How can mentorship help you adapt to a new company culture?

Expand mentorship beyond one-on-one relationships by introducing group mentorship sessions. This allows multiple mentees to benefit from a mentor's insights simultaneously and promotes a collaborative learning environment.

An additional benefit from mentorship is its role as a dynamic relationship that fosters mutual learning and growth. It serves as a platform for developing interpersonal skills and understanding different perspectives, which can be helpful in navigating and adapting to new company cultures.

I have recently joined a Group called 12x12. Twelve ladies get together once a month to share their insights and expertise on a specific topic. We are all at a similar level professionally but may need mentorship or advice in a specific area. The end goal is for each of the 12 to create our own new group of 12.

Mentorship (different from sponsorship) is someone who can provide guidance, who can coach and advise. It works when you can be honest and open with each other about what you're trying to learn or change. On the flip side, it doesn't work if it's a tick-the-box exercise, where the individual is trying to seek your endorsement.

Mentorship supports the mentee to understand the organisational culture, their role within it, widens their network and supports the mentee to flourish

As a leader, culture change can be particularly challenging, as you're typically the champion for change and all eyes are on you. It can be lonely at the top. As you're on this journey, it can be useful to have smart and experienced mentors on your side, to bounce ideas off, who you can coach and advise you.

Encourage mentors and mentees to come from different departments or areas within the company. This cross-functional approach broadens perspectives.

Mentors will have a big impact on where and organization’s focus will be and it is therefore very important to have an overall view and plan for what type of conversations are occurring or will occur across an organization - this is not easy because the content of mentorship conversations must always be confidential but overall themes and issues must be reviewed regularly.

Mentors can help an individual get out of their own head, share experiences that may be similar or discuss pitfalls they themselves faced and the recipient could infer lessons. Overall, mentors offer a safe and trusted space, where the mentee can exercise mental scenario planning and fortitude.

Mentors play a massive role in assisting new joiners to adapt to the company's culture. Having somone that already understands and is an advocate of "the way things are done" sets the new joiner up for success. It creates a safe space for the new joiner to ask questions and raise concerns.

Having the courage to put oneself “out there” is where you will find magic and serendipity. In this context, this can allow you to find the mentor you are seeking. Being clear about who you are and what you are looking for opens up a realm of possibility. Imagine how much power there is in a simple “Hi my name is … Can I buy you a cup of coffee?”

Start by identifying what you want to lear or achieve in your role. Look for someone whose career path or leadership style you admire. This could be someone within you company or even an external professional in the same industry. Don’t hesitate to reach out and ask for guidance - you’d be surprised how willing people are to share their experiences and help. A good mentor-mentee relationship is based on mutual respect and a shared commitment to growth.

Los y las mentoras deben ser las personas que mejor representen la nueva cultura organizacional, que sean referentes en sus equipos y áreas y que tengan ciertas habilidades básicas para realizar este acompa?amiento desde la mentoría. Sin duda, debe ser una participación voluntaria.

Look for mentors who have complementary strengths and experiences to your own, and ideally, work in a different part of the organization. Part of a good mentoring relationship is the diversity each person brings to the discussions. And don't think of this as a one and done, either one meeting and it's done or only having one mentor. I like having a portfolio of mentors that allow me to learn functional skills, leadership skills, industry skills, and more.

There will be mentors for various stages of your life….it is a relationship that will take time to nurture and develop. You have to commit to wanting a mentor and the best way to get someone that is committed to you is to be will to reward them for the time they will be devoting to you….

????????????????: Understand the mentor’s background and interests. ??????????????: Identify your mentorship goals. ?????????? ??????: Contact the mentor professionally, explaining your goals and why they’d be a good fit. ????????: Arrange a meeting to discuss the mentorship further. ???????????? ????: Send a thank you note post-meeting, expressing eagerness to start.

Consider the mentorship as a two-way street, where both mentor and mentee can derive significant benefits. Before approaching a potential mentor, it's important to empathize and think about what can be 'in it for them.' This mindset will guide your approach, ensuring that the mentorship is seen as mutually beneficial and rewarding.

In my experience, mentorship is a collaborative process, and your active participation and commitment are crucial for maximizing its benefits. Stay open minded when your mentor shares his/her experience and stories. Take quality time to reflect on the insights and knowledge shared by your mentor. Consider how you can apply these lessons to your own life and work. Actively implement the advice and strategies discussed during your mentorship.

