The Mentoring Advantage
Having a mentor is one of the most critical relationships in a successful career.
Getting to where you want to be can be a tough road. There are many obstacles, bumps, and sidetracks that can delay and even stop your growth. You need someone who can provide guidance and insights gained from experience to help you navigate career decisions.
Enter the mentor.
A mentor is defined as someone who sponsors and provides counsel. Mentors are really people who guide you through situations and decisions to grow to your potential. Whereas a coach instructs and holds you accountable for achieving goals, a mentoring relationship is more informal. From a great mentor, you gain the perspective and guidance to deal with opportunities and challenges, work through politics, and gain insights from someone who has done it to make the best decisions.
I have always had the advantage of a mentor. The first one wasn’t even intentional; it just happened and progressed. I learned more from my first mentor than I did from several years of university. My mentor now is a tremendous resource for talking through issues and providing direction for my thinking. He lets me cut to the chase and learn from his experience.
Who is the mentor for you?
Look out about 10 to 15 years to where you want to be in your career. Who is there now that you respect? He or she is a candidate for mentoring you. My advice to people building their careers is to look for someone they really respect who has achieved what you want to achieve. Once you scout them out, the next step is to ask them. It is rare that the person you choose to mentor you will turn you down. It is a real honor on both sides. Potential mentors may be in your organization or, better yet, external. Your choice may be the same sex, same industry, and same family circumstances or not. The key factor is someone ahead in your career path that you respect.
What mentoring looks like is simply getting together once a month and having a few questions about where you are at the time and listening to your mentor talk. I ask two questions and get a download of pointed and invaluable insights and advice. I go away and ponder the direction and find the right path. The same thing happens in the next meeting.
In seeking a mentor, you are looking for a great relationship with someone you can be honest with, trust, and talk with openness to. You want someone who can sponsor you and be an advocate for you with wise counsel and even a little teaching. You want someone who motivates you and inspires action from you.
The best move you can make to progress your career forward and achieve your greatest success is to find a mentor. Whether you are a professional, in sales, or developing your leadership career, a mentor will help you get there.
Just my opinion …
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