Last week, the Indianapolis Star ran a short piece by Greg Beyerl, CEO of Sign Craft Industries titled: “Success can come in 3’s: trio of mentors guided path.” Here’s the opening.

“When I was in college, I had a professor who said we all will meet three people who can dramatically change our life’s direction. Miss these interactions, miss the opportunity for change/success. At the time, it sounded like a quest to find the genie in the bottle or a game of charades. However, the thought stuck with me and I was always on the lookout for these conduits of change.”

That’s great advice. There will be at least three people in your life who can help you change for the better. You’re more likely to find them if you stay on the lookout for them. Here are some things to look for.

Look for someone who’s more experienced than you. When I started out in business, forty years ago, I’d have said, “older than you.” But the world has changed since then.

Today, we expect younger people to know things that older people may not. The person who knows what you need to know may be older or younger or the same age. It might be a man or a woman.

He or she doesn’t even have to live in the same physical space as you do. One of my most energizing mentoring relationships is with a woman I’ve never met in person. The net makes things possible.

Look for someone who likes to help people. It doesn’t matter what they know if they don’t enjoy helping you.

Mentors used to be the only option. Today you can consider hiring a coach to help you with almost any aspect of life or business.

Toward the end of the article, Mr. Beyerl says: “Who knows? My true big break may come in the future when I meet a bright, ambitious kid and provide meaningful mentoring of my own.”

I hope that happens for him. I’ve been both a coach and a mentor. It’s incredibly rewarding

I’d only add one bit of advice. Don’t worry about the age of either a mentor or protégé.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 at 9:47 am and is filed under Mentoring and Coaching, Tools and Strategies for Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.