One of the most vital factors in navigating your career and life is finding established individuals who can mentor you. Ideally, this would be someone with years of experience working in an area you desire to pursue. Based on their career trajectory, experience, and wisdom, these individuals are able to provide you with advice, insight, and comfort as you navigate your own professional journey. We strongly believe that everyone should have mentors in their lives, whether it's professionally, spiritually, or a combination of both! Use the tips below for how to find a business mentor and how to find a spiritual mentor.
What is the difference between a business mentor and a spiritual mentor?
Mentors offer insight and wisdom into the lives of their mentees – whether they are professional or spiritual. But their focus is different. Business mentors focus on what they can offer their mentees, such as career advancement, coaching, next steps, etc. A spiritual mentor focuses on how to point their mentee to Christ and what He offers them and walks alongside them. A business mentor is often seen as “higher up” and somewhat set apart from their mentees, while a spiritual mentor is in the trenches, as it were, rediscovering God daily with their mentees.
What are the benefits of having a mentor?
Whether business or spiritual, there are many benefits to having a mentor. While these benefits are often categorized by the type of mentor relationship, they actually overlap quite a bit – the difference is the context.
Mentors encourage and empower their mentees to grow and develop and help them discover gaps in knowledge or skill and opportunities to rise to a new challenge. Mentors often encourage a broader perspective and inherently offer skill-building for mentees to become mentors as they gain confidence and knowledge. Mentors have also been linked to higher success rates in various endeavors their mentees undertake.
How to find a business mentor
It is important to note that, if you were to look up “business mentor” online, many results appear as to how to find somebody, how to pay for a mentor, or filling in your qualities and letting a randomized match begin. At Uncommon Sports Group, we believe that some of the most effective mentor/mentee relationships are those that were already relationships to begin with. It’s not that you can’t find a mentor who you’re not personally connected with already, but taking the “randomness” out of the equation makes things more real, honest, meaningful, and beneficial from the get-go.
Here are some tips for how to find a business mentor:
Don't ask a stranger or make a request via social media.
Have a personal relationship with them that is organic and natural.
Work hard at your craft, embody integrity, and then seek mentoring.
Don't make it a one-way street; show that you can add value to the mentor's life and career as well.
Build a rapport with them and pursue deep, meaningful conversations.
Structure more defined times to connect one-on-one, whether weekly, biweekly, or monthly (in-person or by phone).
How to find a spiritual mentor
A spiritual mentor’s purpose is to help their mentee grow toward God – to see where they’re at, where they’ve been, and pray with them and walk alongside them as they look ahead, constantly and consistently headed toward closer communion with the Lord. No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, a mentor, if nothing else, is a sounding board, a friend, and a person to pray for and with you. Who wouldn’t benefit from that?! A good way to find a spiritual mentor is to look for them in your everyday life and encounters. As you grow authentic relationships based on truth and open honesty, mentors may reveal themselves. Paired with prayerful discernment, you will undoubtedly find a spiritual mentor to walk with you and guide you.
Here are more tips for finding a spiritual mentor:
Make sure they have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and His Word is the source of their advice.
Time together should include prayer, scripture reading, and growing in the Lord together.
Find someone you connect naturally with that has spiritual qualities that you admire. Strike up a relationship from there!
Seek out church leadership to connect you with a godly mentor.
Commit to accountability and building each other up during meetings.
Structure more defined times to connect one-on-one, whether it be weekly, biweekly, or monthly (in-person or by phone).
Have fun together! This should be something you look forward to each week.
Finding a mentor can be a life-altering experience. The sole purpose of both business mentors and spiritual mentors is to guide you. To further develop your strengths, to identify and build up your weaknesses, and to help you thrive. This is an invaluable part of any sports industry professional’s career. You could find your mentor by exploring membership with Uncommon Sports Group.