Is Having a Mentor Worth It?
4 yrs ago
Whether it is overcoming personal roadblocks or achieving career goals, mentors play a valuable role in helping people effectively navigate through hard times and attain new levels of success. Read on to discover the benefits of having a mentor. Getting to know mentoring You have probably heard many times how mentoring can be a valuable tool for personal growth and career advancement. You might even be considering getting a mentor, but you are not certain if it is worth your time and effort. If you are still on the fence about this, it is a good idea to understand first what mentoring is all about. That way, you know what you can expect should you engage in one. Mentoring is a professional, supportive relationship between an experienced individual (the mentor) and a less experienced individual (the mentee). In the relationship, the mentor shares their wisdom, experience, and expertise to enable the mentee to manage their own learning in order to develop their skills, improve their performance, and maximise their potential. A mentoring relationship can either be formal or informal. Whereas the first is structured and usually involves frequent face-to-face sessions over an extended period, the latter is more flexible and is often much shorter. Your choice between these two levels of formality will depend on your unique situation and desired outcomes. In most cases, formal mentoring is based around specific goals and objectives and have measurable outcomes. Informal mentoring, on the other hand, may or may not have goals present and is not measurable or reportable due to its casual nature. What is a mentor and what does the role entail? Within a mentoring relationship, the mentor takes the lead, guiding and supporting the mentee in working towards their goals. But a mentor is more than just a leader, guide, and support. They can also wear many different hats throughout the process, including but are not limited to: Listener. All mentees have unique concerns or issues they are dealing with. More than just doing the talking, the best mentors talk less, listen more, and respond accordingly. Taskmaster. To keep the mentoring relationship productive and ensure that a mentee picks up knowledge and skills they can use, a mentor may assign tasks, projects or other workload that are based around the mentee’s objectives and goals. Sherpa. Dealing with a concern, navigating transitions, or being thrusted in an entirely new situation can be both confusing and challenging for a lot of people. A mentor can offer a guiding hand to assist in the process and point you to the right direction. Evaluator. Sometimes, outside perspective is what a mentee needs to realise their strengths and understand and address their weaknesses. That outside perspective can be provided by a mentor as an evaluator, providing honest yet constructive feedback on one’s work and performance and offering recommendations for courses of action. Champion. Challenges are common to any transition. A mentor can be the biggest cheerleader a mentee can have—someone you can confide in and turn to for advice and someone who sees your success as their success. Is having a mentor worth it? There is no single answer to this, as one’s mentoring experience can differ from another. However, as we have seen so many mentoring relationships form and flourish through our platform, we are confident to say that the benefits of having a mentor are too valuable to ignore. We have listed some of them below, so you can use them as a reference to make your decision. Build in demand skills. The world of work is fast changing due to emerging technologies and new practices. However, successful workers—like the prospective mentor you are meaning to approach—understand what it takes to adapt and thrive in the face of those changes. They can show you the ropes of the job and teach you in demand skills that will make you a valuable candidate to any employer. Stimulate personal and professional growth. Knowledge is not the only thing a mentor can provide. They will also look for ways to stimulate your growth, both personally or professionally. These may include helping you set clear and realistic goals and seeing how you would accomplish all of them on your own. They may then sit down with you to share their observations about you, and provide the type of feedback you need to turn your weaknesses into strengths. Receive words of encouragement. A mentor can offer you support both in action and words. When you are going through a tough time, Opportunity to bounce off ideas. Got ideas for a project, but not sure who to share them with? A mentor be a great sounding board who will listen to you and help you identify which among them are worth pursuing and which ones are not. Avoid mistakes. Having been there and done that, a mentor has the experiences to base on to help you avoid the same mistakes they made. The stories a mentor share can be great learning lessons that you can use to prevent the devastating effects of specific actions, and ensure you will move forward successfully.
advice from mentors
as well as positive encouragement can boost your confidence and keep you motivated in overcoming your personal and professional challenges.
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