I’ve got some friends who are a little bit older than me, and have been making records longer than me. It’s great to have these friends, as they are my mentors. They teach me things on a near daily basis. They challenge me to keep my production skills sharp.

I also have a group of friends who are a little bit younger than me for whom I act as the mentor. The (maybe not so) ironic thing is that they teach me just as much-and sometimes more-than I teach them.

This happens in three main ways:

1. They ask me questions, and I have my knowledge and skills tested because I have to come up with the “correct” answer and/or good advice.
2. They ask me questions, and I don’t know the answer. I research it, I teach it to them, I learn something new.
3. They flat out teach me something I knew nothing about.

I not only keep my skills sharp by keeping in touch with my mentors, I also constantly have my skills sharpened by the people whom I teach. It’s great to focus on networking with people who have been making records longer than you, and picking their brains for knowledge. But what action are you taking to put yourself in a position in which you can learn by teaching someone who has less experience than you?

Photo by foxypar4. Licensed under a Creative Commons license.