Everybody is a mentor and everybody has mentors. Most of us just don't use the word. Think back to all those who have helped you throughout your life to achieve the successes you have had. Remember that teacher in high school who helped you understand math, or that coach who worked with you to be a better sports team player? Remember the times your parents helped you through tough periods and supported you? They were mentoring you, providing assistance in the form of counsel to help you perform better and to assist you in your personal and professional growth.

In the workplace, more professionals these days are actively pursuing mentoring to advance their careers. And whether you're on the giving or receiving end, these types of partnerships can benefit your career.

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Mentoring is a relationship between two people with the goal of professional and personal development. The "mentor" is usually a more experienced individual who shares knowledge, experience, and advice with a less experienced person, or "mentee."

But mentoring is more than the transfer of advice, knowledge and insights. The relationship offers reciprocal benefits for the mentor, mentee and organisation.

The Benefits of Mentoring

The Benefits of Mentoring to the Mentor:

Becoming a mentor can enrich your life on a personal and professional level:

  • By building your leadership skills,

  • Leverage your unique strengths, expertise and experience,

  • Be recognized as a mentor and leader,

  • By strengthening your interpersonal and communication skills,

  • Gain satisfaction from helping someone with their personal development and knowing that you added value to their career,

  • Learn new ways to grow and develop others – a fundamental manager skill,

The Benefits of Mentoring to the Mentee:

A trusted mentor can help the mentee by:

  • Passing on valuable advice based on years of personal experience,

  • Exposing them to new ideas and new ways of thinking,

  • Encouraging them to set goals and leverage their strengths,

  • Showing them how to see things from different perspectives,

  • Boosting their self-confidence,

  • Providing encouragement and moral support,

  • Providing networking opportunities,

  • Encouraging them to think “out the box”,

  • Providing career advice,

  • Helping them to evaluate new opportunities,

  • Assisting with decision making,

  • Acting as a sounding board for new ideas,

The Benefits of Mentoring to the Organization:

Encouraging and supporting mentoring programs within the organization leads to:

  • Improved employee motivation and engagement,

  • Improved employee performance,

  • Easier onboarding of new hires,

  • Increased employee retention,

  • Improved communications,

  • A stronger corporate culture of personal and professional growth,

  • Improved employee morale,

  • Increased work happiness and job satisfaction and,

  • Enhance leadership and coaching skills in managers 

Next Steps:

Self-Leadership - Mentoring

Mentoring really is something that can benefit everyone. As well as helping the mentee develop and advance through their career, the mentor can gain extra skills and understanding from the partnership. Find out the key steps for a successful mentoring process with The Mentoring Handguide.

Self-Leadership - Developing Yourself

To be a better self-leader start with improving your self-leadership skills with self-leadership training. Self-Leadership: Developing Yourself is a quick, online training course that you can use to kick-start your self-development.

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