MENTORING MATTERS
The Why, The Who, The How, The What
- THE WHY
Do you have a burning, urgent desire to develop yourself or your career and are not sure about what to do? Do you feel stuck where you are in life but do not have the motivation to make a change? Have you tried to move forward before, failed, grew frustrated, or just gave up? The truth is we often lack the experience, knowledge, skills, support, and motivation we need to successfully navigate change in our own lives.
By answering “yes” to any of these questions, you are highlighting why you can benefit from the help and support of a mentor.
- THE WHO
A mentor is an experienced person who can partner with you, the mentee or learner, to be your trusted advisor, role model, fountain of wisdom, encourager, and cheerleader. As a key support for your growth and development, he/she can:
- Guide you to think through issues, especially struggles
- Help you to process problems, and identify ways to overcome obstacles
- Share life experiences and provide valuable, experienced-based advice that will help you to develop new perspectives and avoid pitfalls
- THE HOW
Here are some tips on how to establish a mentor-mentee partnership:
- Enroll in a formal, structured company/organizational program
- Ask a trusted, qualified friend/advisor to be your mentor through an informal, unstructured/semi-structured program
- Initiate a virtual/contactless partnership with a reputable, exemplary leader who you “adopt” as your mentor
In the third case, you would typically learn from your mentor by:
- Studying written publications like biographies, books, and newspaper articles
- Listening to oral presentations like speeches, addresses and seminars
- Following social media postings via multiple platforms
- Attending public events where of she is a feature speaker/presenter
- THE WHAT
What is even more important than a mentor-mentee program is for you to have a mentee/learner mindset and orientation. In this way, you will view all experiences through the lens of a learner. This will enable you to learn through multiple pathways like:
- Your good and bad experiences
- Your successes, wins, disappointments, and failures
- The good, the bad and the ugly experiences and behaviours of other people
As a learner, these encounters can teach us what to do and what not to do, how to be and how not to be, and, how to treat people and how not to treat people.