What's a polite way to ask someone to meet me to give me advice?

What's a polite way to ask someone to meet me to give me advice?

"I never start the conversation on looking for advice.

Meeting them first in person is the best way to kick off a mentorship. People these days almost never respond to cold emails if they don’t know who you are.

If you can establish an emotional connection first, that’s when things become a lot easier.

Whenever I meet with someone that’s more established, I always start the conversation with asking them first about who they are and what they are working on.

These first coffee meetings are usually 20–30 mins long, and I spend the whole time talking about them. I ask them about their experiences and what their story is. I never bring myself up at all.

I want to make my mentors feel like I care about them and what they are working on.

Usually towards the end of these meetings, the person I’m meeting with will then ask me what I am working on, and then this is when I take the opportunity to get their advice.

Sometimes this doesn’t happen in the first meeting.

But it happens in the second or third meeting.

What this does is create a relationship beyond mentor/mentee. It become’s something a lot more emotional than the “can I pick your brain emails.”

I also do my best to offer the person I’m meeting with some help in my expertise. I want it to be a win-win relationship for everyone involved.

Here’s an example of an email I sent to someone this past summer, and gained a really valuable relationship from.


Things to keep in mind when asking this person to coffee:

• Keep the email short and sweet. Don’t beat around the bush. Get to your point and what your asking for. Don’t spend a whole paragraph trying to ask this person out to coffee.
• Offer something in return if you can. 
• “I can introduce you to more people in x field.”
• “I’d love to be of help to you in x way”
• Spend the first meeting asking them about themselves to establish a more emotional relationship." 

Above excerpt from https://www.quora.com/Whats-a-polite-way-to-ask-someone-to-meet-me-to-give-me-advice, by Mehak Vohra

How do I ask my boss for meeting him today in a polite manner?

First of all, do not be afraid to ask him for a meeting because one of his duties is to listen to you. So, you can send him an email along the lines of “I would like to request a meeting with you to discuss [specific topic]. I would be grateful if you could set up an appointment at your earliest convenience”.