The worst situation that an organization can find itself in,
is to have people that want to be successful and no one that can help them
achieve that success.
This thought came into my head the other day. I was listening to an interview with Miami Heat President Pat Riley, and I thought as he spoke, how much I would have liked to have been mentored by Pat. When he spoke, he oozed success and possibilities. If I could have been mentored by two individuals, I would have chosen Pat Riley and Phil Jackson. I am not a NBA fan, but these two gentleman have the aura of success, accomplishment and possibility.
In my professional sales career, I have had the privilege of being mentored by some great salesmen. Two in particular, Jason Kibler and John Sutton, come to mind. I was very fortunate to have these two men available to me in my first sales position. As my career has continued, I've noticed that many companies don't place a high value on mentoring or sales management. I always find this curious. If Jeter finds value in a hitting coach and every golfer on tour has a swing coach, then why would anyone think professional sales people need any less.
I have had, and currently have, some wonderfully talented colleagues that want to get better at their craft, but never seem to. "Why?" you ask? Swing Coach is my answer. If you have had some success, find some one to lift up and find some one to help lift you up as well. We ALL can use a hand.
I was once in a meeting where the founder/owner of a very successful company stood up and said, "the reason we lose good people is that we put them in positions and then don't properly train them to be successful in those positions, and eventually they get discouraged and quit".
MENTOR. Find one. Be one.
