When I worked for SkyTel, I conducted a survey of sales force excellence. As it turned out, our top-performing sales reps had only one thing in common: once they joined the company, they all sought out mentors.
Just to be clear: the company didn’t *assign* these reps a mentor. (A formal mentoring program, though often recommended, never got off the ground.) Instead, these successful reps quickly analyzed the office situation, identified someone they felt could show them the ropes, humbled themselves enough to ask for help … and, with their mentor’s guidance, achieved a higher degree of success.
Throughout my own career, I’ve had the pleasure of serving as the same sort of informal mentor from time to time. Here of late, having published a book or two, I get the occasional note from budding writers, and I try my best to offer good advice.
In the process, I’ve reached a conclusion: I, too, would like to have a mentor.
Let’s face it: while I’m adept at knocking out non-fiction, completing my first commercial novel is a struggle. I really wish there were a commerically published fiction writer I could tap on the shoulder from time to time — someone who could say, “Try more of this!” or “Consider that!”
In general, writing is a lonesome business; it would be nice to have someone there to call on for both professional and artistic feedback.
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