Most of what I learned or recalled from the people who took me under their wings, was a single quote, a shared experience, a story, or a good conversation. It was almost never the technical training that served me the most. It was the act of sitting there and listening that made me a better decision-maker. By listening, I learned ways of thinking, speaking, and approaching problems, that I would not have stumbled across by trial and error.
By paying attention to the people who came before me, I learned how to move in different circles and navigate the business landscape as if I had been there for decades. You must take the time to listen to your mentors and internalize the best advice and habits; if they get the idea that their words start to fall on deaf ears, they may abandon the relationship.
I leave you with what I consider to be required reading on Mentorship, from Virgin Group founder Richard Branson as well as a quote about the philanthropic billionaire from the famous performance coach, Brendon Burchard:
I’ve seen that phenomenally successful people believe they can learn something from everybody. I call them ‘mavericks with mentors.’ Richard Branson, for instance, is a total maverick but he surrounds himself with incredibly successful, smart people and he listens to them.