Comments on: Business Mentors, Advisers & Coaches

By: Dennis Edell

Dennis Edell — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:20:54 +0000

@Michael Gaudet, Very well put Michael, any long term success must be a give and take.

By: Michael Gaudet

Michael Gaudet — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:26:27 +0000

@Dennis Edell, thanks Dennis. Yeah, when I stop and think about it, mentors have played a vital role in shaping my life and career. Now I am in a place where I get to pay back with some expertise of my own. For example, I meet regularly with a few friends and we paint socially. But really, it is understood that the first hour or so gets dedicated to ‘tips’. For this to really work, I think there has to be give and take.

By: Dennis Edell

Dennis Edell — Thu, 07 May 2009 22:18:02 +0000

@Michael Gaudet, Wow man, that’s a helluva story there. I love hearing of things that work out so well.

Welcome to our community here!

By: Michael Gaudet

Michael Gaudet — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:11:03 +0000

Dennis, I really enjoyed this post and especially all the stories that follow.
Like you, I have always had mentors…sometimes more consciously than others.
One of the most exciting times I have had with a mentor was when I was in the early R&D phase of my Skyaak (ring-wing glider) invention.
I sent a sample prototype to the Canada Space Agency in Ottawa when CDN astronaut Dr. Marc Garneau was president.
The CSA is a very gracious organization, as Dr. Garneau’s executive secretary personally phoned me early one morning to inform me that my package was sitting on the president’s desk and that he would be opening it later that day.
Partly for security reasons (she asked for a detailed description of the contents) and partly as a courtesy, this was one phone call I will never forget!
But the real buzz for me was the fact that Dr. Garneau and I exchanged several personal e-mails on the topic of R&D of my aeronautical design.
Marc shared some very useful information/contacts with me as well as personally steered me to senior officials at the National Research Council Aerospace Division.
You can imagine that this respect and responsiveness went a long way towards encouraging me to carry on.
I have many more stories of very helpful mentors that have been there for me throughout my career but this has got to be a highlight.

By: Dennis Edell

Dennis Edell — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:27:07 +0000

@khaled,

I couldn’t agree more. It’s so very important to get people thst are not just going to “yes” you to death.

By: Matty Byloos

Matty Byloos — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:51:15 +0000

@khaled, Totally agree with you on the idea of staying realistic about one's business goals and practices. Sounds like you had a great (and unique?) experience! Matty Byloos´s last blog post..Don’t Smell the Floss Part 1: Story Breakdown

By: khaled

khaled — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:00:54 +0000

I was lucky and had a business mentor assigned to me when I left collage, via going through a graduate to enterprise program. She used to do a very good job of trying to keep us on track and set goals, whilst being realistic, which I think is many new businesses biggest problem. Its good to have a reality check on your business ideas from someone who has lots of experience and an unbiased attitude. She also helped us to get a lot of work which was very useful when starting out and cash flow is tight.

By: Dennis Edell

Dennis Edell — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:08:24 +0000

@Brian D. Hawkins, No ego here my friend, I don’t want the responsibility.

By: Mikael

Mikael — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:03:35 +0000

@Brian, I think the worst part of it is that new people coming online are led to believe that these people are sharing "facts" when in reality their advice might set them back months or years. I'm sure there are lots of people giving up because of it. Mikael´s last blog post..How to Find the Best Adsense Ad Placement

By: Brian D. Hawkins

Brian D. Hawkins — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:40:12 +0000

@Mikael, You’re right Mikael, I just started a rant on the topic yesterday but gave up on it. I was going to point out all of these ‘SEO experts’ spamming me when their own sites have zero rank or placement. I cooled off before making myself look like an angry jerk … again lol

It doesn’t take long to see who’s lead to follow when blogging. Right here on Dennis’ blog we can find plenty of people well qualified to be mentors, including Dennis himself but we shouldn’t tell him. Don’t want to inflate his ego
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog post..Valuable Article Marketing Training by EzineArticles.com - Free!