Chapter 18: Mentoring!

People often believe that mentorship is from a person who's above them whether in seniority or knowledge so they can gain knowledge. However, there is one form of mentoring that is overlooked. It's called peer mentoring.

While we are still in mostly remote environment, having peers that you can rely upon is prudent.

Leaders, managers, boss, whatever you want to call them while they can set up this relationship, it's also on the individual to find peers from whom they can learn.

Leadership just like mentoring is a relational process, constant feedback is necessary.

One thing I've noticed in my own career is I learn not only from people who know more than me in my field, I also learn from people who're brand new. Brand new people have a way of looking at things that people with years of experience would have not thought of or tried.

Yes knowledge comes with experience but innovation comes from curiosity.

Mentoring doesn't have to be a formal process, it can be informal. You can start by setting up a virtual coffee with a colleague from a different department. A week ago, I set up some time with a colleague to teach me how to create wiki pages. I was able to learn so much and now I have a new skill under my belt.

I have mentors in every aspect of my life that I want to improve. Some things I am doing don't need mentors. Like I'm cross-stitching as a hobby right now, it's pretty simple so I don't need a mentor. However, if I am trying to learn how to play Piano or violin then I'll need someone to train and mentor me.

As a peer mentor, you'll likely believe that mentoring is a only give relationship. However that doesn't have to be true. Mentoring can also give and that's why peer mentoring can be more impactful than traditional forms of mentoring.

In academia, research has shown that in online courses peer mentoring not only helps all those involved but also offloads some burden that professors are likely to experience due to one on one mentoring.

As a leader, you can set up a group chat or weekly sync where everyone comes and asks questions. You as a leader don't need to attend these sessions.

As an individual, you can find people who do the same work as you in your org and see if you can set up a relationship where you can go to them with your questions.

Until next time,

Stay Caffeinated!

PS: Caffeinated Careers is moving away from LinkedIn and going to a new site in the next few weeks.