Maybe you’ve been struggling a bit in life, and a friend or family member has suggested that you try out a mentor. You might be hesitant, wondering why is mentorship important? Mentorship is important for several reasons.
Mentors Provide Knowledge
No matter who you are or what field you are in, you don’t know everything there is to know. Even if your mentor is on the same level as you academically, they may have knowledge different from yours that could help you achieve goals both on the job and off. Having a mentor can also help shorten the growth curve when you take on a new project or set an ambitious goal.
Mentors Can See Things You Can’t
One of the most difficult things in life can be clearly seeing yourself or your journey. Mentorship can help since the mentor provides feedback about things you are doing from a third-party outsider’s perspective. This can give you a valuable leap ahead when competing for a competitive position or another dream that depends on someone else’s selection to achieve.
Beyond being just an outside perspective and giving you advice, mentors can offer you daily encouragement. In the same way an accountability partner is important with a good coach, a good mentor will know when and how to encourage you to keep you on track. This encouragement helps you to stay on your path towards success.
Mentors Introduce You To A Network
One of the other things that makes a mentor great is the network they have built throughout their years. While this is probably a good topic for another video, the value of networking is critical. Your mentor usually has a network of people behind them who are also available to you.
Your mentor likely knows people who can advise you in difficult situations who will be invaluable to your future journey. Share on XSome Reality and Common Sense
Now this is a place where I bring reality and common sense to the subject. I’ve seen organizations with managers that talk about “Creating a mentoring program”. And this often happens right before their own performance evaluation time.
It sounds good and it gives them something to write about. I’m not saying that all mentoring programs are bad. It’s not about being assigned someone. Effective mentorship deals with building a trusted relationship with someone that has the both the skills and the will to help you see succeed.
Why is Mentorship Important and Some Final Thoughts
Whether is at work or within your personal life, a good mentor can be a great addition to your life. Through the knowledge, skills and abilities that you gain through mentorship, you will one day be able to pay it forward and mentor others.
What are Your Thoughts?
Please leave your thoughts below in the comment section, or contact me here.
