I may be the mentor, but they mentor me

I am very privileged. I am a Mentor.

I feel very privileged as I have the opportunity to mentor a number of amazing people through The Retail Mentors voluntary mentoring program. One of them recently sent me a message after we had met for a coffee. It read:

"Thank you so much for your time and energy and just being so amazing to talk to. It really fills my soul when we chat".

This message literally filled my eyes with tears. To think that I had helped her, that I had had a positive impact on her, made me feel so greatly honoured and filled me with such immense pride. Whilst her message was incredibly generous, the feeling is absolutely mutual.

A lot of people assume that mentoring is about having someone older and wiser telling you what to do with your life. Now whilst for some, it could be none or some of these things, in my experience, mentoring has been a little different. For me, having a mentor has been about spending time with someone whose opinion and advice you value and respect - even if it is, at times, hard to hear. It is dealing with the tough stuff head-on and challenging you to do more and to be more with the advantage of the support of someone who is there for you, for no personal gain. There is openness and trust and wise counsel and guidance from someone who sees things from a different and often more experienced perspective.

As a mentor, it is the same. As a friend recently said to me:

When I meet up with my mentee it is the highlight of my week

And I completely agree.

To be around people who are so motivated and passionate, who have big dreams and want you to help them achieve those dreams, gives you so much energy. You want them to achieve their goals. You want them to succeed. You know that if you can help them, even in a very small way, to achieve their goals and become the people they want to be, then that is indeed a privilege.

I am here to help and support my mentees. What I share with them is not forced but comes naturally. I am very open and honest and have shared many very personal experiences that I feel could give context to challenges they may be facing, and in doing so I want them to know that they are not on their own. My support and advice comes from years of experience, often not even knowing or remembering where the experience has come from. But without question, whilst I am there to offer support and guidance every time I meet up with a mentee, I learn something new. As an incredibly inquisitive person who has a never-ending thirst for learning, I am so grateful for this opportunity. I walk away from the conversation a better person and already look forward to the next time we will catch up.

Knowing if you need a mentor or not is easy. You do. Not only do you need one, but you should also want one. The benefits are endless, and the experience is life-changing. For both of you.

For the mentee, you get the opportunity to spend time with someone who has the experience and expertise to guide you, as they have walked a similar path to you. Someone who is genuinely there to help and support you without judgment.

And for those who have had the opportunity to have a mentor, as I have also been incredibly fortunate to have, then is it not time to do the same for someone else? Or maybe you didn't have this opportunity yourself, and you want to offer that to someone else? Then it is time to be a mentor.

To those whom I am privileged to call mentors, past and present, I say thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your support, your guidance, your trust, and your relentless encouragement. I am a much better person for knowing you and for that I will always be grateful.

For those I have the privilege to mentor, thank you. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for listening but above all, thank you for teaching me. I love to see you grow and shine and do so with great pride. I am there to support you and be there to watch you become all that you want to be.

If you are in the retail industry and interested in being a part of The Retail Mentors voluntary mentoring program as either a mentor or mentee, please visit The Retail Mentors website https://www.theretailmentors.com/ or contact us on [email protected]