As a mentor you have the worthwhile task of nurturing, supporting and encouraging others. It’s your job to offer a listening ear and a guiding hand, to help tackle problems and build confidence. You are expected to give up your own time and draw on your own experience and skills to help your mentee.
What You Can Learn from Your Mentee?
At first glance this might sound a little one sided. As a mentor you do need to put a lot into this relationship, but are you getting anything in return? The answer is a resounding yes! Let’s find out about the many benefits of having mentees and what YOU can learn from this meaningful experience.
Improve Your Communication Skills
Your mentee could be from any walk of life. He or she might have a similar background to you or could be from an entirely different place, and have a completely different personal history. That’s the beauty of the human race, it’s made up of a huge collection of creeds, colours, races and religions. As a mentor you get to improve your communication and personal skills. You get to converse with different people, learn about their lives and broaden your own horizons.
Develop Your Leadership Skills
You may already class yourself as a pretty good leader (if so, that’s a big pat on the back for you)! But mentoring allows you to develop your management skills further. It’s about encouraging your mentee and coaching them in a way that will bring out the best in relation to their personality, qualities and skills.
Increase Your Own Knowledge and Skill-Set
If you are supporting someone else you will need to be confident in your own ability. This could be the perfect opportunity to brush up on your own learning and make sure you are up to date with the latest advances and developments in your industry or field.
Research, network and study, revisit what you know and expand your own knowledge. You can then rest assured that you are in the best possible position to pass on what you know to your mentee.
Boost Your Confidence and Motivation to Succeed
It can be easy to fall into a rut at work (even if you are a busy boss with lots going on)! The days have a danger of merging into one another as you deal with the same problems, look over the same figures and speak to the same colleagues. Complacency can lead to diffidence and a lack of enthusiasm and neither are particularly attractive qualities! Mentoring can give you back your spark and impetus. Suddenly you have someone who is relying on you to fire them up and spur them on – how can you do that if you’re not ready for action yourself?
Feel More Valued and Respected
Having someone look up to you is a nice feeling, providing you with a certain amount of satisfaction. You know you have the capability to help someone else and you are acting on that by mentoring. Feeling good about yourself will help you to develop and grow too. Mentoring isn’t about blowing your own trumpet so to speak, but others will be aware of what you are doing. There’s a very good chance that your superiors, colleagues, peers and employees will give you a certain amount of kudos for doing it!
Enrich Your Own Curriculum Vitae
Whilst mentoring can be a real plus point for mentees in terms of career development, you can also benefit as a mentor. You can include the fact that you have acted as a mentor on your own CV. Potential employers will be impressed that you have acted as an advisor and confidant to support someone else.
Grow Your Network
It’s always a good idea to identify opportunities to expand your own circle.
Mentoring provides you with a golden opportunity to meet other mentors and mentees. Different people have different goods to bring to the table and you can learn something from every single person you meet. It’s also wise to remember that the individual you are coaching today could be the superstar of tomorrow. How great would you feel to be able to say you were part of their journey to the top?
Will I Be a Good Mentor?
Mentoring calls for commitment, so you should only move forward if you can pledge the time and effort required to regularly meet and support a mentee. There’s a degree of responsibility involved in being a mentor too. You have to offer sound advice and you will require more than a modicum of patience and kindness.
You also need to be firm but fair – you will be a guiding light and must help your mentee stay on their path.
If you have what it takes to assist others on their journey to greatness then why not step up and do it? Help someone else and reap your own rewards too – sounds like a great plan to us!