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Beginning carders often lack advice from a more experienced colleague. Valuable information can be obtained from courses and mentors, but this is a one-time event that will not help make the right decision in force majeure situations.
In order to always receive valuable advice and adopt experience, they resort to finding a mentor. But immediately after an idea arises, questions arise: do I need one? And if so, where to look? Let's look into all the issues in more detail.
The definition comes from ancient Greek mythology. The mentor was a friend of Odysseus, looked after his home and farm, and raised his son Telemachus. Many years later, the word became a household word, and began to mean “mentor, educator, mature wisdom.”
It is often confused with “tutor.” Yes, they are similar and have the same goals — to teach and share experience. But if we consider working methods, the difference is big.
The mentor’s job is to teach how to do something. If you get a job as a product manager in a large company, you are given a more experienced specialist as a mentor, who shows how, for example, to organize the work of a team, and asks you to do the same. That is, he teaches you to follow the beaten path.
A mentor has a different approach — sharing his own experience. For example, he tells you what methods and tools he used to competently organize the work of a team, allowing you to achieve maximum efficiency. Based on this, he expects you to come up with your own way to achieve your goal. During the training, he shows, gives answers to questions, but never interferes with work.
Never confuse a mentor with the following specialists:
Mentoring began to gain popularity with the development of carding. After all, what is a carding in essence? It is an enterprising carder with an idea and (in most cases) a lack of any business experience or special education. He knows "what", but has no idea "how".
To cover the gap in knowledge about organizing a business, startuppers attract mentors. By the way, back in 2014, The Village conducted an interesting study: they analyzed the main reasons for the closure of young companies and came to the conclusion that only one is related to product errors. Everything else is the lack of certain knowledge of the founder and the team.
Mentoring applies not only to carders, but also to other specialties, including product managers. Although if we draw parallels, both areas are very similar. After all, what does a product manager do? Organizes a team to implement a new product, just like a carder.
A carder is chosen as a mentor, who has many successful projects and a huge number of mistakes behind him. He will closely observe the mentee, answer his questions and share his experience, and, if necessary, give valuable advice. This will minimize the number of errors at the stage of implementing the first products and will allow you to achieve the set results faster.
There is a stereotype that only beginners need a mentor. This is only partly a misconception.
Often, carders face difficulties, which spoils their mood and the desire to work further disappears. An experienced mentor will act as a support in such a situation: he will support you in a difficult situation, help you calm down and get back on track.
Another key difference between a mentor and a tutor is that they provide free assistance. Mentors charge money for their services, while a mentor is a story about sharing experience. After all, while teaching a mentee, he also gains new knowledge and discovers new competencies.
For example, you are both experienced carders, but have always worked in different areas. You can share knowledge about your areas with each other. An excellent option for mutually beneficial cooperation.
The student decides for himself how to thank the teacher. Someone pays with money after achieving success, someone gives a share in the product, and someone shares their knowledge and experience in return.
Finding a mentor is not as easy as it may seem at first glance. If you are just starting out as a product manager, in order to find an experienced specialist to give you advice, you need to find something to interest them in. In this regard, it is difficult to give specific advice because each person is an individual. Get to know your colleague better and then you will understand what you can interest them in.
Here are a few places to narrow your search:
Sometimes among our friends and acquaintances there are specialists who are ready to share their experience and secrets. Take a short break and look around carefully. Perhaps there is someone you are so persistently looking for in your environment.
Before making a final choice, look at the characteristics of a good mentor:
Pay special attention to the penultimate point. If a person only talks about victories, most likely, he is just a braggart. In learning, an important role is played by the analysis of other people's defeats and mistakes. Often, this is even more useful than listening to someone else's experience of victory.
A mentor is not a tutor or a teacher, but a person who shares the experience of his victories and defeats. He will not tell you how to act correctly in a given situation, he will only share his experience and leave the decision to you. Carders and other specialists need such a person to develop in the profession and achieve their goals.
In order to always receive valuable advice and adopt experience, they resort to finding a mentor. But immediately after an idea arises, questions arise: do I need one? And if so, where to look? Let's look into all the issues in more detail.
Who is a mentor?
The definition comes from ancient Greek mythology. The mentor was a friend of Odysseus, looked after his home and farm, and raised his son Telemachus. Many years later, the word became a household word, and began to mean “mentor, educator, mature wisdom.”
It is often confused with “tutor.” Yes, they are similar and have the same goals — to teach and share experience. But if we consider working methods, the difference is big.
The mentor’s job is to teach how to do something. If you get a job as a product manager in a large company, you are given a more experienced specialist as a mentor, who shows how, for example, to organize the work of a team, and asks you to do the same. That is, he teaches you to follow the beaten path.
