I’m the founder of a growing, exciting and ever-changing start-up, The Secret Event Service. We’re just over a year old and I must say I have loved (almost) every single second of creating the company. As we’ve hit a pivotal point in the creation of SES, it’s got me thinking about my mentorship journey.
If I can tell you anything about setting up on your own, it’s that you will need to be surrounded by brilliant people and lots of them! Not one person will be able to help you with every single thing, however many people will be able to give you some really good advice. I would like to temperament this by saying that there are lots of people who will also give you advice that they have no authority to give. Choose wisely who you take advice from and think about the intentions of the other person in giving you that advice when you do.
I have one mentor who I reach out to on a regular basis, who is a trusted friend, and non-executive director at SES, and I’m catching up with her on Friday. So, I wanted to share with you before that meeting 5 of the questions I have decided I need to ask her as we head into the final quarter of 2019.
1. What habits do I need to be performing daily to increase my outputs?
I want to restructure how I’m managing my days and my workload. I know that my mentor has managed significant projects and teams so will have some good experience of how to do this effectively.
2. How can I ensure that I remain focused all day and are able to switch off on an evening?
I really struggle to retain my concentration in the afternoon just after lunch, but I’m alert and ready to work again by 3pm. I want to know if there are any ways to increase my brain capacity in the hours I currently feel like I’m losing or are there ‘easy’ jobs I can slot into this time that will help me to still be productive?
3. What do I need to be doing differently? What new skills do I need to perfect?
My mentor knows me and my personality really well. She knows what I’ll be avoiding and should just outsource/pass on to the team, and what I need to do myself. I want her brutally honest opinion on what I am failing to do currently so that I can fix it before it becomes a problem. In addition to this, I don’t just want to focus on the negatives – I want to look at my potential growth here too!
4. Who can you introduce me to?
We’re a growing business and we’re focusing heavily on finding new clients as well as retaining our current client base. I want to know if there’s anyone who my mentor knows who she can make a warm introduction to, that could help us on the path to finding new clients.
5. How do I manage my creativity without making vast changes to my plan on a daily basis?
I have so many ideas, some good, some that should be left alone. What do I need to be concentrating on? How do I manage to think up these good ideas without being distracted by them? My mentor is also a creative thinker so I’m hoping her points here are going to help in the ongoing development of the structure at SES.
This blog is one in a series of 4 blogs I will be posting over the course of the next month. Next week you will be able to read about Making the Most of your Connections: How to Build Relationships at Events. If you have any questions or comments, you can contact me directly on kate@secreteventservice.comor 0113 4874900.