Have you tuned into a Facebook Livestream? It’s super cool. You can watch and/or listen to an individual speaking live from their home or office (or from the playground for that matter!) as you type comments or questions for the speaker. In addition to listening to American Idol winner Trent Harmon on Facebook Live because his voice is nothing short of spectacular, I recently listened to Kelsey Humphreys, a motivator on achieving success, interview real estate tycoon Barbara Corcoran. If you watch Shark Tank, you know the assertive, sharp, and kind Ms. Corcoran.
The listener comments scrolled across the screen [I can only hope a screen reader would recognize the comments] and Ms. Corcoran answered about four questions. One that stood out to me was, “How do you suggest finding a mentor?”
Her answer was coming from the perspective of an extremely successful and very busy field expert. Ms. Corcoran and other field experts don’t necessarily have time to chat with a handful of mentees for lunch on a bi-weekly basis.
So instead of broadly asking for a field expert’s mentorship, Ms. Corcoran suggests asking to trade expertise. She mentioned asking, “Can I help you with your (insert your expertise here) in exchange for thirty minutes of your mentorship in (insert his/her expertise here).”
I think this is a wonderful suggestion because it values the mentors time and is mutually beneficial.
For more information on mentorship, read our mentorship blogs, linked below. Note that most of these are video blogs!
- Why You Need a Workplace Mentor…Visually Impaired or Not
- Think Outside the Box: How a Person Who is Blind or Visually Impaired Can Seek Mentors
- Six Guidelines for Establishing an Effective, Healthy Mentorship
- So You Think You Can Dance? I Mean, Mentor? Yes, You Can. Here’s How.
- Why Employees Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired Should be Career Mentors
What do you think about Ms. Corcoran’s suggestion?