Astronaut John Glenn was a U.S. Marine Corps aviator, engineer, businessman, astronaut, and politician before making his mark as the third American in space and the first American to orbit earth. He is the embodiment of someone “shooting for the moon” with his personal and professional goals – and he credits a great deal of his success to the help and encouragement afforded to him along the way.
In an interview with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Glenn explains he was mentored by his high school civics teacher. “He just made [learning] come alive,” Glenn says. “I [would] look forward to his classes and I was curious about what I might be able to do. [I] never thought I’d be in high public office … but that curiosity he imbued in me led me to … the space program, and I was in the Senate for 24 years.”
“Mentor” is both a noun and a verb. You can actively mentor someone, and you yourself can be a mentor. Both are powerful roles with tangible and intangible benefits. Hence, many trades consider mentorship a “must have.” Mentors go beyond the nuts and bolts of training to provide valuable insight in a more neutral, peer-to-peer environment. Mentors can help those just entering a career see the big picture, help them forge important connections, and instill confidence in their abilities. It’s not just a feel-good pairing, either – Forbes reports 71 percent of Fortune 500 companies offer mentoring programs to their employees.
Mobile tool distributors know the value of mentorship. At times this looks like a father passing down “tools of the trade” to his son or daughter; or a district manager helping a new hire get their business off the ground. Over the years I’ve spoken with many tool dealers who were passionate about the opportunity to share hard-earned lessons – details on how they forged relationships, eased collections woes, managed their finances, sold new products, and navigated change. We've frequently profiled business owners who have each helped or recruited countless distributors through different flags, and as independents. I never found a tool dealer who regretted spending his or her time in this way.
Find a mentor, be a mentor
Mentors need not be the most experienced, oldest, or successful tool dealer. First and foremost, a mentor should be someone who respects the profession and wants to pay it forward. Someone who is willing to share how they learned from mistakes and help others to formulate a clear outlook on what they want to achieve – and how they might go about it.
Exemplary “students” are great assets, and this relationship often continues long after that professional steps off your truck or switches franchise or strikes out on their own. As a mentor, chances are you’ve left an impression along the way.
Astronaut John Glenn said of his experience, “I think a mentor gets a lot of satisfaction in a couple of ways. They’re doing something constructive, so they feel good about that. And when they see the results of this, with the young people they’re working with, it’s very, very rewarding.”
To those new to the business, I say this: Don’t pass up an opportunity to learn from the best.
To those with some miles behind them: Don’t pass on an opportunity to shape the future of your business and perhaps more importantly, give something of yourself.
Were you fortunate enough to have a mentor who impacted you? Someone who helped you to stand a little taller, work a little harder, and dream a little bigger?
Tell us your story!
