Blog | Personal development

Why you Need Mentors to Succeed

I have to credit many mentors and coaches in my success. One thing I have learned is successful leaders and entrepreneurs have different mentors and coaches for different areas of their businesses..

A good mentor inspires you, pushes you and helps you connect to other great people. They help you open your mind and prepare you for your next chapter.

I can name four that helped me and my husband Josh as we developed a chain of treatment centers, then led us to create Warriors Heart for first responders with addictions and PTSD.

By the way, there is still one that I hope to rope in for private lunch one day. You’ll read about him at the end of this article.

So, how do you find your mentors?

Talk to a Leader in Your Field

My husband Josh was still in rehab for his alcohol addiction when Chris Spencer, the founder of the facility, planted the seed that Josh could set up his own center.

Josh asked Chris if he was serious about mentorship, and that started our 16-year relationship with him. He opened the doors to building a facility, policy and procedures and licensing.

We still talk to this day about trends, what is going on in the insurance world and other ideas. Addiction is our competition, not other facilities. We love to work with other facilities as we all have referrals, and one facility may work better for one client than another.

It’s not what you know but who you know. With a well-connected mentor, their network becomes your network.

Stay in Touch over Time

Chris’s belief in Josh gave him the confidence to build his business, which is now a highly respected organization focused on addiction and PTSD recovery for veterans.

Chris knew Josh would be going back to working in a nightclub environment, if he didn’t find another path. If he went back, it would only be a matter of time before he started drinking again.

Chris saw a different future for us and helped us realize this dream we didn’t even know we had.

Get into Rooms with Inspiring People

I met sales and leadership trainer Blair Singer, at a seminar, and he has since become an invaluable mentor and friend.

I’ve had some of my biggest breakthroughs with him at his events. At one of his leadership trainings years ago, Blair got down to the heart of what was holding me back.

It was not easy to go through, in front of a room of strangers, but the A-HAs and work that I did at that moment really empowered me to be a better me leader and business owner.

Seminars bring together experts in specific fields, which makes them a fantastic place to make connections that can propel your personal and business development forward.

Those connections may not come from where you expect, either. We get feedback all the time after our events that the people in the room were as inspiring (if not more!) than those on stage.

Read Then Reach Out!

A mentor may not be someone you’ve met in person. When you read a book or an article that speaks to you, you can reach out to the author. That’s what we did with authors Robert and Kim Kiyosaki, who have been big mentors to us.

When Josh was fresh out of rehab, we were given the “Rich Dad Poor Dad” book. Robert Kiyosaki’s bestselling book started our road to financial education with new skills that we are not taught in school.

Without the Kiyosakis, it would have been a much steeper learning curve when writing and publishing The Social Capitalist. I’ve also been blessed to speak internationally with Kim Kiyosaki (Rich Dad Company CoFounder, Author of “Rich Woman” and Real Estate Investor) to women on entrepreneur success tips.

Dream Big and Learn from Those Who Dream Bigger

While I have met and learned from some amazing people, I’d love to have private breakfast or lunch with Sir Richard Branson.

I think he is a brilliant entrepreneur and philanthropist, who has fun while doing it all. I always look at how can I play a bigger game -- do more as a business, do more good in the world and expand my thinking.

Sir Branson does all of this, while controlling 400 companies, and it looks effortless. I know it is not as effortless as it looks, but I admire what he does and the person he seems to be.