Why you need to find a mentor

I hope your week has been great. It’s Friday again, and it's already my sixth newsletter. Since last week, another 181 people have subscribed; welcome all, and thank you!

Being a founder or someone with a highly demanding job takes a lot of work. You have to juggle all the balls, and nobody will save you. This is why I’m a big cheerleader for a mentor or coach. I wrote down the importance of mentorship, how it will help you to be more successful, and why you should find one today.

Today's bookmarks are about prisoners in 🇫🇮 Finland who are being paid to train AI models and how you can make emails interactive to drive conversions.

See you again on Tuesday,

Bas

🪞 Why you need to find a mentor

Today’s topic is something that I wish I had done earlier in life. It’s like doing a particular sport, a.k.a. physical activity. Nobody will disagree working out is terrible for you, but still, so many people aren’t getting enough movement during the week. For me, having someone who guides you regularly is also something everyone should embrace.

I want to talk about mentorship, a.k.a. having a coach. Most successful people I know have surrounded themselves with at least one mentor to guide them along their careers. According to Wikipedia, ‘Mentorship is the developmental relationship between a more experienced mentor and a less experienced partner, referred to as a protégé or mentee.’ I never argue with Wiki, so let’s assume this is true.

No matter how junior or senior you are today, you’re never too experienced to be coached by a mentor. To be clear, I’m emphasizing a mentor outside of your (own) company. Someone who coaches you as a person to become a better professional. In my experience, once this relationship establishes enough trust and confidence, it can even be life advice. The advantage of having a mentor outside your daily business is that there isn’t any conflict of interest. When someone in the same company is your mentor (which often happens in traineeships, juniors being coached by a medior, the medior by seniors, etc.), there’s always something to gain for both parties. The mentee wants to move up in the rankings, and the mentor wants to stay up without losing their grip on the rest of the staff.