Reuben Kimani is the co-founder and chief executive officer at Username Investment Ltd, a real estate development and investment company in Kenya.
He is also a strong advocate for the mentorship of young people in the areas of education and entrepreneurship.
He shares some habits to avoid to prevent ruining good relationships with career or business mentors.
Never ask for handouts or money. He notes that seeking financial favors from mentors can kill their trust in you thereby ruining a potential chance for guidance in career or business.
”Even if you are starting a business, the last person you should seek capital from is your mentor because you will lose trust in them. You should go to banks or people you have a long relationship with to avoid losing people who can really help you out.’’ Said Kimani.
Never ask personal questions. According to him, personal questions include financial information or situations and personalized secrets.
”Unless they volunteer to share this information, maintain professionalism,’’ he advised.
I lost my job, started a business with Sh. 10,000, took 3 years to break even
Avoid getting confidential information from them. Kimani notes that some mentors try hard to maintain a private life since they meet a lot of people in their daily endeavors.
Don’t ask things with obvious answers. This includes things that you can google or ask around your circle and get facts right. He notes that asking such questions to mentors makes you look unserious.
”For example when someone working in a big company gives you an appointment at their office and you start asking where their headquarters are. There are things you don’t need to ask, find out because you look unserious,’’ he said.
Never ask for excessive time commitments. Most mentors have busy schedules given the multiple emails, meetings, and appointments they attend to daily. This means you have to work with their timings.
”Don’t expect them to be available every time you want them to be because they are very busy. They will not give you priority because most likely you are not giving value to them. You are getting something from them,’’ he added.
Avoid asking for favours without merit. Instead, create capacity and show value. Kimani says most mentors will only listen to you if they realize that you are going to give value to their lives.
”These people are used to people who are asking from them. They are used to giving yet no one is giving to them.”
”If you come up with a proposition where you are giving value to their life, then most likely you are one of the few people they will give appointments,” he noted.
