Humble Inquiry

This should be core reading for all VMT mentors. It is especially important when a mentor’s professional status, wealth, education, age, industry experience, or institutional access differs substantially from the founder’s. Schein teaches the discipline of asking questions to which the helper does not already know the answer.

Mentors learn to suspend assumptions, reduce status distance, invite the founder’s experience, and avoid turning questions into disguised instructions. The book helps create the trust required for founders to discuss financial pressures, family obligations, uncertainty, or prior disappointments candidly.