Mentorship As A Ladder
I like to think of mentorship as a ladder.
You occupy one rung on the ladder. Others occupy rungs ahead of you and below you.
The best version of mentorship partners people at different rungs of the ladder helping one another climb.
As you reach for the next rung, the guy 2–3 rungs ahead of you can offer a ton of direct and relevant feedback to help you make the jump. As you consider how far you hope to climb, the guy 10 rungs up can help you remain focused and motivated.
But the guys below you on the ladder are also important. The best mentorship treats the ladder as a conduit for helping everyone advance.
Everyone reaches ahead, and as they ascend everyone reaches back down to help the next person advance, too.
This reciprocity cannot be understated.
The best way to help yourself is to help others. The best way to get other people to help you is to help them first.
This goes both directions.
Want to find a mentor? Find someone farther ahead of you on the journey you want to take. Find a way to be valuable to them. Find a way to help them climb their ladder. They’ll show you how to climb.
It’s more than a transaction. It’s a mutually-beneficial partnership.
The same goes for acting as a mentor, too.
Don’t seek out people to mentor. Find people who have a problem you can solve. Maybe they need advice. Or encouragement. Or capital. Or connections from your network. Help them any way you can.
If there was ever an unspoken rule to mentorship it would be this:
As you climb, don’t forget to extend a hand down to the people behind you. It’ll make them better. But it’ll make you better, too.
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Mitchell Earl is the Chief Operating Officer at Praxis, a career mentorship program that’s helped thousands of entrepreneurial young adults start successful careers without college. He writes regularly about how young adults can take agency over their lives, careers, and money. His work has been read by millions across the globe. He is the host of The Career Bound Podcast, and author of Don’t Do Stuff You Hate.