A mentor has a different approach — sharing his own experience. For example, he tells you what methods and tools he used to competently organize the work of a team, allowing you to achieve maximum efficiency. Based on this, he expects you to come up with your own way to achieve your goal. During the training, he shows, gives answers to questions, but never interferes with work.
Never confuse a mentor with the following specialists:
- Teacher. Teaches what and how to do, using a pedagogical approach. His task is to give the maximum possible theoretical knowledge about certain processes.
- Trainer. Tells about a certain technology for performing a particular action and helps to consolidate its use in practice.
- Coach. Uses your internal resources and experience to teach you something.
- Expert . Evaluates situations in certain areas based on their knowledge and experience.
- Consultant. Provides advice on changing the situation in accordance with current circumstances.
Why do you need a mentor?
Mentoring began to gain popularity with the development of carding. After all, what is a carding in essence? It is an enterprising carder with an idea and (in most cases) a lack of any business experience or special education. He knows "what", but has no idea "how".
To cover the gap in knowledge about organizing a business, startuppers attract mentors. By the way, back in 2014, The Village conducted an interesting study: they analyzed the main reasons for the closure of young companies and came to the conclusion that only one is related to product errors. Everything else is the lack of certain knowledge of the founder and the team.
Mentoring applies not only to carders, but also to other specialties, including product managers. Although if we draw parallels, both areas are very similar. After all, what does a product manager do? Organizes a team to implement a new product, just like a carder.
A carder is chosen as a mentor, who has many successful projects and a huge number of mistakes behind him. He will closely observe the mentee, answer his questions and share his experience, and, if necessary, give valuable advice. This will minimize the number of errors at the stage of implementing the first products and will allow you to achieve the set results faster.
Do I need a mentor if I've been working as a Carder for 3 years?
There is a stereotype that only beginners need a mentor. This is only partly a misconception.
Often, carders face difficulties, which spoils their mood and the desire to work further disappears. An experienced mentor will act as a support in such a situation: he will support you in a difficult situation, help you calm down and get back on track.
How much do mentor services cost?
Another key difference between a mentor and a tutor is that they provide free assistance. Mentors charge money for their services, while a mentor is a story about sharing experience. After all, while teaching a mentee, he also gains new knowledge and discovers new competencies.
For example, you are both experienced carders, but have always worked in different areas. You can share knowledge about your areas with each other. An excellent option for mutually beneficial cooperation.
The student decides for himself how to thank the teacher. Someone pays with money after achieving success, someone gives a share in the product, and someone shares their knowledge and experience in return.
Where to find a mentor?
Finding a mentor is not as easy as it may seem at first glance. If you are just starting out as a product manager, in order to find an experienced specialist to give you advice, you need to find something to interest them in. In this regard, it is difficult to give specific advice because each person is an individual. Get to know your colleague better and then you will understand what you can interest them in.
Here are a few places to narrow your search:
- Business accelerators. Good projects always attract attention. Use an accelerator as a springboard: prepare a presentation and show it to a hundred potential mentors at once. At least one out of a hundred will be interested for sure.
- Professional communities. Development of a Carder is impossible without participation in thematic events. Visit conferences, exhibitions, forums, etc. Be an active participant and then you will interest a more experienced colleague.
- Special platforms. There are special online services that help mentors and tutors meet. The platform opens up the opportunity to communicate with a large number of experienced product managers and choose the one with whom you find a common language.
- Courses. When taking training programs, you can ask one of the teachers to become a mentor after completing the training. For example, each student is assigned a teacher, who can be contacted at any time with a question or request.
- List of carding teams. A collection of all sorts of organizations involved in creating projects helps find contacts of experienced product managers. Next, a personal dialogue via Telegram or Jabber with an offer to become a mentor.
Sometimes among our friends and acquaintances there are specialists who are ready to share their experience and secrets. Take a short break and look around carefully. Perhaps there is someone you are so persistently looking for in your environment.
Before making a final choice, look at the characteristics of a good mentor:
- treats the ward with respect and perceives him as an equal;
- always listens and tries not to impose his own opinion;
- helps to organize joint activities;
- openly talks about both victories and defeats;
- aimed at development, gaining new knowledge and experience from the mentor.
Pay special attention to the penultimate point. If a person only talks about victories, most likely, he is just a braggart. In learning, an important role is played by the analysis of other people's defeats and mistakes. Often, this is even more useful than listening to someone else's experience of victory.
A mentor is not a tutor or a teacher, but a person who shares the experience of his victories and defeats. He will not tell you how to act correctly in a given situation, he will only share his experience and leave the decision to you. Carders and other specialists need such a person to develop in the profession and achieve their goals.
