Choosing the right mentor

Just like what a wise creature from a galaxy far, far away once said, there is always an apprentice and a master or mentor. That is the way things work in the universe, wherever you may come from.

In the current stock market setting, multiple mentors have come up in the hopes of guiding or showing newbies the way to profits or even just respectable trading. These mentors have come in all shapes and sizes. 

Given the variety of choices, how do you choose which mentor is the right one? Well, here is a simple analogy on how my mainframe chose to be mentored by the entity known as Zeefreaks. I'll make it easier for the basketball loving fans out there, let's say you were given a choice of being mentored by Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs or Phil Jackson of the Chicago Bulls/LA Lakers and now NY Knicks.

Here is a list of their achievements:

Gregg Poppovich 5 time NBA champion 3 time NBA coach of the year

Phil Jackson 11 time NBA champion 1 time NBA coach of the year

It looks like a tough decision huh? Like choosing apples and oranges as they say. One doesn't seem to be so different from the other. Both of them are extremely and highly qualified. Their achievements speak for themselves. So they passed the first criteria. Moving on to the next checklist.


Here is a list of their NBA tree (a list of general managers and coaches in the NBA who have trained with either one):

Gregg Poppovich

Phil Jackson

Click the images for a better view

As you can see, the NBA tree of Coach Pop is much more diverse and it's branches have reached to almost a third of the NBA teams. That is quite an achievement! As for Phil's tree, it doesn't look to have too many branches. There seems to be something that limits the passing on of his success to others. 

This trait is what my mainframe puts more weight on. A good mentor should not just be good and inspiring and all that. They should also be able to train people to replicate their success. For what is the point of following or learning from a mentor if you are left in the same state as you were in before following them. The best mentors should take you under their wing and help you to take flight by yourself. 

This is why I think the ZF system stands out from all the rest. There have only been several batches yet the number of successful students have been increasing with the passage of time. We may not have achieved ZF or Kap's level of consistency or foresight but we have all been taught to stand on our own. And I know for a fact that we will continue on our journey in the stock market. Some of us even turning into mentors for new batches as well. 

And that is the mark of an excellent mentor.