Mike Fata, in his own words, was a school dropout, didn’t 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 cofounded one of the world’s 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, Fata’s brainchild was acquired by the American pharmaceutical giant Tilray for the “life-changing” sum of $419 million. His liquidity event wasn’t only a moment of happiness, however. That year, he grieved the loss of his business, marriage, and mother in one go—and 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. He’s also distilled all of his learnings in his upcoming book, Grow: 12 Unconventional Lessons for Becoming an Unstoppable Entrepreneur.
Over time, he’s learned that the biggest challenge many founders face—himself included—isn’t growing an idea into a successful multimillion-dollar business, but rather, growing more personally into the role of a leader.
“I’m a born entrepreneur, but I’m a made CEO,” he beams in solidarity. Looking back, the nine-figure founder tells Coins2Day there are two things he did to step up.
1. Read about what makes good leadership—and practice that
Oscar Wilde famously wrote that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” and as it turns out, it’s also a good way of learning how to lead.
Fata boasts that he’s 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.
“I’ve 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 matter—and he says that reading played a big part in that.
The three books Fata recommends entrepreneurs read, right now, to become better CEOs:
- Good to Great by Jim Collins—because 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 Carnegie—because it “teaches the best way to get someone to do something by appealing to their self-interest.”
- Atomic Habits by James Clear—because 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 industry—but 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 isn’t as easy as downloading an ebook 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 they’d consider mentoring you.
Events that other leaders in your industry are likely to be at, like conventions and awards and trade shows, are “the best place to fish for a mentor.” Meanwhile, if you’ve 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 that’s impressive to be your mentor, Fata recommends striking up an actual friendship first.
“Just because someone’s successful, doesn’t mean that they’re 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 they’ll be the right fit for you—and vice versa.
As Fata says, “Mentorship is a give-and-take relationship. In 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.”
