The Pleasures of Being a Mentor

In this article, the author recalls the mentors who have made a difference in his life and the reason why he enjoys mentoring young entrepreneurs.

At Significant Systems, one of our true passions is mentoring. While we aren’t “official” mentors, we do enjoy helping young entrepreneurs build their skillset in order to thrive in today’s world. With mentoring, the benefits are win-win for both individuals involved – both the mentor and the mentee. We as the mentors learn so much from their passion, innovations, inquisitiveness, and fresh viewpoints and opinions. The mentee, in return, gets to learn from the wisdom of someone who has been in their shoes before.

When I was young, I was a musician. Playing the trumpet was my passion, but I also wanted to become a businessman. There were a few different mentors over the years who made a significant difference in my life, both from a business perspective and from a spiritual perspective. To this day, I am so grateful for those “unofficial” mentorships. One of my mentors was William C. Turner, who has served on 30 Fortune 100 boards during his lifetime. Another mentor was Lou Falcino, the inventor of the closed-circuit television and pay-per-view television, as well as a controller of heavyweight boxing in New York and New Jersey. Pastor Tommy Barnett, another one of my mentors, was the pastor at Phoenix Assembly of God Church. I also experienced the opportunity to be mentored by Dr. Bill Wright, who founded Campus Crusade for Christ International (CRU). My wife and I also had marriage counselors who have helped our marriage thrive for over 33 years. There are numerous other individuals who have played important roles in my life and in my development as an entrepreneur. Everyone has the opportunity to be a mentor to someone at some point in his or her life. Seize that opportunity because helping others is the most rewarding thing you can do in life.

I often think about what it is that makes some entrepreneurs so successful, while others end up spinning their wheels and eventually getting “a real job.” Steve Jobs has been quoted as saying, “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”

Many of the individuals I have had the opportunity to mentor refer to themselves as serial entrepreneurs – creative people who love to entrepreneur (verb). The successful entrepreneur has to be laser-focused on their corporate mission, and they have to be seriously passionate about the project. They also have to constantly reevaluate their path, and of course provide high value to the marketplace. Jumping from project to project does not mean you are a serial entrepreneur.  You will undoubtedly have many failures before you reach the success that you seek. Even Steve Jobs was not a serial entrepreneur. He stayed dedicated and passionate about Apple -- a company that has changed the world on an exponential level. And although Apple is known for producing a variety of products – computers, laptops, ipods, ipads, iphones – it is still only one company.