By: Bert Zethof

A common strategy of successful entrepreneurs is to work with mentors or a peer group to accelerate to success. Business owners can't easily succeed on their own. They need advice, tips, and feedback yet they cannot readily get this from the people around them, i.e. family, friends, customers, employees, etc. It takes people who have been there before - they have the special experience, mindset, and objectivity to be of help.

In today's edition of The Financial Post, the writer Rick Spence talks about how Peter Thomas reached out to mentors for support. Mr. Thomas, founder of Century 21 Real Estate Canada, had lawyers, developers, retailers, and successful entrepreneurs as mentors. "Still active in business at age 69, Mr. Thomas stays in touch with his mentors," a type of relationship that Rick Spence calls "sustained advisory relationships."

Ken Blanchard, coauthor of the popular book The One Minute Manager , says that having a support/accountability group is one of the four disciplines of effective leadership (the other three disciplines are solitude, prayer and study).

The entrepreneurs that reach out to connect with others who are in a position to provide support are demonstrating a success trait. Todd Harris, Ph.D. and adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, reports in the The Financial Post today that "contrary to the popular conception of successful entrepreneurs being solely independent, single-minded and devoted to their unique passions, they are also characterized by high levels of social competence and social intelligence, with an ability to build relationships and to connect with others on a social and interpersonal level."

These individuals benefit and develop faster from an ability to connect that is not hindered by pride, fear of competition, or embarrassment.