We’re all familiar with the adage ‘surround yourself with good people’. Not only does this hold relevance in your personal life, but also in your professional life too. One of the many keys to success is creating a support system that motivates you and helps you see opportunities to grow and to thrive. This means that finding the right mentor is essential, however, that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

In any particular industry, there are high profile people already doing what it is that you want to achieve. These people can often be highly sought after for their mentorship, but unfortunately no one can say yes to everything.

Does this mean that in seeking the best mentor you may have to be disappointed? Perhaps not, because we’d like to suggest that there is an alternative. Mentors come in all shapes and sizes and we believe that there is real value in finding a mentor that isn’t from your industry. Let us explain why.

When you’ve worked in a specific industry for a number of years, it’s easy to not see the wood for the trees. You can become typecast as having a particular set of skills that are for the specific thing you do. Having a mentor who isn’t in your industry can help you break away from this. They can look at what you do and see how it might apply outside of your role. It’s an opportunity to spot those transferable skills.

Not only this, but a mentor from outside your industry will also be able to help you grow those more overarching skills required for success.

When picking your mentor don’t simply look at what you might want to improve in yourself, look at what they bring to the table. Do they have a great personal brand? Are they a seasoned public speaker? Make use of their knowledge, you never know what might be relevant to your future successes.

Sometimes we can end up in an echo chamber, the same catch-ups, the same faces, the same feedback. Building a network is always beneficial. We believe that the more conversations you have, the more new and sometimes unexpected opportunities can arise. A mentor who isn’t in your industry can help with this by unlocking a whole new audience, and this could mean potential new partnerships, customers or even potential investors.

So, these points all sound great, but if they aren’t in your industry how can they even begin to understand what it is you do or what you need? Well, this isn’t necessarily a negative thing. What they bring to the table are fresh eyes and a unique perspective. They are more likely to ask, what might seem like to you, obvious questions, but also more probing questions too.

Naomi Timperley, who has mentored over 300 individuals and businesses over the course of 10 years, says, ‘The benefit of having a mentor out of your sector allows you to be questioned more and really gets you to think on your feet about your network, potential partnerships (that may be obvious to the mentor and not to you) and also about how you sell your services. I think having a mentor out of your sector is more challenging and beneficial to the mentee’.

Here at Use.Space we believe in the impact and power of having mentors, either from within or from outside your industry. We do everything in our power to provide our members with opportunities to meet potential mentors and create the greatest potential for growth, development and success.

If you would like our help in connecting you with an industry specialist or mentor, get in touch at Use.Space or give us a call on 0161 546 0544.