Thread by @faizansiddiqi

Thanks @jehan_ara this is always a two way street. You get what you invest in. I have been exceedingly lucky in having some of the best mentors one could ask for. blog.chinookstrategy.com/on-being-so-fo… If you are so inclined you can read more about that here, notwithstanding some lessons

https://twitter.com/jehan_ara/status/1337210388958621697

A great mentor is more beneficial than first money or any money in. Look for mentors who prioritise your successful outcomes vs their social media updates. The same test applies to all things in life, if you are going to help some one make sure you leave your camera at home.

Any one who you respect can be a great mentor if you look up to them first because of the individual traits they have vs how $ successful they are. Most folks make the mistake of looking for mentors or seeking help from those who are more socially mobile or visible or rich.

Mentoring like therapy has no age limit, so long as you are coachable and open to un learning and re learning. Mentoring is essentially seeking out some one else whose point of view, experience or insights are either different or deeper and richer than yours. What u must seek is

Kindness of time. Meaning some one who will invest the time in you to be a sounding board, a validator or some one who will show you the other side of the coin when you are un able to see it your self. Mentors are not necessarily your friends,but great ones feel that way for sure

Look for those who have similar roots as your self. Knowing the journey from your shoes is a pretty cool party trick. Mentorship without context is a hit or a miss. But in most instances mentors who share the same background, like socio economic, values and integrity as U

Are typically better equipped with empathy when listening to you. A key skill for a mentor that you must seek-out is the ability to let u finish your stream of thought. Great mentors bring in tons of insights from the operating environment, thus context is key. Look for those who

are willing to invest the time to learn from your experiences as much as they are willing to share theirs.Some of my greatest mentors have excelled in the generosity of their time,their contacts & helping find other SMEs to go talk to. Any one who will do that for you is a keeper

Ive learnt over the years that mentors owe you nothing. But you must value the ones who act like they do. Those who treat the relationship as sacred & one governed by some thing bigger than an actual contract are the ones who have shown me the value of trust over the years.

Mentors shouldn't be heroes, so dont treat them as such. True mentors don't need validation, as i've learnt over the years.Great 1s are not in competition with you either,so the sessions & time spent with them shouldn't be about their success or achievements. If they are, leave

Mentors shouldn't have the answers for you but should ask questions that should lead you to ascertain the path or directionality you should seek. Don't confuse coaching with mentoring, great mentors make great coaches, but coaches seldom make great mentors.(not a popular opinion)

A coach is typically transactional and invested in singular performance or equity based outcomes. A mentor is some one who is invested in all of you vs parts of you over time with zero expectation of an earn out or performance related break/gain. Dont seek answers, ask questions.

Mentorship is a value investment for mentors, difference between great mentors & average ones is fairly straight forward. Choose mentors who continue to learn from who they mentor + are selective when committing time vs who sell their own churan/snake oil to check off a CSR Box

Mentorship at its core is a selfless activity.Some of the best mentors I have been privileged to work with have invested 10x the time I will ever be able to invest.They have invested months if not years of valuable advice with a mental model and check list to keep on checking IN

They dont need to check in but they do.A mentor is some 1 who can provide you a safe space when there is none around you, who will value your ideas vs being judgemental, some1 who will encourage you when you are defeated & know the difference between a bad day & a bad outcome

Someone who can offer you most or any of this is a keeper. Never under estimate or think that mentorship is a one way street, the best mentors Ive worked with continue to learn & prosper based on their interactions with their mentees. In todays age of social media mentors

and self ordained high priests of mentorship your biggest challenge is to have a filter. No not the instagram variety, but a filter between noise and signal. Go for the signals and choose some one who values the relationship with you, not as a transaction or in "post $s" or likes

I sincerely wish that startup or not, that every one is as fortunate as me with it comes to having the right mentor(s) in life. Its is a greatly undervalued asset class, but like any asset, if deployed correctly, has a life time earn out in more ways than one can imagine.

Do ur self a favour, any 1 who you respect, whose opinions matter to you how ever distant they seem from your current access or reality, reach out and ask to be mentored. The worst that can happen is a NO, thats the price of admission.The best, a YES may be a life changing moment

Work towards getting to a yes, by having a solid ask, treat it the same as raising capital but value it more. It may be the best gift you can give your self in the new year. @rebootdude @Ash_Kalim @babushka99 @nocdavis @ShahidM99 @YusufJan @raza_matin @alinawab