Ayo Arowolo: Attach yourself to a business coach

What you are about to read is one of the most important secrets to success you would ever learn. You cannot achieve any lasting success without it. Figure out what that secret is in my next lesson with my mentor.

I got to my Financial Mentor’s compound on Saturday at about 4.00 p.m. with yet another surprise waiting for me. Parked outside the gate of his house were five exotic cars: two Mercedes Benz jeeps, one Pajero, one Mercedes Benz E-class and one Polo car. I walked gingerly into his sitting room downstairs and made myself comfortable. A few minutes later, my Mentor came down, held me by hand and led me to a place upstairs I could describe as an executive sitting room: very sparsely decorated with exotic Italian furniture.

Seated were five gentlemen, all in casual wears. There was a white guy among them. They should be in their mid-forties if I were to guess their ages. Only one face among them was familiar to me; he was an executive director in one of the new-generation banks. My Mentor got the men to introduce themselves. This was the line up: one insurance practitioner, one investment banker, one businessman and one estate agent and another banker who just resigned from a bank to set up a finance company. The white guy was a real estate lawyer based in Durban, South Africa. My Mentor introduced me as his “very good friend who wants to learn how to build lasting riches.”

There is no place you are headed that someone has not been; you need a mentor in your life. “Now, let us get to the business of the day,” my Mentor said as he shifted to the edge of his chair, signaling that the lesson was about to start. “Today, I want to teach you one of the greatest secrets of millionaires which, unfortunately, many people have refused to embrace even though it is simple. I want to talk to you about mentoring and how, if you apply it correctly, you will gain incredible speed in your race to wealth creation.

“Let me ask you a question: when you see Mike Tyson (in his days) throwing deadly punches and tearing his opponents down with devastating jabs, what do you think is the trick?” “Training of course,” I replied. “But did he train himself?” my Mentor asked. “No, of course, his trainer was at work,” I replied.

“Good! Every skilled footballer you see on the football pitch must have been drilled by a good coach. Every athlete who wants to be steps ahead of his peers sits at the feet of a good coach, receiving instructions which he can put to use. Have you wondered why some athletes fly around the world with their coaches? They understand this fundamental trick of success, not just in athletics, but in any business endeavour. “But I am amazed that in business, only few people attach themselves to business coaches. When people want to start a business they prefer to go it alone. Is it surprising then that such businesses plunge into tragic collapse shortly after take-off?

A good mentor holds you by the hand. I must commend your boldness in asking me for help in your journey towards wealth acquisition. Very few people do what you have done. A business coach prevents you from making costly mistakes. He provides a sort of tested road map you can follow. Attaching yourself to mentors increases your wisdom, builds your confidence and allows you to achieve peak performance with speed.

Many people are afraid to ask successful people for help, thinking that they won’t have time for them. I am confirming that that is not usually the case. What many people don’t know is that it is lonely up there. Truly successful people are looking for people to whom they can pass on their secrets, but they won’t come to you; you have to search them out. How many people know, for instance, that you can easily ask a millionaire out for lunch? Successful people want to give back to the system.

And the interesting thing about this is that you don’t have to meet your mentors physically. You can meet good mentors through books. Keep reading their materials and you will get automatic impartation of business wisdom. The truth of the matter is that there is nowhere you want to go that somebody has not been before you. The Bible is full of instances of people who achieved supernatural promotions simply by sitting at the feet of the masters. Jesus had to connect to the ultimate source – God – to fulfill his assignment on earth. Elisha had to sit at the feet of Elijah for his spiritual talents to blossom beyond what he could imagine. There are other examples around you.

You need to follow the rules of the game. “There are principles underlying a good mentoring programme. I am going to share a few of such principles with you today.

Not all that glitters is gold. The first rule is that you must look for somebody who has achieved outstanding success in the area you want to look into, and beg to be coached by him. If you want to learn how to make money, attach yourself to a person who has acquired wealth the way you want to acquire wealth. What you do is to locate somebody making money in the area you like and attach yourself to him. It is that simple. It is surprising that many people pay good attention to the dresses they choose in a supermarket, but they are careless in choosing their mentors. And, attaching yourself to unqualified mentors is as devastating and time-wasting as not having anybody coach you at all.

“Take, for instance, somebody who wants to learn to make money through investment, and he attaches himself to an investment adviser or a broker who barely can make ends meet. Of course, it is a matter of time before his or her money is gone. My advice is that you look for an adviser that has traded with his own money and has made a success of it. Anything other than this can have unpleasant results. I have brought my advisers here to demonstrate this point to you. Now look at them properly. Why won’t I feel relaxed entrusting my money into their hands? They are successful people in their own right. I am willing to pay good money to those who manage my money.

Give before you receive. “My second advice is that you should demonstrate to your mentor that you are not a parasitic protégé. Go out of your way to do something for him. Give before you expect to receive. I am happy you have done well in this area, too. It doesn’t have to be money. Find out secretly what he likes and go out of your way to make it happen. Demonstrate to him that just as he is imparting knowledge to you; you are also passing it to people around you.

I am impressed by your decision to get attached to a mentor. I have long marked you as someone going somewhere who I would like to assist.

“I have a package for you. I have talked to my advisers and they have all agreed to coach you once you have made up your mind on which route you want to take to acquire wealth. They have promised not to charge any fee and even if they want to, I have offered to foot the bill. In addition, however, I advise that you look for a spiritual mentor. I will later explain why I consider this critical. I leave the decision on this to you. “Enough for today.”

I thanked my Mentor for the gesture and I equally thanked his advisers for offering to assist. I collected their business cards and we all walked downstairs where all his advisers drove off in their cars.

I bade my Mentor goodbye, as I continued to ponder on that evening’s experience.

Yours prosperously

NUGGET

• Look for an individual who is doing well in the area of your interest and approach him to be your mentor
• Better still, look for a well-run coaching programme and join one.