6 Things You Should Look For In a Mentor

Being a professional mentor is a highly respectable goal to have in the workplace. Everyone wants to be a role model, as it ensures your personal growth remains on the rise. However, it’s also essential to fast-track the career advancement of both the professional mentor and mentee. For the former, being a valued office member who goes above and beyond the call of duty makes them much better poised for a promotion. For the latter, it means they’ll learn the tried-and-true secrets of success from someone with experience.

Whether you’re considering becoming a professional mentor, or being a mentee to one, here are 6 things you should look for in them, and how to develop these skills for yourself.

1.   Knowledge and Connections

A good professional mentor is one who already knows the ins and outs of the industry they’re working in, and is willing to impart that wisdom to up-and-coming professionals. Mentorship is basically teaching through actions as well as words.

Even more importantly, a wide base of connections is essential for career advancement, and a professional mentor has to be willing to help the mentee network and put them in touch with people who will help them move up in the world.

2.   Impartiality

A professional mentor must not allow himself to be governed by bias. That’s the antithesis of the reason a professional mentor is needed. Think back to all the inspirational mentors you’ve known: none of them told their mentees ‘good job’ without actually meaning it.

Objectivity is key – a professional mentor must be impartial and offer constructive criticism when needed. Otherwise, the mentee remains trapped in an echo chamber of false positive feedback which holds back their personal growth.

3.   Time Management

In the business world, time wastage should be kept to a minimum to enhance productivity. A professional mentor should look to schedule meetings and sessions in advance so that neither the professional mentor nor the mentee are held back at work due to unproductive time loss.

Mentorship isn’t gauged by the quantity of time they spend coaching you, but by the quality of it. Proper scheduling and concise communication is necessary to make it a good use of both parties’ time.

4.   Passion

A professional mentor needs passion. It takes a lot out of a person simply to complete the duties delegated to them, let alone coach someone else on how to do so. It’s best to find a professional mentor who has enthusiasm to spare and is genuinely willing to take time out of their day to help the mentee succeed.

5.   Solution-Oriented Outlook

When a problem arises, the only thing that complaining achieves is that it wastes your time. A professional mentor should immediately be thinking of possible solutions and perhaps even initiating their testing before everyone else in the workplace has even got their bearings. This is also an invaluable skill that a professional mentor should pass on to a mentee.

6.   Follow-Up Skills

Just because a matter has been discussed once doesn’t have to mean it’s over. A professional mentor should be able to regularly follow up with their mentee to see if their suggestions, instructions and criticisms have been properly absorbed and implemented.

I wish you the best of luck in becoming a role model in the workplace yourself one day. Remember, a professional mentor is constantly developing their business skills, so if you need advice on how to develop yours, book a call with me. I’ll be happy to help you reach your best self in the workplace.

Regards,

Arun George

[email protected]