You're struggling to develop your project management skills in project leadership. How can your mentor help?

1 What is a mentor?

A mentor is someone who has more experience and expertise than you in a certain field or domain, and who is willing to share their knowledge, insights, and feedback with you. A mentor can be a senior colleague, a former boss, a professional contact, or even a friend who has relevant skills and qualifications. A mentor can help you learn from their successes and failures, avoid common pitfalls, and discover new opportunities.

2 How to find a mentor?

Finding a mentor can be tricky, but not impossible. You can start by looking within your own organization, network, or industry for potential candidates who have the project leadership skills you admire and respect. You can also use online platforms, such as LinkedIn, to search for mentors based on their profiles, recommendations, and endorsements. Once you identify some potential mentors, you need to reach out to them and express your interest in learning from them. You should be clear about your goals, expectations, and availability, and show that you are enthusiastic, respectful, and committed.

3 How to work with a mentor?

Working with a mentor requires mutual trust, respect, and communication. You should establish a regular schedule and format for your mentoring sessions, whether they are face-to-face, online, or phone-based. You should also prepare for each session by setting specific objectives, questions, and topics that you want to discuss with your mentor. During the session, you should listen actively, ask for feedback, and take notes. After the session, you should reflect on what you learned, apply it to your projects, and track your progress.

4 How to benefit from a mentor?

A mentor can provide you with valuable support, advice, and guidance on various aspects of project leadership. This includes developing a vision and mission for your projects, aligning them with organizational objectives and values, building and maintaining relationships with team members, stakeholders, and sponsors, communicating effectively with different audiences and channels, delegating tasks and empowering others, resolving conflicts, managing change, evaluating performance, celebrating achievements, and identifying areas for improvement.

5 How to be a good mentee?

Being a good mentee is not only about receiving, but also about giving. You should show your appreciation and gratitude to your mentor by acknowledging their time, effort, and contribution. You should also provide them with constructive feedback, suggestions, and ideas that can help them improve their own skills and practice. You should also be open-minded, flexible, and willing to learn from different perspectives and experiences. Finally, you should be proactive, responsible, and accountable for your own learning and development.