Mike Fata, in his own words, was a school dropout, didnt have a fancy degree and was pretty poor growing up.
But none of that stopped him. By the time he was 21 years old in 1998, he had co-founded one of the worlds first hemp seed companies. Over the next 20 years, he grew Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods into a successful business that was turning over $100 million in annual revenue, being distributed across 20 countries and employing over 300 people.
Then in 2019, Fatas brainchild was acquired by the American pharmaceutical giant, Tilray, for the life-changing sum of $419 million. His liquidity event wasnt only a moment of happiness, however. That year, he grieved the loss of his business, marriage, and mother in one goand in the process was inspired to mentor others.
Today, Fata advises founders on their growth journey through his podcast, one-to-one coaching and a newsletter. Hes also distilled all of his learnings in his upcoming book, Grow: 12 Unconventional Lessons for Becoming an Unstoppable Entrepreneur.
Over time, hes learned that the biggest challenge many founders facehimself includedisnt growing an idea into a successful multimillion-dollar business, but rather, growing more personally into the role of a leader.
Im a born entrepreneur, but Im made CEO, he beams in solidarity. Looking back, the 9-figure-founder tells Fortune there are two things he did to step up.
1. Read about what makes good leadershipand practice that
Oscar Wilde famously wrote that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and as it turns out, its also a good way of learning how to lead.
Fata boasts that hes read over 500 business books that highlight what makes a good CEO. He then experimented with the various success strategies and high-performance habits detailed in books like getting up at 4 a.m. to go to the gym to prime the body and get longer hours in the day until he found what works for him.
Beyond the self-help guides and leader biographies, founders can even learn more about the management practices that are typically taught in business school, like governance.
Ive learned that structure drives function, he says. If you put a good structure into a business, that will really help to speed up the execution of a strategic plan.
He is now a self-described governance expert and advises boards on the matterand he says that reading played a bit part in that.
The 3 books Fata recommends entrepreneurs read, right now, to become better CEOs:
- Good to Great by Jim CollinBbecause it teaches how companies that achieve sustained greatness have disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action.
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale CarnegieBecause it teaches the best way to get someone to do something by appealing to their self-interest.
- Atomic Habits by James ClearBecause it teaches how small habits, consistently practiced, can lead to remarkable results over time.
2. Learn from leaders in real life
On top of emulating the leaders you admire in books, Fata recommends shadowing leaders in real life through mentorship.
Over the course of his career, he has had both traditional mentors in the form of CEOs and peer-to-peer mentors who were entrepreneurs in his industrybut a year or two ahead of him in their growth journey.
I got the opportunity to learn from them by seeing how they ran their strategic planning, how they organize their management meetings, what their bonus and compensation structure looks like for their team, and other things they did to incentivize the business, he says.
Fata says the more exposed you are to genuine examples of what good management looks like, the better. You can then pick and chose which practices would work well at your firm.
How to find a mentor
Picking up a leadership book is pretty easy and accessible. Unfortunately, finding a mentor isnt as easy as downloading an e-book or popping into your local library.
Finding a mentor requires putting yourself out there and developing a relationship with someone before you can even ask them whether theyd consider mentoring you.
Events that other leaders in your industry are likely to be at, like awards, conventions and trade shows, are the best place to fish for a mentor. Meanwhile, if youve not quite got the courage to pluck up a conversation with a stranger, then LinkedIn is your best bet.
But before jumping the gun and asking someone thats impressive to be your mentor, Fata recommends striking up an actual friendship first.
Just because someones successful, doesnt mean that theyre going to be a good mentor for you. You may need someone that is only a couple of years more successful than you, he says while adding that that fit is really important.
Only by developing a relationship with a potential mentor after numerous conversations, will you know whether theyll be the right fit for youand visa versa.
As Fata says: Mentorship is a give-and-take relationshipin most successful ones that have longevity to them, the mentor is getting something from the mentee as much as the mentee is getting something from a mentor.
