Chief Sherpa Vicki Prout on being a mentor

Vicki Prout is Chief Sherpa at the Sherpa Group , a franchise consultancy that assists entrepreneurs on their franchise journey.

Ms Prout explains that as a franchisor you are able to motivate and inspire others through the transferal of skills and experience. This is much the same role as a mentor.Being a mentor is an extremely important role and one that the Sherpa Group consultancy find incredibly rewarding.

As Chief Sherpa Vicki teaches her consultants, franchisors and franchisees to always considers the 3P's:

• Person
• Purpose
• People

For example, a great mentor excites people and the role allows a mentor to nurture their franchisees helping them to grow, while leading the front from experience as they too have been in the same position.

In Vicki's experience outstanding mentoring traits include:

• Understanding
• Open mindedness
• Consistency and integrity
• Patience ;and
• Honesty.

The Sherpa Group advise their clients that they have multiple roles to fulfil as a franchisor and a mentor. These include being an adviser, a supporter, a coach and a role model that have the ability to constantly demonstrates leadership skills and values.

The franchise consultancy also believe that the greatest mentors are those who have been mentees themselves. Vicki explains that a good mentoring relationship relies on the following:

• Clear and precise roles and expectations
• Communication
• High level of trust ;and
• Inspiration and motivation.

“Remember, this is a journey that can take timeto create, time to grow, time to change… until it’s time to move on.”