When you sign on to be a mentor, you probably think the scale is weighted in favour of the mentee. After all, the traditional dynamic sees you doing the bulk of giving while your mentee basks in the glow of your priceless wisdom, reaping the benefits. There are a multitude of benefits beyond being an influence behind a successful individual. You may not realise it but, mentoring can greatly enrich your career and life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c Mentoring creates a culture of engagement where employees feel valued and encouraged to step up to their full potential \u201d, says Patricia Barlow president and founding partner of Blue Mesa Group. To add to that it also invites development, creativity and inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Below are 5 other benefits of being a mentoring an individual:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Insight goes both ways. As you push or your mentee to\nimprove and follow different thought avenues in solving a problem, watch and learn\nhow they do this. Don\u2019t be set in your ways and accept the challenge of adapting\nyour mindset. Your worldly experience and your mentees\u2019 youthful idealism makes\nfor interesting results. Seek to apply any new, inventive techniques to your own\ncareer or business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In building a strong relationship with your mentee, you\u2019ll\nfirst need a rapport. The best way to do this is to actively listen, understand\nand then provide relevant feedback. Listening is a skill often overlooked or\nundervalued and frequently replaced with a short attention span. Make sure not\nto lament these negatives in your character. Mentoring encourages you to enhance\nyour listening skills for they are an important asset in building a connection\nwith your mentee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By being a better listener, you can be a better\npartner, improve productivity and understand more. A relationship provides the\nperfect opportunity to build on, practice or create these necessary skills and they\nwill always be appreciated by the person you\u2019re interacting with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a mentor you are part-cheerleader and part-lawyer\nfor your counterpart. A big part of your job is advocating for your mentee much\nlike a lawyer does[1]<\/sup><\/a>. You have to be prepared to bat for your mentee and their ideas,\nespecially if they don\u2019t know how to do it for themselves. Your advocacy will lead\nto a wider array of opportunities and improve your mentees chances of success.\nYou would do this because as a mentor you\u2019d get a first-hand view of the sweat\nand tears they put into their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be sure to also teach self-advocacy, it\u2019s important to\nencourage them to promote themselves. An important part of mentoring is to\nteach your mentee how to stand up for themselves and their product and get a\nbetter understanding of what can put them over the top. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As for your benefit, research has shown that helping others\nmakes us happier. For instance researchers found that people who gave money to\ncharity were happier. In fact, the correlation between giving and happiness was\nso strong it made about the same difference for happiness as having twice as much\nincome[2]<\/a>.\nMentoring and advocating for your mentees will extend your happiness far beyond\nyour own achievements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a distinct possibility that you have never\nbeen in charge of employees or you never wanted to be. You may have interacted\nwith colleagues but never managed them. However, as a mentor you have to be able to manage your mentee\nefficiently and effectively. Your mentee will help you learn to better lead and\nsupport someone through feedback, asking questions and telling you what they\nneed to succeed<\/p>\n\n\n\n Make use of feedback mechanisms and learn to realise\nwhen your methods are not effective and adjust accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mentoring affords you the opportunity to interact with new people and build on your network. Meeting new people especially if they are in your field is always a bonus for your career although, galvanising on the privilege to cultivate your network should not be the main reason you take on being a mentor. Good relationships are essential to have, the connections you\u2019ve made throughout your life and career are invaluable. Be sure to treat your growing network as a source of wealth. The value of each new person that joins your network expands your future reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In guiding your mentee you\u2019ll share your experiences\nand relive what worked for you but make sure not to take any creative license. Your\nmentee will be absorbing everything you share and will seek to apply these\nattributes and strengths to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be sure to also revisit past failures, this will help you recognise mistakes you can now correct and your mentees can avoid. Focus especially on the bigger problems you faced an example being opportunities you once had like a job somewhere else with better pay versus staying put where you could expand coverage as well your network. Being able to deal with these can make you realise a deeper view of your own path and achievements.[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mentoring is a win-win for both participants. The mentee gains insight and experienced from a seasoned individual wanting to help. The mentor benefits too in realising personal fulfilment. As well a myriad of hidden perks which you will find out for yourself if you ever decide to be a mentor. Read:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7 reasons you need a mentor <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 5 tips to land your dream mentor <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n How to set up an effective mentorship program for your business<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [1]<\/sup><\/a> https:\/\/thecentsofmoney.com\/ten-steps-women-should-take-negotiating-salary-compensation\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n [2]<\/a> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lUKhMUZnLuw&t=185s<\/a>\n[3:15]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [3]<\/sup><\/a> https:\/\/thecentsofmoney.com\/ten-benefits-of-being-a-mentor\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Amanda Nyabila <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When you sign on to be a mentor, you probably think the scale is weighted in favour of the mentee. After all, the traditional dynamic sees you doing the bulk of giving while your mentee basks in the glow of your priceless wisdom, reaping the benefits. There are a multitude of benefits beyond being an influence behind a successful individual. You may not realise it but, mentoring can greatly enrich your career and life. \u201c Mentoring creates a culture of engagement where employees feel valued and encouraged to step up to their full potential \u201d, says Patricia Barlow president and\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":5}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmc.ke\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4899"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmc.ke\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmc.ke\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmc.ke\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmc.ke\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4899"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tmc.ke\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4916,"href":"https:\/\/tmc.ke\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4899\/revisions\/4916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmc.ke\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmc.ke\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmc.ke\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmc.ke\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Develop leadership and management qualities.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Expand your network.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Mentoring promotes self-reflection.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Final thoughts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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