The power of mentorship

A cheat code you didn’t know you needed

Somehow, since I was in A Levels I was always seeking mentorship. At that time, from individuals older than me, form whom I could learn. Today, its still the same minus the age difference. I’m more or less, less ageist now…

I was looking for individuals with more experience than me and on a path I aspired to be on. As soon as I’d find someone more inspirational, I’d attach myself to them hoping to learn as much as I could from them. Flash forward to 2017, graduating from uni and starting work. I worked in a private school and all the directors of the school were people I looked up to. To me, they all seemed to have “made it”. Made a profitable business, with a solid product, great culture and still much to look forward to.

Eventually, I attached myself to one of the directors who’d then introduce me to my first business partner and also would become my co-founder in business #2.

In both Backspace and Alt Academy, my business partners were my mentors. I’d work alongside them, but also ask all sorts of weird questions. More often than not, the premise of the questions would be around growth, personal development and decision making. The answers were an opportunity for me to learn from their experiences without having to experience some of those things myself. It was also an opportunity for me to get a playbook of sorts. A method to speed up the process to get to the end result I’d wanted.

Throughout my career, I’ve sought out multiple mentors. I consider them to be cheat codes in life. Some cheat codes are for business, some for life and some for overall wellbeing. At each point in my life, I’ve known I’ve wanted to achieve something and therefore shortlisted a mentor to help achieve that in the shortest possible time. I identify individuals who I feel have been through a similar circumstance/experience and have achieved what I am aspiring for or I think would be best suited to guide me.

More often than not, I’ve had mentors who I have not called explicit mentors. Mostly because of the relationship I’ve developed with them is more friendly in nature and not so formal. With some, I am just around them, observing their moves, decisions and thought processes and reflecting on what I can integrate myself. One such example is my boss at work. From him, I’m trying to learn how to take a business from 1 to 100 and also manage the growth of a business from halfway around the world. The answer I’ve come to it: “with great difficulty”.

So, whats the moral of the story here? Mentorship is good, and mentorship should be considered consistently. Find yourself a set of IRL relationships with people who can help you achieve what you aspire to. If I didn’t have my mentors (you know who you are), I would not be where I am today. I would also not have many of the things I have today. Things like clarity of thought, patience, decision making frameworks, equity and much more. Still waiting on cash though….

TL;DR

• Seeking mentorship from experienced individuals helps accelerate learning and decision-making.

• Mentors act as "cheat codes" for business, life, and well-being, helping achieve goals faster.

• Mentorship doesn’t always have to be formal; valuable lessons can come from observing and engaging with experienced individuals.

• Consistently finding and learning from mentors leads to better clarity, decision-making, and long-term success.

Goodbye