There are few resources in your career more valuable than a trusted mentor. In this post I will share with you:

What is a mentor, who needs one, and why?
Two short quizzes (one question each) that will give you my personalized recommendations for where to look for your next potential mentor, based on your career stage and situation.

What is a mentor, who needs one, and why?

A mentor is someone who is at least five years ahead of you careerwise, and who has had success walking the road you're on.
A mentor is different from a colleague because the mentor gains value from sharing her wisdom and seeing mentees succeed. Colleagues are in a more reciprocal relationship (give and take). The mentor wants to share her knowledge and experience to make an impact in lives of others.
A mentor is different from a teacher, too. You may have had a music teacher who has mentored you at some point. But you also need to be seeking mentors in your chosen profession, whether that be performing, starting a music teaching studio, marketing other musicians as a music professional, or starting an online business in music.
If you think mentors are just for the beginning of your career, think again. Mentors are not just for young professionals--you should seek mentors throughout your career. But the kind of mentors you seek out will change depending on the stage of journey you're in:
Shane Snow calls finding a mentor one of the most important "smartcuts" you can take, because a mentor. significantly reduce the number of hours (or more likely years) it takes to you to get to mastery.

Get your personalized recommendations: Where to look for your next life-changing mentors.

Take some time now to generate a list of potential mentors who can help you get to the next level in your career. I want to give you four factors to consider when generating your list.

First, download the worksheet linked at the bottom of this article so you can fill in your own information. Or alternately, create your own blank document from scratch to capture information.

First, reflect on two questions: What stage of the journey am I in? and What is my situation? This sounds obvious, but until you get clarity about our situation, it can feel impossible to see your own next step, let alone know where to go looking for a mentor. Select the options that best describe you below, and then click submit to reveal what kind of mentor you should be seeking out next.

1. Which best describes where you're at as a music professional?

I am a music student and haven't started my music business yet

I am a music professional with some income, but want to increase my income and make it more consistent

I already make consistent part-time income as a music professional, but want to go to full time

I am already a successful music professional and want to take my business to the next level.

Here are your results! Find your answers below to read my recommendation for the qualities you should be looking for in a mentor.

For Your Stage of the Journey

I am a music student and haven't started my music business yet.

My advice: You are in a great position! By reading this post, you are already ahead of many of your peers, because you are seeking personal development skills. You also have many natural opportunities to develop mentors through professors and teachers at your school. At this point you should be developing two major areas of mentorship. The first is to seek out mentors in your backyard (at your school), such as your private teachers, ensemble directors, other music professors, or professors in other departments. But don’t stop there. Your next new mentor should be someone outside of your university, who is a professional in the industry you want to pursue. Seek out professionals who are at least five years into their careers. Ask your teachers if there are any particularly excellent alumni who have been successful, and then reach out to them with a specific career question.

I am a music professional with some income, but want to increase my income and make it more consistent.

My advice: In the early stage of a career or after a career change, mentorship is critical for avoiding serious and sometimes catastrophic mistakes. At this stage, you should focus on developing two areas of mentorship: successful professionals in your local community, and at least one advisor outside of your community. Developing an advisor in your community will not only have the benefit of context-specific insights, but also a networking effect. Your mentor might be able to connect you with colleagues in your area or surrounding areas who can provide you with one life-changing opportunity. My challenge for you is to also find a mentor distant from your community who you know has had significant success in your field. It should be someone you’ve heard about but have not met, or someone who is an acquaintance but beyond your professional circle. The idea is that you must build your connection beyond your current circle in order to grow, and a mentor can help you do that. This is true for all stages of your career journey.

I already make consistent part-time income as a music professional, but want to go to full time.

My advice: If you are at this stage, you have already learned how to succeed "the hard way." But you have also likely had influential mentors in the past. Take a moment to reach out now and express gratitude to those mentors who have helped you along the way. But the mentors who got you here are not the mentors who will get you to the next level. It is time to expand your circle with one or two new mentors who can help you get the perspective to make the jump to full time. Consider calling up five colleagues who are full time music professionals and ask them who was most influential in their careers. Meanwhile, you should begin searching for mentors in related fields to diversify your profile and what you can offer.

I am already a successful music professional and want to take my business to the next level.

My advice: If you are already a successful music professional, you know that taking your career to the next level will require a considerable investment of time and money: in new ideas, new business training, and perhaps professional coaching. And you are likely willing to make that investment. But be wary of anyone who asks you to pay for mentorship. That's not typically how it works. What you need to start doing is making a list of superstars in your industry, as well as lists in increasingly distant industries. What you're looking for is someone who has reached the top 5%, or even the top 1% of their field. When you make such a list, don't be bound by location (look both near and far), and don't cross anyone off because you think they are out of your league. You'd be surprised whom you can get in contact with if you just give it a shot. The reward for reaching out to your heroes might be a good rejection story—or it could be a life-changing mentor. If you are at this stage, you should also be planning how you can give back by being a mentor to music professionals at earlier stages of their careers.

Search for mentors in related fields.

Another secret to developing great mentors is to look beyond your particular field or domain. Often times, a breakthrough idea comes from applying insights learned through a mentor in another field. So in addition to mentors in your field, you should seek out top performers in related fields to consistently be exposed to fresh approaches and strategies.

To get you started, I've brainstormed a couple of potential fields you should be considering, based on your particular situation. Select the situation that best describes you to see my suggestions, then continue brainstorming additional fields on your own, based on your needs and experience.

2. Which best describes your situation?

I am a private music teacher and want to build my studio and get more consistent income

I am a performing musician and want to get more consistent monthly income and more fans

I do marketing or management for other musicians and want to grow my business

I am a musician who wants to start or build an online business to supplement my income

Download the Complete Recommendations as a PDF.

Enter your email below to get a PDF version of my recommendations for your career stage and situation, so that you can keep it and refer back to it when you reach the next level of your career.

Were my recommendations right on? Way off? Share your reactions with me in the comments. What would it mean to you and your career if you could find a great mentor?

Writing and Videos

How to Identify Potential Mentors, for Music Professionals