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6 THINGS YOU NEED
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.
FANNIE LOYOLA
FANNIE LOYOLA
Fannie Loyola got her start in the mortgage industry almost nine years ago when the loan officer who was helping her finance her own home suggested she would be good at it. It didn’t take long for her to realize that there was a strong
need in the Hispanic market. “I began to see that many of my clients felt completely lost when it came to trying to buy a home. Many of them did not speak English, and even when they did, they encountered cultural differences that prevented them from understanding the process.”
Having lived in Mexico City until she was twenty six, Fannie understood both the language and the culture of the clients she was serving. This allowed her to bridge that cultural gap to help clients realize their dream of home ownership. “I first had to educate them on a lot of things, such as the proper form of a down payment or the dangers of cosigning on a loan for another person.” Some of her clients had to navigate processes of immigration, proving their legal status in order to buy a home, and Fannie helped with that too. Fannie began to see herself as an advocate for the Hispanic community, and she began conducting first-timehomebuyer seminars tailored to them.
She also began training her other loan officers on how to serve the community’s specific needs. “We do the normal loans, of course, but also many other kinds. We do portfolio loans for people who just lost their home, or foreign loans for people who want to invest in the US but who do not live here.”
Fannie credits the success of her business to the trust she has built with her clients. Ninety percent of new business now comes directly from referrals, leaving little need for marketing. Her staff helps her manage new clients, and she is able to get back to new leads within minutes of receiving a call. Her office follows up with both clients and realtors at least once a week.
Fannie is now a branch manager. Her main office is in Mundelein, with two more in Chicago
and another in Woodstock. She knows there are many, many more clients out there that need the experience and knowledge she has to offer, and hopes to open more offices in order to reach them. “I love to help those people who
think it is impossible to buy a home. It isn’t! They just have to learn how to do it, and I will teach them.” When she isn’t working, Fannie enjoys singing and working out, but she most cherishes the time she gets to spend with her two little girls.
Want to find out more about Fannie? You can contact her office at 224-360-6994, direct at 815-499-5111, or by email at FLoyola@prmg.net. http://www.justingrable.comThe office fax is 321-251-2118.
