The Lineage of Mentorship

I just got a new business mentor. I’ll tell you about her in a moment, but I want you to know where I’m coming from first.
 
My first real mentor was an operational expert. Denis had already turned around several huge industrial companies. He was on the team featured in “Good to Great” (the Kimberly-Clark story). Then he led an employee buyout of a huge lumber producer. Then he turned around our local steel mill. Then he decided to leave a legacy by mentoring five local entrepreneurs before he retired. I was one.
 
In 2008, I thought I needed more marketing. What I really needed was to turn my project into a profitable business. Denis did that, I wrote a book about it, and life’s been better because of it. The changes I made with Denis’ mentorship are what make my lifestyle possible today, ten full years later.
 
My second mentor was growth-focused. Dan helped me take TwoBrain from infancy to a multi-million-dollar worldwide movement. We have powerful mentors on three continents, and nearly 500 clients. We’re attracting entrepreneurs outside the gym industry. Our processes aren’t perfect (yet) but they create a LOT of joy for our clients, and most say we change their lives.
 
Now, with a huge team of big thinkers, I know I need to grow as a leader. So I sought the mentorship of Marcy Swenson, and the team is already seeing the benefits.
 
I met Marcy in San Francisco a few months ago. She was the mentor for my own mentor at the time, and I immediately recognized the reason: she’s very different from Dan (and very, very different from me.) I’ll share her lessons soon.
 
Each builds on the one before. Marcy’s lessons, in 2008, wouldn’t have saved my gym. But they’re exactly what I need NOW.
 
What’s really important here is that every mentor I have–or have ever had–has had a mentor.
 
In fact, every successful person in any field has a mentor. Usually a formal, paid mentor.
 
You can read “Why Millionaires Have Mentors” here, if you want more on that topic. And here’s another take: “Every Millionaire Has A Mentor“. Don’t take my word for it, either: read “5 Reasons Even Billionaires Seek Out Mentors” on Inc.com.
 
All of the mentors at TwoBrain have mentors. Some of the more senior mentors at TwoBrain have more than one. Some of us pay more than $50,000 per year to outside mentorship programs. We learn what we can, and we bring it back to the TwoBrain family. We ratchet up our curriculum, our skill as mentors, and our client experience all the time. We can do that, because we have mentors.
 
Mentorship is the umbrella.  Under that umbrella are courses, workshops, and masterminds. Ideas, tactics, mindset: all fall under the umbrella of mentorship. Books, videos, facebook groups, ideas…they can all be part of the plan you build with your mentor.
 
If you’re in business, you need a mentor. The only question should be, “Which one is best for me right now?”
 
We do hundreds of calls every year with entrepreneurs seeking a mentor. We invite around 30% of them into our program (with over 20 TwoBrain mentors now, it’s easier to find perfect matches). If you’re seeking a mentor, here are the top ten questions you should ask:
 

1. Who is YOUR mentor?
   Because if they’re selling mentorship and don’t have a mentor…that’s kinda like lying.
2. Who have you helped?
3. Who do you work best with?
4. Who do you typically turn down?
5. How much contact should I expect?
6. What will I do between calls?
7. How will you help me sort my ideas and build a plan?
8. What’s the first thing I need to do right NOW?
9. How can I learn more about your ideas and style?
10. What have you screwed up?

 
If you can only ask two, take the first and the last. Nothing says “false prophet” like a mentor without a lineage or history of mistakes.
 
Powerful mentorship comes from a lineage. When one successful person distills their knowledge and passes it along, its value multiples. When the next in line adds their own expensive knowledge and mistakes, the value of their mentorship compounds again. And again and again, down the line. That’s exponentially powerful. I’m thrilled to have a long lineage of mentorship behind our team, and we choose future mentors from within the TwoBrain family for the same reason.
 
Ready to start with a TwoBrain-certified mentor? Click here to book a free call.