Learn to Play Up by Seeking and Accepting Help

By Bruce Lund, Self-Proclaimed Leader of Millennials
SPLOM Tags: Career Development, Marketing, Networking, Personal Branding, Success Strategies, Reputation Management, Social Media, Entrepreneurship, Gen Y, Job Searching

www.nextpert.net

 “To make a lot of money you have to get around a lot of money”

I have always been a strong-willed person that thought I could get anywhere I wanted ON MY OWN. As we all know your greatest strength can be your greatest weakness.

For the first 25 years of my life I didn’t take kindly to criticism and often butted heads with coaches, friends, parents, teachers, bosses, and anybody else that was trying to help (or as I thought, trying to get in my way). I finally had an epiphany that I couldn’t do it all on my own. Who knew? As a result I became humble and teachable. Since that point, the self-growth I have experienced has been incomparable.

As a free-spirited person from humbling beginnings I’ve always tried to prove other people wrong. The “popular” crowd was always intriguing and one that I have figured out ways to be apart. I didn’t realize it at the time but these were people I knew I could get value from and had to figure out how to get involved with. In essence, I was learning how to package my strengths and add value to these people and “play up”.

Whether we like to admit it or not there are groups of people that we see as bigger and better. We look up to these groups with envy. Personal brand yourself to these people by validating your self-worth and potential and build relationships with powerful people because they do have influence.

Figure out who is doing what you want to be doing and begin to mirror them. Realize how you can get on their radar and stand out from the rest. Successful people always have people chomping at the bit to get their attention and take up their time. Understand how you will stand out from the rest of them as the BEST of the NEXT. Mentors love to share their knowledge and success stories to those they feel will utilize it, because we all want to leave a legacy.

My two mentors have been the most important people in my professional life because they have been an outlet for me in all components of what makes a strong relationship. They have a piece of my mind, body, heart, and spirit. This, in turn, has proven to be beneficial to them because I am now an advocate for life of them and their work and will pass nothing but great word of mouth on about them.

I encourage you today to seek out one mentor in a field you are interested in pursuing. Begin to build a relationship with them through these steps:

1. Do Your Homework: Any time you are seeking help from a top level performer it may be hard to get straight to them. Often times these people have gatekeepers that you will have to first get through. Build a relationship with them and from there you had better know your differential advantage when speaking directly to your potential mentor. Study past successes and find out a common ground you can build from.
2. Add Value: "If you help enough people get what they want eventually you will get what you want.” – Zig Ziggler. Figure out how you can help your mentor in any way! Remember, in order to be a great number one you must first be a great number 2. This may require you to babysit, take out the garbage, or mop floors for free but the knowledge and access to their intellectual property is well worth it.
3. It Takes Time: Trust may take years to build but you can bet if you build this relationship the right way an avenue of doors will open for you and your career. Good mentee/mentor relationships will add value to both sides but realize this relationship is unlike any other. It often requires you putting yourself out there much more and building trust for them to let you in. This will build on a profits vs. wages concept that I will explore more tomorrow.

                                        Bruce Lund is the Founder & CEO of NEXTPERT, a training and consulting firm offering insight and strategies to help recruit, train, and retain the best of the Next Generation leaders. Bruce is a Next Generation Expert completing his Ph.D. on the leadership of this unique group. Bruce has worked in and through many top organizations and teaches the whole self (Mind, Body, Heart, Spirit) approach in leading these individuals. He is seeking to become THE Leadership Expert Generation Y can count on for guidance to take them from where they are right now and teach them the distinctive habits of successful people to live an extraordinary life.