Welcome to another Ask Katrina. This is episode two in this little mini-series that we’re doing, providing the second answer to the question:
“Hey, Katrina, what are the first actions I need to take in order to add value?”
What are the first things I need to do as a first-year female executive?
In the last episode, we talked about mindset. (Go check it out if you haven’t seen it.)
Today’s episode is all about the action you should take next, or second.
The answer is find a mentor.
Your Second Action: Get a Mentor
Maybe that’s not what you thought I was going to say.
But action number two, once you’re mentally ready to take in the knowledge, once you’re ready to step into who you’re meant to be as an executive, is you’ve got to find someone who’s going to help you get there.
You are the hero in your own story, there is no one here to save you, you don’t need saving, you’ve never needed saving.
This is not about saving you, you can save yourself. What you need is a guide to help you get where you want to be.
With the knowledge your mentor has, because they’ve successfully navigated this path before, they’re going to be the guide to help you get where you want to be.
Having a guide is the fastest way to accomplish anything.
If you think about any other part of your life, you’re always following a guide.
A guide could be a recipe in the kitchen.
A guide could be a trainer in the gym.
A guide could be someone who is teaching you how to decorate your home.
We have guides everywhere, right?
We don’t consider Pinterest or YouTube a guide, but even Pinterest is a resource that we go to to learn how to decorate and do fun things and cook great recipes, right?
Your career is no different.
No doubt you have had mentors throughout your career to help you get where you are today.
But suddenly, when we get into the executive ranks, we start to feel a need to prove ourselves.
We typically look around us, we see everyone else doing just fine, and we think to ourselves, “Well, if everything is okay, and everyone else is okay, I must be the problem. So let me just solve this as quickly as possible.”
Because we don’t want the embarrassment that comes with not knowing or with feeling like we are raising our hands and asking the question that we feel like everyone else already has the answer to.
So again, step number two is once our minds are right, and we’re back to being the confident person we’ve always been, we have to have a person to teach us the skillsets.
We must have a person to close the gap on the 20% of career success. (Remember, last week we said that 80% of success is our psychology.)
We also must be willing to raise our hand and say, “I don’t know how to do this. And I’m okay with not knowing. I’m not okay with it taking 12 months to learn it. So I’m getting a mentor to speed up my timeline.”
Step 2: find a mentor.
Now, how do you find a mentor?
There are a couple of ways to do that.
Number one is in the place where you work. There’s someone who has been successful, there’s someone that you trust. Go ask them to mentor you.
The other thing that you can do, if you don’t want to ask someone at work, is to find someone external from your organization to mentor you, or guide you.
Now, that could be a mentor like me or someone in Legend Leaders. We come alongside you, we take you through a program, and we help you get the results you want with speed.
The bottom line is to find a mentor.
Don’t try to navigate your executive career on your own.
Execute with speed.
Don’t guess.
That’s what you’ve got to do.
So if you want me and the Legend Leaders team to come alongside you, I would be beyond happy to do that. Click the link here to schedule a call or go ahead and join the next cohort of our program.
The bottom line is step 2: get a mentor.
Join me next week for the third and final fast action item to complete upon becoming an executive leader.