Over the last decade I’ve done hundreds of hours of mentoring for creative entrepreneurs and freelancers. Much of it through organised creative enterprise programmes, but also some informal mentoring with freelancers and entrepreneur I’ve met along the way.
Mentoring is something I love doing. Sitting down one-on-one and talking through the challenges that person is facing. Taking time to work ‘on’ their business, as opposed to ‘in’ it and helping them to turn on the light bulbs so that they can find a way forward. And without wanting to blow my own trumpet too hard, I think I’m pretty good at it.
I’d not given much thought to working with a mentor in recent years. I’d had brilliant mentors earlier in my career. My first boss, the late Ivan Rendall, who saw the hunger in me and helped me enormously when I worked for him. Even this week I found myself referencing his wise counsel when wrestling with a thorny issue. When I started my first business, Mike Southon’s mentoring was instrumental in helping me shape Girls Angels from an idea on a beermat to a business reality.
But, as the publication of my book loomed, I could feel a new journey starting and I realised that now was a time that I needed a mentor. I needed to stop. Take a step back and think strategically about the direction I wanted my career to go in and I needed help with this.
So, I started to think about where I could find a mentor. I wanted someone new, who didn’t know me already, and had professional experience coupled with a big, broad vision. Someone who was independent and wouldn’t mince their words! By luck, my old business school INSEAD was offering a mentoring programme run by alumni for alumni.
AS SOMEONE WHO HELPS ENTREPRENEURS AND FREELANCERS FOR THEIR WORK IT WAS A BIG STATEMENT FOR ME TO SAY. “I WANT SOME HELP.” BUT IT’S BEEN ONE OF THE BEST INVESTMENTS IN TERMS OF TIME AND MONEY I’VE MADE IN A LONG TIME.
Right from the start I was being asked questions that I’d not considered. Lights were being shone on aspects of my work that I tended to keep in the dark. I realised I was carrying a lot of professional baggage. Projects and clients that I’d seen an opportunity with, that hadn’t quite come off and I was holding on to ‘just in case’.
It was hugely liberating to acknowledge this and unshackle myself. My shoulders felt lighter. I was giving myself permission to focus – both on my positioning in the marketplace and on where I specifically add value. Importantly, I put myself in the driving seat and focused my efforts on securing clients I wanted to be working with.
and now two years later, it’s paying off. Not only that, I’ve loved every minute of it. Even the questions I really didn’t want to answer. I’ve been bitten by the bug. Why try and work it out by myself when there are people in my extensive networks who know the answers. All I need do is work out the problem I am trying to solve and then reach out to the person (or people) I think can help solve it for me.
