[Flash] Plot Twist! The Mentor is Not the Hero (A Marketing Guru’s Curious Approach)

He deploys a simple yet powerful, albeit counterintuitive, concept: the business is the Guide and the customer is the Hero. 

The Guide’s job is not to save the day. The Guide understands the Hero’s problem and helps the Hero solve their problem.

Miller delineated his methodology in the 7-part StoryBrand framework:

1. a character (the Hero)
2. has a problem
3. meets a Guide
4. who shows them a path forward
5. and calls them to action
6. helping them avoid failure
7. and ultimately achieve success

On a recent podcast episode, Miller took a departure from his standard marketing topics to apply the Guide-and-Hero concept to build connection.

Miller explored how to turn everyday conversations into magnetic, trust-building exercises where people feel seen, heard, and valued.

In our incessant quest to be liked, we tend to overvalue competence and overlook the value of connection.

This approach results in talking far more than we listen, dazzling others with our amazing stories. Our conversational partner doesn’t feel valued and understood. They feel ignored and talked at.

Miller suggests one question to help us prioritize connection over competence:

“What does this person need from me right now?”

This question shifts our stance from look-at-me to what-about-you, positioning us as the Guide and our conversational partner as the Hero.

As the Guide, we can help our Hero meet their needs, which builds connection and strengthens trust.

Miller argues that everyone in every conversation needs something: affirmation, information, validation, solution, wisdom, encouragement, inspiration…

How do we know what they need? We can ask. We can listen. We can observe. We can guess.

The point is not to be right about what they need; it’s to be curious about their needs. By entering the conversation as the Guide, we can discover how to support the Hero, not impress them with our resume.

Similarly, in our mentoring relationships, the Mentor is the Guide, and the Mentee is the Hero.

As the Mentor, our job is to understand a Mentee’s problem, show them a path forward, prompt them to act, and help them get somewhere they couldn’t easily get to alone.

When trust is the gateway and the linchpin, approach each interaction by asking, “What does my Mentee need from me right now?”

© 2026. Ann Tardy and MentorLead. www.mentorlead.com. All Rights Reserved.