Venture Mentoring Service of Alberta’s Post

Transcript

The programs for those entrepreneurs that are in growth mode, So they've established their business, they know what they're doing and they're ready for that growth trajectory. It has a very unique model compared to other organizations where it's 3 mentors to 1 mentee, which is really unique because you get such a broad range of perspectives and experiences and contributions. And it's interesting because we're working on the entrepreneur, not the business. So it's really focusing on the driver, not the vehicle. For me, it feels like entrepreneurial therapy. Basically, you go there, you get to talk about your problems that you're having, the things that you're thinking about, the things that you might not necessarily tell a customer, an employee, an investor. And it's just this kind of safe place for entrepreneurship to have those conversations. They're not really there to tell you how to run your business. They're really focusing on you as the driver and how you are within that business as a leader and how can how can they help you? Become better as a leader, as a race car driver. It's an authentic relationship where, again, they have the vested interest in what you're doing for the right reasons. So just like any good relationship, they're going to be honest and they're going to tell you all the good stuff and they're going to tell you things they see that need work. It can feel uncomfortable sometimes because you're not just being given the answer. You're, you know, saying a problem and they're asking you. Questions, They're kind of trying to help you come to your own conclusion versus giving you all the answers yourself, which you know you really wouldn't learn anything if that was the way it was. V MSA helps you kind of work through those leadership challenges so that you can kind of learn these things about, you know, how to become a better leader over time. What we're going to do is sit down with you and help you reveal the way that you want to take the hill. Mentees need to be coachable. And what I mean by that is they have to be open minded. It doesn't mean that you're listening to what people are saying and and following through with everything. It means that you're willing to hear different perspectives and you're willing to say, yeah, I'm going to get this done, focus on it. You need courage, but also to be vulnerable and to be open and honest and be willing to share. We were expecting people to have the maturity and the ability to think, to actually react to the questions we're asking, but internalize these questions looking at what will I do with this. How will I grow from this? What am I going to change, implement, you know, something in my business? So you look, that's the coachability aspect. So I'm going to can think reflect. ACT rejects some ideas but is cautious about that. Receiving coaching is to allow you to sort of just hold on for a second and say, am I on the path that I want to be on? Am I choosing this consciously? Then these people who get to hold me accountable by asking me some questions to say this is where we see you. Is this where you want to be? I can't imagine a time when it wouldn't be valuable in anyone's life.