Coming off a long holiday break, given that many folks choose to take off the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day plus the actual federal New Year’s Day holiday (which I will always remember as the Centennial Rose Bowl Victory Day), thoughts of invincibility and what the coming year and beyond might bring have drifted into your mind. I know that I gave this notion a whirl or two around my cranium.
If you did share these thoughts, please let me welcome you to National Mentoring Month and several resources that may give you the impetus to become a mentor. Before we jump into a bunch of URLs and other sources of mentoring ideas and instruction, I would like to review with you what I consider to be the top dozen reasons for why you should consider being either a mentor or a mentee.
Here goes:
#12 – It’s free
In a typical mentorship there’s no exchange of money or fees involved. Most mentorships develop from an association (such as your Chamber) or a company-sponsored program, so it’s unlikely that mentors would seek payment. Nearly all mentors are motivated by a genuine desire to see a colleague, co-worker, or friend grow and to establish a more authentic or real connection between these two individuals.
#11 – Expertise
Whenever possible, it’s important that mentees have access to mentors who have ample relevant experience related to the mentee’s goals and professional development. A mentor helps their mentee define success, the path to achieving it, and a how to avoid the pitfalls along the way. In other words, all the same mistakes don’t need to be made over-and-over again. The mentor, very possibly, has already experienced the mistakes and this in turn saves the mentee this same misery.
#10 – Guidelines
Let’s face it, most of us operate in a world where ‘close enough’ is perfectly acceptable. Unless you’re a highly specialized surgeon, or aerospace engineer, or a pilot or some sort, chances are you get some latitude and leeway in your workaday world. Guidelines, as opposed to rules, are something that are often learned by experience. Here again, a mentor can clearly communicate what policies and tolerances must be strictly adhered to and which ones have some wiggle room.
#9 – Feedback
The trust which is built in an effective mentorship often enables and encourages honest feedback. No one enjoys criticism, but by establishing a foundation of trust the mentee is more likely to accept constructive criticism as an opportunity for professional growth. Where a friend may hesitate to point out a weakness a mentor can offer advice that could/would be helpful in overcoming this weakness and possibility turn it into an asset.
#8 – An ally
Trust is the central core element of mentoring relationships. Once the mentee can trust the mentor and know that this individual has their best interests foremost in this relationship then true progress can be made. The business world is built on competition. Trust means that those in this relationship can allow themselves to be vulnerable, and to know that confidential information will remain confidential, and that two-way communication will be on-going and regular, thereby overcoming the disadvantages of working in highly competitive environments.
#7 – Listen
What a pleasure it is to have an experienced, informed, unbiased individual, in this case a mentor, to bounce ideas off and to further explore concepts. Be this in the form of advice or just simply opinions, the mentor’s relevant knowledge and experience, can be priceless to the mentee. With their mentor’s insights, the mentee can better understand what follow-up steps could/should be taken to pursue the idea or to just walk away from the idea.
#6 - Connections
We have all heard the adage about the importance of ‘who you know.’ A mentor can help their mentee build their professional network. As they get to know each other better, the mentor can seek out opportunities for the mentee to get connected with potential opportunities or to individuals who can help with their career advancement.
#5 – Encouragement
From time-to-time we could all use a cheerleader. When a mentee is struggling with job performance or attaining a goal, they can turn to their mentor for motivation and support. The mentor will learn the mentee’s areas of strength and use these to instill confidence in the mentee who may be questioning their abilities.
#4 – Accountability
The mentor assists with goal development and then is on hand to hold the mentee accountable for the goals which they set. Sometimes this involves a simple reminder. Other times just knowing that someone is watching and would be disappointed if a goal isn’t attained is a powerful motivator and resource.
#3 – Goal setting
In nearly all cases, the mentor can be invaluable to the mentee in setting both personal and professional development goals. Effective mentors know that these goals will be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-based. Given the mentor’s background and experience, smaller tasks can be identified together that will lead to the successful attainment of larger goals.
#2 – Knowledge
Not all knowledge is available on the internet (or in a library if you prefer). Some knowledge is so specific that insights earned from experience is the only way to obtain this information. This is the classic job of the mentor. Individuals who are just starting on their career path, or new to a company or branch, can greatly benefit from such guidance, and become comfortable in their new role much sooner.
#1 – Growth
Mentors encourage and enable their mentee’s professional and personal development. This can be done by setting goals and providing feedback. Mentors are a key ingredient to training and building a high-quality, productive workforce. They also help in retaining good employees. I’ve often suggested that the real test of how well you know your job is the ability to teach it to someone else. Mentors create ‘stickiness,’ or the desire for the co-workers to ‘stick around’ and to grow with an agency or company. Mentees are impressed when their organization wants to invest so much in each of them and that their supervisors would set aside time for and encourage mentoring.
Well, here they are, my rather exhaustive list of “Mentoring Why-Nots?”. Hopefully, this list is convincing enough for you to want to learn more about mentoring and its value to your organization. For more information, I encourage you to visit mentoring.org. This site includes all the information that you could want.
On Thursday, January 12th from noon-1pm the Women's Leadership Committee is holding a virtual lunch and learn focused on the mentorship experiences of 4 local leaders including the 2022 Athena Award Recipient, Dr. Leeming of Geisinger.
Register here to join them.
National Mentoring Month
