Find your mentor early, and let that person’s experience shorten your own learning curve.
Awareness is “the quality or state of being aware; knowledge and understanding that something is happening or exists.”
Frank Covich met Vincent Bozzone in 1975 while both were working on a consulting project for Borg Warner Corporation in Wooster, Ohio. Bozzone held a master’s degree in management from an Ivy League institution and served as director of client training programs at their consulting firm, the Institute of Management Resources (IMR).
Bozzone’s deep understanding of organizational and industrial production systems became instrumental in shaping Covich’s consulting career. Over four decades, the two developed a lasting professional relationship, collaborating on numerous business initiatives.
Today, Bozzone is an accomplished author and business expert. He created JobShop360, described as “the only job shop management training program on the planet,” and developed The Job Shop Knowledge Store, a collection of practical resources distilling over 40 years of management consulting experience with more than 1,000 companies.
The core message: identify and learn from successful mentors. Seek out individuals you admire and learn from their expertise, ultimately using that knowledge to improve your own ventures and create competitive advantages in your business.
How to find your mentor and get the most from the relationship
The story of Vincent Bozzone shows what a good mentor offers: deep experience, honest feedback, and a habit of noticing what is really happening in a business. That kind of awareness is hard to learn from books alone, and it often takes years of working beside someone who already has it.
To find your mentor, start with people you already respect: former managers, advisors, customers, or owners in your industry. Industry associations, local business groups, and free mentoring programs such as SCORE can also connect you with experienced volunteers. Look for someone whose experience matches your goals and who is willing to ask you hard questions.
Once you find your mentor, make the relationship easy to say yes to. Arrive prepared with specific questions, act on the advice you receive, and report back on what happened. Mentors enjoy seeing their guidance put to work, and long relationships, like the one described in the article, are built that way.
Related reading
- SCORE free business mentoring
- Business Opportunity Guides: Every SmartBizOpps Article in One Place
- SBA local assistance and free counseling
For more background: Wikipedia: Job shop and American Psychological Association.
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