6 THINGS YOU

6 Things You Need to Do to Be a Great Mentor

Everyone reaches the point in their career where they feel they have gained enough experience and wisdom about business and what it takes to succeed, to actually help someone else achieve the same. Although you may have trained or given advice over the years, taking on the official status as a mentor to someone is a whole new ball game. Although mentorship is an unpaid endeavor, you’ll be surprised to find out how much you’ll gain from the experience. You’ll also grow as a business person through the process of teaching someone else. It’s also an endeavor that many will pay forward one day, creating a business atmosphere that is based more on mutual success than competition, which is better for everyone.

If you were mentored, you may already have an idea of what it entails, and what you liked or didn’t like in your mentor/mentee relationship. Although it is a personal relationship that will need an individual approach, there are certain things that are key when it comes to being a great mentor:

1. Be a good listener You’re basically a sounding board who needs to hear your mentee’s ideas, plans and goals in order to advise them. Strong, constant and clear communication is key to any successful mentoring relationship. Sometimes just letting them talk things out with you, will lead to them to discovering the solution they were looking for. 2. Set expectations and goals at the start When listening to your mentee in your first meeting about the potential relationship, it’s important to establish the parameters of what that relationship will be: What can you give them? What do they need or expect from you? Once the terms are agreed upon, you may want to set specific goals you’ll be working on together so that there’s a defined plan of action, timeline and result you can both expect. 3. Be honest This is important when it comes to offering them constructive criticism or tough love, but more importantly, you need to be honest about your own failures. It can be a huge relief to find out someone they look up to has gone through similar experiences and still managed to come out on top. As we all know, oftentimes the greatest lessons come from failures, which can be times when our character is truly tested. Building trust through mutual respect and honesty will make every aspect of your mentorship

more effective. 4. Get them to think, don’t make decisions for them Sometimes being a mentor is being a bit like a psychologist. By asking certain ques-

tions you can lead your mentee to their own conclusions about their business dilemmas and strategies to reach their goals. Being a mentor is all about guidance. Build confidence by drawing out the best in your mentee rather than just presenting them with solutions.

5. Look at the situation objectively One of the key strengths you offer your mentee is a complete emotional detachment to their business. You have no sentimental attachment to doing things a certain way or working with an incompetent vendor because you ‘go way back’. Your only motive is what’s best for your mentee and their business. Although emotions cans still get in the way sometimes, having a detached perspective on hand to guide you is invaluable.

6. Don’t just offer constructive criticism, be supportive Yes, being a mentor is sometimes advising your mentee that he’s doing something ineffectively, but your main purpose is to alway approach everything like cheerleader. You need to let them know that through it all, you are a reliable support to them and have a complete belief in their abilities. Make sure to always praise their accomplishments.

Remember: your job as a mentor is more about guidance than constant feedback. Your goal is to help someone become the best they can be, not someone who just does everything the way you do it. You’re helping them build confidence in their own intuition, which will hopefully lead to a lifetime of success, and one day, they too might be a valuable resource to another mentee down the road.

RICKY KHAMIS

National Business Development Manager at AmeriFirst Financial, Inc., Ricky Khamis applies his decades of experience to supervise an elite team of strategists and assist clients all over the nation.

A Veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division, Ricky Khamis has devoted his life to helping others. Following his accomplished career in the military, he was tapped to manage a Bally Total Fitness in his town. While business management proved successful for him, Ricky still yearned for a career that would allow him to give back to his community while setting aside time for his family. At the recommendation of a close friend, he decided to explore the real estate business—and the rest is history.

After learning real estate from the ground up, Ricky came to take an interest in the mortgage industry. Today, he is the National Business Development Manager

at AmeriFirst Financial, Inc. where he applies his decades of experience to supervise an elite team of strategists and assist clients all over the nation. “At AmeriFirst, I do a little bit of everything,” he says. “We have the ability to fund, service and keep a transaction in house, or broker out to a company that does bank statements or BMO Loans.” When assisting clients, Ricky and his team prefer a disciplined approach that recalls his time in the military. He extends that same attention to detail to his borrowers and partners, ensuring that their transactions run as smoothly as possible. “Everything I do has its place and order,” he says. “I coach my group a lot and hold them accountable to our metrics as a team.

“Everything I do has its place and order,” he says. “I coach my group a lot and hold them accountable to our metrics as a team. That way, our partners know exactly what they can expect and the time it will take to get things done.”

That way, our partners know exactly what they can expect and the time it will take to get things done.”

A lifelong student of the mortgage industry, Ricky maintains open channels of communication with his clients throughout the transaction, and even keeps in touch with them well after the deals are done. For his expertise and depth of experience, he has earned a tremendous reputation in the industry, with the vast majority of his volume coming from referrals by partners, builders and clients. “When I get into something, I go all in and learn every aspect of what I’m doing,” he says. “This has been true throughout my life—whether I was earning training certifications at my gym or staying on the cutting edge of the real estate market. Today, that’s why I’m a turndown lender for three different builders in my area; they know they can come to me after nobody else can figure it out.”

Outside his career, Ricky is tremendously active within his community. In particular, he contributes to causes for children in need, donating to area schools, little leagues and charity organizations that save those who lack the means to save themselves. When he’s not serving clients or giving back, Ricky, a father of five, enjoys traveling with his beloved family.

Going forward, Ricky has strong plans for his business. In the future, he intends on building on his momentum and staff, with a goal of servicing the largest region of any mortgage company in the country. “There’s no ceiling of achievement in this industry,” he says. “You can go as high as you want to go, and I thrive on that. At the end of the day, everything boils down to getting the deal done for that special family who was told no multiple times by multiple lenders.”

To learn more about Ricky Khamis please call (480) 270-8687, email rick@amerifirst.us, or visit

http://www.justingrable.com

www.KGAFI.com