5 Benefits of Having a Mentor
The value and importance of mentoring has been on my mind a lot lately.
I’m sure this has something to do with the interactions I’ve had with my own mentors in recent weeks and months.
One mentor – the one who’s taught me the most about leadership – has re-entered my life in the last few months, and I find myself energized with anticipation each time his name pops up on my phone.
Another mentor – the one I’ve learned the most about compassion from – is nearing the end of his life, and I find myself soaking in every morsel of wisdom I can, still amazed he makes time for me even when his time is running short.
Another mentor – the one who taught me the most about people feeling seen and known – sat with me in the early stages of Hayah’s launch and was able to ask trajectory-shaping questions because of how well he sees and knows me.
Mentoring has been on my mind, because I’m blessed with incredible mentors. But there’s another reason mentoring’s been on my mind, a reason that feels like a gut punch every time it surfaces, and it’s been surfacing with increased frequency.
I do LifePlans with people all the time, and in those LifePlans we talk about the person’s “Life Net” – the partner, the friend, the protégé, and the mentor who will help them live out their purpose. And 70+% of the time, the person looks at me sheepishly and explains that they don’t have a mentor…that they’ve never really, truly had anyone fill that need in their life. Hearing that is ALWAYS a painful experience for me, because I know just how much that person’s potential of realizing their dreams is impacted by having or not having a mentor.
So, I decided to do a couple of short, teaser-like blog posts this month about the benefits of being a mentor and the benefits of having a mentor. I call them “teaser-like” for 3 reasons:
I hope they whet your appetite and get you looking for a mentor and a protege immediately.
They are precursors to what I really want you to experience. I’m reaching out to experts in the field of mentoring and asking them to write a series of posts that will be featured here in January for National Mentoring Month.
They’re quick, bullet-point-style insights with only the tiniest bit of explanation.
Now, without further ado, allow me to quickly share
5 Benefits Of Having A Mentor
1. REGULAR, ONGOING EVALUATION
Regular, ongoing evaluation of your strengths and skills
Regular, ongoing evaluation of your weaknesses and blind spots
Regular, ongoing evaluation of your goals and aspirations
Regular, ongoing evaluation of your career and life trajectory
Regular, ongoing evaluation of your motivators and drivers
Regular, ongoing evaluation of your communication and interaction with your supervisor, coworkers, and direct reports.
2. INCREASED PERSPECTIVE
ORGANIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVE – Generally, someone who’s a little higher up the org chart (even at a different company in the same field) has insights into how things work and why things are the way they are. Their insights could give you context to understand how your work impacts broader organizational objectives.
UNFILTERED PERSPECTIVE – Too often, we surround ourselves with and seek the opinions of our peers and our friends; so, no matter how great the advice they want to give or are capable of giving, there’s always a danger that their perspective is skewed by friendship, competition, or their desire for your approval. A good mentor tells you what you need to hear even when it stings, and a good mentor isn’t worried that your success will diminish their own opportunity for advancement; so, a good mentor can offer you the kind of unfiltered perspective your peers can’t.
SEASONED PERSPECTIVE – You get the benefit of walking with someone who’s already climbed the mountain you’re eyeing…someone who can point out the footholds and sinkholes while slowing you down long enough to celebrate each successive vista on the way to the summit. You also get to hear the stories of what it takes to reach the top with your reputation and relationships intact.
3. NEW RELATIONSHIP TO SPEED
If you get used to facing a major league pitcher throwing 95mph, how much easier is it to get a hit against a high school pitcher throwing 70mph? The same principle holds true in work. If you start spending consistent, intentional time with someone whose business acumen is light years beyond the average person you work with, you’ll find yourself fully engaged and actively participating in meetings and conversations that once left you scratching your head, feeling like you didn’t belong.
And when the speed of work slows down the pace of advancement speeds up. What was once a step-by-step plan for promotion and advancement in your organization may suddenly and surprisingly require a few less steps for you. When your mentor helps you think, speak, and act more effectively, your life begins to explode with opportunity and your LinkedIn profile fills in much more quickly.
4. EXPANDING NETWORK
Mentors have a way of introducing their proteges to other influential leaders.
Mentors get their mentees into rooms, conferences, and parties they’d never get invited into where they not only meet the movers and shakers of their industry, mentees also get to meet their counterparts…the movers and shakers’ proteges.
When I post things on social media, I generally get a handful of likes and shares, but one time after one of my mentors shared a post of mine, I got 8x the likes, 4x the shares, and 12 new followers.
5. MULTIPLIED IMPACT
Having your work and your life REGULARLY EVALUATED increases your confidence, and increased confidence generally leads to increased impact.
A normal byproduct of INCREASED PERSPECTIVE is wisdom, and when you have wisdom beyond your years, you have greater potential and opportunity for impact.
When the SPEED of business no longer intimidates you, the SPEED of your ascent generally increases, and the higher you climb and the greater your authority the more substantial your impact generally becomes.
As your NETWORK EXPANDS, your reach and audience broaden, and when that happens, your impact multiplies exponentially.
When you consider these 5 benefits of having a mentor, why would you not go out of your way to find someone who is who, what, or where you want to be and ask them for a little time each month?
Your life will be immeasurably better if you do.
