Acquiring a mentor.
ironmanl63
Posts: 1,974 ✭✭✭✭✭
I read the story on Owen Seymour and found it very interesting. It got me thinking about mentors. Usually when you think about mentoring it is usually someone young being mentored. If you miss that opportunity I imagine for someone say over 50 it would be hard to find a mentor.
If I am being honest this board has basically served as my mentor. I have learned a lot of valuable info both good and bad over the years. Without it I am not even sure if I would still collect coins. Not to be corny but I just wanted to say thanks.
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Comments
Mentoring is ageless. In my professional life I have mentored people younger and older than me. And my mentors have been both younger and older than me. While this board can certainly serve an advisory role, a mentorship role is generally a much deeper commitment with meaningful expectations going both directions.
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
Nice to hear
I don’t think I’d be where I am today without a mentor. I imagine the same goes for countless others.
I started collecting as a young child in the late 1950s mostly LWC's which were readily available in change or in mom's purse. I also had a great uncle who I found out years later was also a collector. I lost interest in the early 60's when the opposite sex came into view. My great uncle died and passed his collection on to my mom who passed it to me when she died in 2014. So by then I had been out of the hobby for 60 years and knew very little about coin or collecting in general. My local library had a bulletin board posting for a coin club that meets once a month at that library. So I showed up and have been attending for three years now.
So back to the original question. As a lot of coin clubs go I was a junior member even though I was in my late 60's. After introducing myself the other members knew exactly little I knew about the hobby. Those members took me under their wings and spent a lot of time explaining the finer point of collecting. So even though I spend a crazy amount of time on this forum and others the face to face mentoring at my local club is the icing on the cake.
I would recommend that anyone starting out or starting over to join a coin club in your area in addition to local forums like this one. I'm very grateful that I found a local club to join.
Successful BST transactions with lordmarcovan, Moldnut, erwindoc
Over my many years, I have gained much from mentors and also served as a mentor to many. This in both my professional life and personal endeavors. I still mentor a few... and I also seek answers to issues from those more knowledgeable than myself....I will not stop learning or teaching....until I stop completely
Cheers, RickO
I’m always the exception it seems. Lol. As one friend said years ago, I’m very auto-didactic. I definitely believe mentorship is a good thing but it just never seems to intersect with my life.
Attracting a mentor is like making friends. How it begins is important and more than shared interest have to be compatible. Values need to align.
A mentee has to be basically be awesome, gracious and a good reputation as well as have something Positive To Add to a mentor to get a door to open. True intentions can get sniffed out and if they can’t pass the BS smell test, doors close. Are you just here to mine a brain and bail?
If a mentor shows an interest, consistent honest direct communication and instructions followed to the letter will further strengthen the bond. As ones reliability is proven over time and experiences, Trust grows and more and more gets revealed. Nobody wants to invest in anyone who doesn’t have the proper respect for the craft or apt to do evil with it.
With coins, there’s just too much involved to pick up in one day, so hanging with the right people can help get one up to speed and maximize enjoyment, but you gotta hold up your end and never miss an opportunity to do what you say and when others are involved, go the extra mile.
I agree it is a 2 way street. I have had many apprentices over the years. There has to be respect both ways for it to work.