How to Find a Mentor and Make It Work

If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times … a mentor makes a difference.

Finding, vetting, and thriving, with a mentor is one of the quickest shortcuts to success.

Talk to a successful real estate investor, and chances are that they can point to one or more people whose example and encouragement helped them along their way.

But finding a great mentor … and making the relationship work through real world challenges … isn’t always easy. We’re here to share our tips with you!

In this episode of The Real Estate Guys™ show, hear from:

Your master mentor host, Robert Helms
His mental co-host, Russell Gray

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What makes a mentor

Your success in real estate is going to come down to a few critical things … and one of those things is your relationships.

We never would have had the success that we’ve had in our lives … in business and personally … without input from the people we consider mentors.

Real estate investing is a people business.

Yes, you need to know numbers, property, and markets … but you also need a team. One of the most critical members of that team is a mentor.

A mentor is an experienced and trusted advisor … a guide, a confidant, and a counselor. And a mentor is different than a coach.

Coaching relationships are finite. They’re focused on specific behaviors and needs.

A mentor is a long-term relationship that supports you in your development. They’re interested … but not financially tied necessarily … to your results.

If you do it right, you’re going to have a lot of mentors in your career. You should always have people in your life who are further down the path.

A mentor doesn’t have to be older than you … but they do need to have more experience and more success in the area you are interested in.

A lot of people think of a mentor as a technical teacher … but that’s not necessarily true.

If you really think about what investing is, it comes down to exercising good judgment.

Judgment is something you learn by being in close proximity to someone … seeing why they make the decisions they make and absorbing what they’ve gleaned from their life experience.

Your mentor should be an example … a role model … of what you aspire to be.

What you bring to a mentoring relationship

There are lots of people that believe they can learn everything they need to learn from the internet, webinars, books, and podcasts … but that’s not our experience.

Those types of learning are a great starting point … but you’ve got to get into conversations with people that have been there, done that … in the REAL WORLD.

It’s very tempting to align yourself with people who are just like you … but you actually want to align with people who are a little bit different than you.

Take a look at yourself and ask, “What is it about my personality that’s holding me back? Where am I not being effective?”

You know what your weaknesses are. Your mentor can be someone who is strong in areas where you struggle.

By being around people with attributes that don’t come as easily for you … you will improve!

You also want to consider your strengths. The best mentor relationships are equitable … each side brings something to the party.

Brainstorm ways that you can be a value add to the mentor you have in mind.

Mentoring is also a cyclical relationship. You may be green around the ears today … but a few years from now you could be a mentor yourself.

Finding a mentor in the real world

One way to get a mentor is to hire one. There ARE organized mentor programs … we have one ourselves.

Before you pay money for a mentor relationship, check out the reviews. Just remember that the results people get have a lot more to do with how they react to the advice their mentor gives.

Paying for a mentor collapses the timeframe it takes to find one … but often … in our experience … the best mentor relationships happen organically.

This type of strategy DOES take more time and effort. You have to be in the right environment to meet the right person … that’s a lot of trips, events, and social engagements.

Beyond that, your mentor relationship is really what you make of it. You have to have the mindset that you are going to be one of the top people out there when you’re done.

If you’re looking to be average and ordinary … to just go with the flow … you might get a trophy for being on the team, but you’re not going to get the paycheck.

So, keep asking yourself, “What are the people at the TOP doing? How can I be more like them?”

Begin to think the way they think … and you’ll begin to do what they do. And ultimately, you can find yourself producing the same results.

A great mentor knows exactly what you need and what you have to go through to get there … and they create an environment for that to play out.

You mentor can’t make your success happen for you. You have to make it happen.

Our motto has always been, “Education for effective action.” Finding a mentor is one of the most educational … and effective … paths you can pursue.