To best understand a culture, try seeking out and listening to the stories being told. Any cultural element that you can see/feel in an organization can be traced back to a particular prevailing narrative about "the way things are", and each is undergirded by a set of beliefs and assumptions that produced it. Use your mentor to try and understand the why behind each of the whats you perceive; for each, get a sense of the context that produced it, why it remains important for the company, and any best practices for how you as a new employee can best operate within it. Remain curious and ask good questions with the goal of truly understanding without judgment, and you’ll be well on your way to thriving within the culture you’ve joined.

My view is that mentorship is unrated andunder valued. Its an incredibly powerful tool to support Induction, belonging and sharing knowledge. It's not complicated, and should be encouraged and driven as a cultural norm.

To make the most of your mentorship, it's important to appreciate the generosity of your mentor. Express gratitude often. Be clear on expectations and agreements up front. This can include what you would like to achieve and how the mentor can help you. Also practically, how many times per month you will meet and for how long, and what is the agreed duration of the mentoring engagement. Show up on time and be prepared to share your wins with your mentor and let them know how some new thinking stemming from mentor sessions has helped or how it has impacted you. Share your challenges and ask lots of questions.

Securing a mentor who understands the culture of the organisation enables you to unlock opportunities to understand the hidden networks that exist and to gain insights into how they think and feel. Consider your key objectives - can you use a mentor session to map out the internal stakeholders who could influence your success or failure? Tap into your mentor's perceptions of how decisions are made or how adaptive to change areas are. Also assess if there are aspects of the culture or department/team sub-cultures that may create barriers to progression or enable you to accelerate faster? This foundational work can then be revisited on a regular basis to track progress and to learn/adapt your approach.

Al inicio de la mentoría se deben trazar los objetivos. Estos objetivos deben estar alineados con la cultura organizacional deseada y la evaluación debe medir el cumplimiento de esos objetivos y, en últimas, la adaptación cultural del su aprendiz.

???????????? ????????????????: Review your goals and progress regularly. ????????????????: Exchange feedback to improve the mentorship. ????????????????: If goals are achieved or mentorship isn’t beneficial, consider ending it. ????????????????????: Discuss ending the mentorship with your mentor, expressing gratitude. ??????????????: End positively and maintain the relationship for future networking.

Ensure you communicate with your mentor if you feel ready to wrap up a mentoring engagement if there was no prior timeframe agreed. If possible it's great to have a completion mentoring session where you can review and acknowledge achievements and challenges you have overcome during the mentoring engagement, and express gratitude and appreciation. It's good to keep the channel of communication open if there is a mutual interest and to discuss if and how you'd like to keep in touch.

Some of the areas not included in the article are: ???????????? ??????????????: Both mentor and mentee should respect each other’s time, commitment, and efforts. ??????????????????????????: Clear and open communication is key to a successful mentorship. ????????????????????: Both parties should be committed to the mentorship process. ??????????????????????????????: Any shared information should be kept confidential unless agreed otherwise. ??????????????????????: Be open to learning and adapting as the mentorship progresses.

Mentorships benefit from mutual respect and understanding, which includes recognizing and adapting to each other's communication styles. For example, some mentees might prefer clear goals, while others need detailed instructions. On the mentor's side, preferences can vary between desiring frequent updates or just overall summaries. Discussing these preferences helps in aligning expectations and enhances the mentorship experience, catering to the distinct needs of both mentor and mentee for a productive relationship

It’s simple. You learn what is important, how things work and how to get stuff done. Most of work is noise. Mentoring is your shortcut to effectiveness. Find a mentor, ask them what is essential, and then ask who else you should talk to. If your onboarding doesn’t include mentoring, good look with Culture:)

Mentoring employees in a collegial style fosters a reciprocal relationship, encouraging peer-to-peer knowledge exchange. This approach enhances an organization's corporate memory by capturing valuable know-how. When merged with explicit information, this tacit knowledge becomes a rich resource for Big Data Analytics and AI platforms, offering deep insights and fostering innovative problem-solving. It not only accelerates individual and organizational learning but also drives knowledge-driven innovation.