Working
with a mentor, one-on-one to help you develop
your advocacy practice, can be a huge benefit to
you. From helping you understand the big picture
of advocacy business, to helping you refine your
services, to rolling out your abilities to the
public who will hire you, having a mentor coach
you through the required steps can make a huge
difference in your ability to make your practice
successful.
The mentors aligned
with the Alliance of Professional Health
Advocates are focused on helping you build a
practice. The help you need may be about running
a business (marketing, operations, financial,
legal) or it may be about the services you offer
(client services, advocacy strategies) - but the
bottom line is that you are developing an
advocacy practice, not just “being an advocate.”
It’s important
you understand what a mentor is and what he or
she can do for you.
A mentor is a teacher, guide, facilitator and
resource - someone who helps you ask the right
questions, and seek the answers from the right
places. A mentor knows where you can get the
help you need for tasks like developing your
contracts, creating a business or marketing
plan, or choosing the right insurance. But be
clear: the mentor won’t do these things for you.
Your mentor will teach you and guide you to do
them yourself.
Are You Ready to
Work with a Mentor?
Here are some questions to ask yourself to
determine whether you are ready to benefit from
working with a mentor: |
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Where are you in your
practice development? If you are just
getting started, then you may not yet be ready
to invest in mentor services. If, however,
you have done some homework, figured out the
gaps in your knowledge, and formulated a list of
those skills you need to develop, then a mentor
might be exactly the right answer for you. |
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Are you ready to
invest in yourself?
Hiring a mentor is an investment - not an
expense. Mentors offer a service - just like
you as a private advocate will - and should be
paid well for their service to you. |
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Are you prepared to
do your homework? Some mentors will help
you by giving you assignments. Just like taking
a college course or showing up for your gym
membership - engaging with a mentor is a
responsibility. They can’t help you become
professional and proficient if you aren’t
diligent about completing assignments on time.
There are no shortcuts. |
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What are your
expectations from the relationship? For
example: if you think of mentoring as a quick
fix, you will likely be disappointed. Mentors
aren’t band-aids; they are
foundation-strengtheners. If your expectation is
that you’ll work with a mentor, and instantly
begin making money, or that clients will flock
to your phone or email, you’ll probably be in
for an unpleasant surprise. Your expectations
need to be about long-term, not short-term gain. |
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How to Choose the Right Mentor
Choosing the right
mentor requires some preparation to be sure you
know what you want and need, and that the mentor
you choose will be the right one for you. |
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1. |
Do your gap analysis
- your needs
assessment. This will help you set your goals
for working with your mentor. Just like you
would do a gap analysis to decide what
educational courses to take, you can do the same
to prepare for mentoring. The only difference is
that you will want to be far more specific for a
mentor. Taking a college course can help with
the big picture. But the benefit to working with
a mentor is getting the fine details worked out.
Here is how to
do your gap analysis. |
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2. |
Your gap
analysis should
produce a list of needs: questions and
tasks you need to overcome, or develop, or
accomplish - with assistance, of course. So your
second preparation step is to group those
questions and tasks by similarities (for
example, you might have three items that relate
to marketing and two more that relate to
financials). |
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3. |
Prioritize your needs
as best you can. If you have trouble
prioritizing them, then that might be something
your new mentor can help you with. |
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4. |
Finally, develop
specific questions to ask a mentor during
the interview process. The
questions on the
next page will be a start, but you’ll need
to ask questions specific to your needs, too. |
| Now you
are prepared to begin interviewing potential
mentors. |
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Next: Interview
Questions for You to Ask Potential Mentors |
