“I feel so lonely as a freelancer” and “I’m the boss but
it’s really lonely at the top” – these are two phrases I hear frequently from
clients and networking colleagues alike.
Even very successful business people feel isolated and there
are all sorts of reasons why.
One of the best remedies is to get yourself a
mentor; one you trust, can engage with, and is experienced and skilled enough
to be able to be a real support to you as you go on your journey. And yes, I
hate that word too. Let’s say ‘ride’ instead.
I’m a mentor for Entrepreneurial Spark in Brighton, an
organisation powered by NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank,
KPMG Enterprise and Dell Technologies across the UK. In England and Wales, they
also work with Pinsent Masons and in Scotland, Harper Macleod. E-Spark is “a
people accelerator and work with you as the entrepreneurial leader to develop
your mindsets and behaviours.”
I’ve been doing this for nearly two years and find it very
interesting and rewarding. Here’s what I get out of mentoring:
- I meet lots of businesses, both start-ups and those which are in the growth stage
- I’m able to help these business people based on my 35+ years of experience working in and for a variety of different organisations, both commercial and not-for-profit
- I’m delighted when my advice, support and contacts have helped businesses develop and grow
- I’m also delighted when I see the faces of those business people when they learn something new from me; when my suggestions are taken on board and prove themselves as relevant and useful, and provide solutions to problems
- I love hearing “I couldn’t have done this without your advice”, “You’ve completely changed my perspective” or “I would never have believed I could have done this so quickly and easily”
- This is another hideous phrase, but I do love ‘giving something back’
I’ve done mentoring in various guises throughout the years,
from being the first mentor in the Women
in Housing scheme to Ride the Wave from Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce over the last couple of years.
Sometimes through mentoring, people find the right thing
for them is to move on from their jobs because they’re in the wrong place. That
sounds negative, but it’s actually incredibly powerful and positive because
often they’ve been stuck in a rut or just stuck generally, and they realise
why.
I find I'm mentoring clients frequently too. It's part of helping their businesses be successful. As PR and communications should be core to every business, taking a strategic look as we do for our clients means sometimes mentoring is a useful by-product.
Mentoring isn’t about me doing it for you. It’s about
empowering you to make the changes yourself, opening up your mind to other
possibilities, and generally being there so you don’t feel so isolated.
