Throughout your life you have had someone that has been there for you, guided and supported you, whether that was your manager, a colleague, a parent, a friend, a coach, a college professor. Then, you reach a point in your life where you have the chance to do the same for someone else. It can be both exciting, and a little confusing.
What is a mentor?
A mentor is a trusted, seasoned advisor who supports and guides someone through their personal and/or professional journey. They do so by getting to know their mentee, providing resources tailored to their specific needs, and brainstorming solutions to challenges.
Mentors become trusted advisers and role models – people who have "been there" and "done that." They support and encourage their mentees by offering suggestions and knowledge, both general and specific. The goal is to help mentees improve their skills and, hopefully, advance their careers.
What does it mean to be a mentor?
At its core, being a mentor is being a trusted advisor. It all boils down to making yourself available to support and advise someone when they need it, delivering that support in a way that makes sense to them, and always keeping that person's best interests in mind.
A mentoring partnership can be rewarding to both people, personally and professionally. It's an opportunity to develop communication skills, expand your viewpoints, and consider new ways of approaching situations. And both partners can advance their careers in the process.
10 Ways to Be an Amazing Mentor
When you break out the mentor’s responsibilities, they include:
Understand what you want out of the relationship
Set expectations together in the very beginning
Take a genuine interest in your mentee as a person
Build trust
Know when to give advice
Don’t assume anything about your mentee – ask
Share your journey
Celebrate their achievements
Seek out resources to help your mentee grow
Be sure you have the bandwidth
Mentees don’t learn by listening to your experience. They learn by putting ideas into practice, and having you dig into your experience to help them refine their approach, correct course when they’re wrong, and expand their idea of what’s possible.
From a high level, a mentoring relationship is about helping someone develop toward certain goals or objectives. The mentor primarily serves as a sounding board for the mentee, offering guidance and direction, but not dictating the goal. This is why mentoring is typically unique from other types of learning engagements.
To learn more about mentoring, click on the link below.
Make Mentoring Count - BizLibrary LMS - Home
Comments