Leadership guru John Maxwell once noted that having a distaste for learning stunts growth and limits influence.

Learning is a continuous process that can ignite success, especially when it becomes a collaborative and individualized process. The most effective teachers are people who offer experiences and skills other than the ones you have already mastered.

If you can find a great mentor and partner with that person, you’ll augment your skills and build extended capacity. Solid mentor-mentee relationships are built on respect, trust and mutual understanding. Forging this relationship takes time. It also requires honesty and courage.

Mentees must be prepared to ask for what they need and with great specificity. Addressing their needs includes when and how to meet with the mentor and what benefits the relationship can provide.

Find great mentors by focusing on benefits

To grow professionally and develop far-reaching influence, seek mentors to work with. Partnering with a mentor has benefits that traditional learning cannot offer. These benefits include:

1. An invaluable introduction and access to the mentor’s professional network. The connections that can be made serve to boost the credibility of the mentee and offer even more learning opportunities.
2. Access to private training. Just as firms hire consultants, the mentee has access to a personal consultant in the form of a mentor.
3. Greater soft skills like communication. Most universities and programs cannot teach the soft communication skills needed in private client advising, but mentors can model these skills for their mentees, helping them develop them.
4. A strong sense of camaraderie. The mentee’s success is the mentor’s success because you’ve worked through the struggles and enjoyed the celebrations together.
5. Identifying a professional pathway. The mentor can offer career advice based on extensive experience. This experience includes understanding career trajectories and the skills needed to access them – and guiding the mentee toward meeting career goals.

How to identify the best private client mentors

To find great mentors, ask for assistance.

Supervisors and colleagues alike can recommend top mentors who want to guide their mentees in picking up from where they left off. This assistance can come from resources within your firm or from professional organizations. Many of the most successful mentors are eager to pass along what they have learned.

If you’re serious about learning where to find a great mentor, work with a wealth management recruiter since they have the experience and network to make a difference.