Mentor : Bread and Butter of bright future ?

“My most valued mentor… taught me that failing didn’t equate to failure, it just meant you had another shot at getting it right.”

— Jennifer Hedding,

We are blessed to meet a lot of wonderful people from whom we learn a lot from. And if you also want to learn from people you look up to, just observe them. Understand how they behave, think, talk, work, conduct business, etc.

That’s why I think everyone has mentors. But not everyone actively observes them.

Most of us expect a mentor to show up and say:

“As of today, I’m your official mentor. Here‘s lesson one: Don’t be an idiot.”

If not now,

when?

A mentor will help you succeed quicker, and save you from a few missteps.

Do you know your real potential?

Sadly most of us underestimate the power we naturally have within ourselves. But you are never too old, nor is it too late to discover what you can truly achieve.

How many people get themselves a mentor in their life? Why should they? Why should we?

No one is on an island, ultimately you will realize that you need people and people will need you. A good mentor will immerse you in one of the core realities of this world; success is linked to your relationships and negotiating these from a position of strength. The mentor is the wind to your sails. Fostering the ideas that will help you grow in any and every aspect of your life.

Do you actually know how can a MENTOR help you succeed? What qualities /traits qualifies them to be a mentor ?

Here’s the answer->

MENTORS are positive set of people , It takes a positive person to give of himself of herself to help another learn, grow and succeed.

They are ALWAYS ....

■willing to share their wisdom, knowledge, skills and expertise.

■Have a positive outlook on life. They help through tough times and show how to find the opportunity in the difficulties of life /career

■They Are genuinely concerned about you and your success. In addition to your knowledge , They are empathic.

■They really know what they are doing. They are respected for their knowledge and skills.

■They Keep on growing themselves. All mentors are curious and inquisitive in nature . Sometimes the roles are reversed. They'll put in the effort to ask you what you are reading, and then read the books themselves – so they could learn and can discuss the ideas.

■Give you direct, constructive feedback. They help you to high standards. They will congratulate you when you meet their expectations. They would also correct you when you fail to do so – but in a manner where you would learn what not to do the next time.

■They are respected by their colleagues. People who are highly regarded in their field or company make the best mentors.

■They sought and value the opinions of others. A best mentor is one who will always tell you to listen most carefully to the people to whom you disagree – in that way you will learn something.

All these points prove or conclude a MENTOR is always CORRECT .

As the old saying goes, a mentor is someone whose hindsight can become your foresight.

Key Benefits of being mentored by mentors and how can it help us achieve success in a fast and easy way

1.Education and Learning

“Nearly 80 percent of all learning is considered to be informal, meaning that it is not done by reading or taking classes, but rather by learning on the job and from others. Mentors will elevate and escalate 'knowledge transfer,' which is useful in shortening a learning curve in the workplace.”

2. Reducing Turnover Rates

“The loss of one good employee costs on average a years salary. By providing personalized advice to a mentee, a mentor can help to ensure that employees will work through any frustrations or concerns they may have, help them build the skills they need for success, encouraging them to stay with the company and grow there for a longer period of time.”

3. Development of Leadership and Management Skills

“By implementing a mentoring initiative, mentors can assist in teaching leadership skills to employees showing potential for future leadership positions. We’ll see later in this blog how a mentor versus a direct supervisor can often best help manage career decisions.”

4. Time Savings and Focus

“Implementing mentorship strategies is an excellent way to save time in the workplace. By implementing mentors, employees with questions or concerns can often work with the mentor on a resolution or answer, reducing the time needed to get tasks finished, which overall improves productivity. Mentors also reduce the formal training necessary for new employees.”

5. Career Mentoring

It’s believed that over 79% of Millennials see mentoring as crucial to their career success. There has been some debate on just what Millennials really want in a career or workplace, and mentoring is the perfect one-to-one solution that can keep young talent enthused and on track. And mentors that are not supervisors will typically hear more candid feedback, which helps create stronger relationships. Jordon Cohen is Vice President, People – U.S. at Weight Watchers International. He is an expert on knowledge worker productivity. Here’s a brief summary of what they do at Weight Watchers, from the article "How To Mentor Someone That Doesn’t Know What Their Career Goals Should Be."

Dispel the career myth.

“First, we tell employees that it is fine and even preferable not to have a concrete career path in mind. We recently launched biannual growth conversations between managers and employees. Rather than job titles, employees discuss experiences, responsibilities, and lifestyle changes they might want.”

“Good questions to ask: ‘What problems excite you?’ ‘What strengths can you build on?’ ‘What types of work do you want to do less of and more of?’ ‘What would you do differently if you quit your career?’”

Focus on transferable skills.

“We train our managers to help their direct reports develop transferable skills, not climb a ladder (for example, communication, self-management, writing, public speaking). These are skills that increase employability because they can be applied to a variety of roles and situations now and in the future.”

“Good questions to ask: ‘Of the skills we’re looking to grow on the team or in the company, which interest you most?’ ‘What skills would help you gain more influence in your current role?’ ‘What skill gaps are standing in your way or holding you back?’”

6. Create milestones.

“One of the perks of an old-school career is the title progression that delineates advancement. As organizations become flatter, and growth nonlinear, we have to put extra effort into making milestones that mark progress. One way we’ve done this is to create badges that demarcate growth. For example, when managers receive training, they receive a certificate. To get their next badge, they must complete an advanced program. A badge system can demarcate skills, knowledge, and achievements — creating a portfolio of accomplishments rather than a traditional résumé.”

“Good questions to ask: ‘What do you want to achieve next? How will you know you’ve achieved it?’ ‘Let’s gamify this goal. What’s level 1? How about level 2?’ ‘What do you want to name this next milestone?’ ‘How might you share what you’ve learned?’”

Encourage small experiments.

"The growing complexity and unpredictability of work means we need to run many small experiments to discover what suits us best. We’re helping managers encourage experiments among their reports and equipping them with skills to give clear, actionable feedback on their reports’ progress.”

“Good questions to ask: ‘What areas of the business intrigue you?’ ‘How might you design a short experiment to test your interest level?’ ‘Who might you want to collaborate with?’ ‘What have you discovered about yourself from your past experiments?’

7. The Road Not Taken - Yet

Yogi Berra a famous baseball player once said: “If you see a fork in the road, take it.” In today’s fast moving world, there are more forks in the road than ever before. Change comes fast and the future is unsure. What we can be sure of is who we are and what we really care about. Our own personal brand has to be adaptable, and mentoring can help form important perspectives and character traits. There is an old Chinese Proverb, which reads: “When the wind of change blows, some people build walls, others build windmills.” If you can harness change in your favor you will eventually find your path. Have a great journey.

Lastly , an acronym to define what it takes to become a good mentor. A good mentor…, or which defines well enough why a mentor is important for your successful career.

M – Motivates you to accomplish more than you think you can.

E – Expects the best of you.

N – Never gives up on you or lets you give up on yourself.

T – Tells you the truth, even when it hurts.

O – Occasionally kicks your butt.

R – Really cares about you and your success.

Look for people with these qualities when you are searching for a mentor. Embody them yourself when you are mentoring others.

The common career success coach point here is simple. Mentors can help you create the life and career success you want and deserve. Success people follow the career advice in Tweet 51 in Success Tweets, “Find a mentor. Mentors are positive people who will help you find the lessons in your experiences and use them to move forward.”

🌿 THANK YOU 🌿