How do I get the most from my mentors and advisers?

I was at a meeting with investors and entrepreneurs and this question was raised. It can be a major issue and entrepreneurs can upset their mentors and advisers if they consistently disregard the advice given to them.

From the adviser/mentor perspective, there is a lot of concern when entrepreneurs don’t listen to advice.

Here’s my experience…

As part of my contribution to the world of entrepreneurs I have voluntarily participated on many panels and mentor groups to advise entrepreneurs. As well, I have been on boards and mentored many early stage companies and have been paid for the role.

Let’s talk about the volunteer positions.

I have mixed feelings from these volunteer panel groups. Firstly, the entrepreneurs tended to treat these meetings a little casually. Sometimes not preparing well enough and not following up on agreed actions from the previous meeting. Sometimes I wouldn’t get the papers until meeting day, often at the actual meeting.

That is simply disrespectful.

We all know that life in a start-up is hectic and plans change. That, in itself, is not a problem. The problem arises when mentors and advisers expect a certain result only to hear at the following meeting that plans were changed.

That really annoys me. I at least expect an email to let me know what was happening. In fact, I resigned from one position because this just happened too often.

And I don’t expect all my advice to be taken. None of us do. However, I do expect entrepreneurs to actively debate and put alternate views forward when they don’t agree.

Anything less is a waste of my time and the time of everyone in the meeting.

I get this casual attitude much more in ‘unpaid’ situations than in ‘paid’ positions. I’m not sure if it is the typical “if it’s free then maybe it’s not worth as much” attitude or maybe I just got the wrong companies on these panels.

I also think that entrepreneurs tend to be less accountable to panels. Maybe it’s because there is not a single person who’ll follow up relentlessly to make sure that plans are kept on track. Maybe it’s easier to hide in a larger group.

As mentors and advisers we want to help early stage companies and most advisers put a hell of a lot into every company they advise – way beyond what is expected of them, whether paid or unpaid.

And we don’t like wasting our time. We are too busy for that. If entrepreneurs consistently don’t take advice then you will really aggravate your mentors and advisers.

Here are some tips so that you get the most from your advisers…

If you don’t agree with a mentor then say so and discuss the issues. Don’t just agree and go off to do something different.
You may have the wrong mentor. Discuss it. We’re all very sensible and the last thing we want is to waste your time and ours.
Do what you say you’ll do.
Have regular meetings, preferably monthly, so that your mentor keeps up-to-date.
Send relevant updates between meetings if necessary, particularly if things are changing rapidly.
If you have a couple of mentors/advisers then appoint a lead adviser to take charge and coordinate the group.
Prepare thoroughly for meetings.
Make sure that mentors have all the papers ahead of time for their meetings.

Follow these guidelines and you’ll keep your advisers on side and you’ll have a more successful business.

Until next time.

Gail Geronimos, is the founder of Achaeus, which helps entrepreneurs develop their businesses and she has just started a new site https://pitchingtoinvestors.com/ with tools and tips about how to develop killer presentations to raise capital.

To read more Gail Geronimos blogs, click here.