The Rewards of Being A Mentor- Be One Today

To carry on our theme of mentoring, lets talk about being a mentor. You know, those people who share their knowledge and wisdom. They are usually people who like to teach and like to pour into others. These are experts in their field and are successful at what they do. People frequently want to know how they can be like them in the future and what steps they took to get to their goal.

Why you should be a mentor?

Providing someone with the information to help them lead to success is something we need in todays world. There are billions of people in the world. We are not going to be able to teach every person in the world our skill. Sharing with those around us, who want to learn, and are willing to work, will allow your reach to go further than you ever could have alone.

As a Management Analyst, I was able to help other analyst across the nation with their skills. I was only able to be a mentor and help these people because I had people before me to call on to teach me. Sure, I figured a lot of stuff out on my own but I still had folks available in other states to talk things through with or to guide me if they could. By sharing my skills, I was able to help others get further on the path of success much quicker than myself. Why? Because they didn’t have to spend the time to search all over the internet or in a book to be guided. They were able to send me a message and I was able to help them and guide them immediately.

Won’t being a mentor take up a lot of time?

In my experiences being a mentor, I set up a reoccurring meeting with my mentee once a week. You can decide when you would like to meet and how often. This is just what worked for us. In addition to our once a week meetings we would talk randomly throughout the week and I would help out when they needed it on the spot. Being a mentor is a lot of responsibility and a commitment but you can determine how much time you put into the mentorship and how available you are.

What do I get from being a mentor?

Ah yes, the age old question. I’ve been a mentor for multiple years and I will say I have learned so much. I have probably learned about as much as my mentees. One of the top things I’ve learned is how to teach others and how to differentiate. Everyone is different, their communication styles, how they learn best, etc. Sometimes the mentee knows about another area that I don’t know about and I have learned from them! I’d say the best part is that you build a new relationship. Usually the relationship already has a strong foundation because having someone ask you to be their mentor or ask you for advice means they already trust you.

All in all, if you want to continue progressing in your career, be a mentor.

You gain a support system and you get to validate yourself even more in your field as an expert. Usually when you share with others, they can’t shut up about how much they have learned and your name goes along with it. People always ask, “How did you learn to do that?”.

Check out our other posts on mentoring: