role to see how we all approach similar problems.
21. v alla COLD APPROACHING ON LINKEDIN Hi ______, I’m just starting out in the ________ industry and was wondering if you’d be willing to mentor me. 🙅🙅 🙅
22. v alla COLD APPROACHING ON LINKEDIN Hi ______, I’ve just got my first role in ________ and want to do the best job possible. You have so much experience in this field, I wondered if I could ask a quick question — is there a great book you would recommend for someone getting started in _____? 💁💁 💁
23. v alla YOUR FIRST MEETING CHECKLIST Be clear about what you need from them Keep to time If you hit it o ff , ask if they want to keep talking and set some parameters (cadence, calls, email) Send an immediate follow-up with a thank you Send an update later on and ask a question
24. v alla 👩💻 👩💼 👳 👩🦱 👩🦲 🧕 👨🦳 👩💻 🧑💼 👨💻 👨💼 👩💼 🧑🦲 👩🦰 👵 🧓 🧔 🧑🦰 👩⚕
25. v alla GO GET A MENTOR! @danaeshell