How to Take Your Kansas City Business Mentoring to the Next Level

It has been proven that an entrepreneur can experience greater success when they have a business mentor by their side. A business mentor can provide guidance, advice, and even much-needed vent sessions. But where can you find a business mentor in Kansas City? And more importantly, how can you take your business mentoring to the next level?

Well, nobody ever said that a mentor has to be just one person, right?  And what better way to enhance your business than by utilizing the "two heads are better than one" strategy?  Or in this case, "three heads are better than two!" 

Utilizing more than one business mentor may be another key to business success. That is why The Kansas Small Business Development Center at Johnson County Community College has formulated the ever-popular CEO Roundtables. At these roundtables, CEOs and business leaders with companies over 5-years old (past the startup stage) are invited to sit in on a roundtable in which participators address issues, seize opportunities and overcome business obstacles. In essence, these roundtables are giant pods of mentors who are able to provide knowledge and expert advice. Led by a facilitator and entrepreneur, the collective knowledge and experience of the group provides for lively and effective discussions.

“The CEO Roundtable provides life-long learning so that people can build high performance businesses that are sustainable,” says Sally Smith, facilitator of the CEO Roundtable and Founder/CEO of Smith & Associates, Inc. “These businesses become each other’s advisors and help one another get outside of the box.”

With expertise with high performance companies, Smith reiterates the importance of business mentors and how they can strengthen any business, no matter how large or small it may be. “Leadership is leadership and business is business,” she says. “The industry that these businesses come from is not as important as helping one another solve the problems at hand.”

Tomorrow, from 8:00AM until 10:00AM, the Kansas Small Business Development Center at Johnson County Community College is hosting one of these CEO Roundtables to help a rich variety of businesses answer the question “How do you work on your business, not in your business?” The participating businesses will discuss the importance of strategic planning through a formalized process that is more than just an open format. During this two-hour roundtable, business leaders will be able to lean on one another for opinions, advice, suggestions, and solutions about the ever-changing business environment around the world.

“In today’s age, a leader must understand that business and technology are always changing,” Smith says. “The CEO Roundtable helps keep things fresh and refreshed. It adds to the knowledge of business leaders.”

If you’re interested in joining a CEO Roundtable, please fill out an application or call 913-469-3878. All attendees of the roundtable must fill out an application and pay the event fee. To learn more about the CEO Roundtable events, visit KCSourceLink.

Written by Allison Way. Allison is a writer and videographer for Think Big Partners and bizperc, two of Kansas City’s newest entrepreneurial resources.  To read more of Allison's work, please check out the Kansas City Entrepreneurship Examiner.

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