Developers often get stuck. Not just with solving a coding problem, but in their careers.

They spend years of their life without making any progress. They don't know what to focus on next. They don't know when it's time to change projects or companies. They don't know what to do in certain situations.

That's where having a mentor becomes your best option.

Let's dive in.

What is a mentor?

A mentor is someone who can guide and help elevate your career. They take a personal interest in helping and seeing you succeed and grow.

Typically, a mentor is someone who is further along in their career than you are in yours. They are able to leverage their experience, failures and successes in order to help guide you in making the best decisions at each point in your career.

Mentors and mentees often form a close bond as they are personally invested in each other and any success is shared within the relationship, not to the individual.

In my opinion, the goal for any mentor should be to see their mentees succeed either faster or further than they did themselves.

Think of it like evolution.

If a mentor can train a mentee to reach heights the mentor never could, then we've unlocked the next step in the evolutionary chain.

How to find a mentor?

Mentors can be found all over.

The ideal scenario is to find a mentor within your company. They'll understand the unique dynamics and specifics to your situation better than anybody else.

That being said, a mentor that works in your company isn't required. You could have a mentor that's just someone you know or even someone you follow online.

Once you've identified someone that you want to coach you, it's important to let them know that you're looking for a mentor and how you think they'd be the perfect one.

When reaching out, make sure to mention things like:

• Why you think they'd be a great mentor
• What your current problems are and what you're focusing on
• How much you're willing to put in to grow

After that, the ball is in their court. If they decline the invitation, don't take it personally. Some people may not have the time or don't see themselves as mentors. That's okay because it's not a reflection on you.

Most people would be honoured and love the opportunity to help others. I know I do.

Personally, I get dozens of messages every week asking for my help or if I be a mentor. While I do my best to answer every person and share some personalized advice for them, my time doesn't scale enough in order for me to take on so many mentees.

That being said, I've got a lot of things on the way, all aimed to help you become the best developer you can be. From books, to courses, to a private community where you can directly chat with me and attend private workshops. It's going to be a fun year.

Hopefully that will help all of you looking to really take your career to the next level. Stay tuned for more information on each of those as they launch.

Make the most of having a mentor

So you've found a mentor. That's great.

Now what?

You need to structure a routine and a process to truly make the most of having a mentor. A person being labeled as your mentor doesn't actually mean they are mentoring you. It takes time and effort from both parties to really make a difference.

Here's my process for ensuring I make the most of time with my mentors:

• Setup up a regular meeting cadence (this is subjective and may be different for you, based on your schedule and needs)
• Take notes on all the things that you're needing to speak to your mentor about. This could be things from what stack to learn next to how you should ask for a promotion
• Ask specific questions and provide as much context as possible. Your problems are not unique, but your individual situation is. That's why a mentor can give you more accurate advice than any generic book or course could.
• Take the feedback and produce action items that you can work on to help you improve
• Repeat

Find a routine and process that works for yourself and your mentor. The better feedback and the better actions you take, the faster you'll grow.

That being said, you'll sometimes disagree with what your mentor says and that's okay. You just need to tell them why you disagree and why you've chosen a different approach.

It's crucial not to waste your own time, but more specifically, not waste your mentor's time. They are giving you time and advice without asking for anything in return. They have more to lose so it's imperative that you honour that commitment.

Find many mentors

The next thing to keep in mind: you don't only have to have one mentor. You can have many.

Having multiple mentors is great for giving you more opinions, more experiences to learn from and more sounding boards to help you craft your skills and path.

Personally, I have 5 mentors currently. They coach me and help me to become a better developer, leader and business owner.

I'd suggest you also look to have a few mentors, but don't over do it. You want to be able to form a deep, healthy relationship with each mentor and that takes time. Having too many on rotation will result in never getting below the surface of the relationship.

A truly good mentor/mentee relationship runs deep and lasts for a long time.

Find some people that you really admire and form your personal "board of advisors".

You all have potential mentors around you. Identify the right ones, ask them to guide you and put in the work to get better.

Your career will skyrocket.

See you again next week.

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