Mentoring Can Help You Achieve Your Goals and Excel in What You Do

Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, Plato and Aristotle, Professor Dumbledore and Harry Potter, Yoda and Luke Skywalker. What do they all have in common? They've all been in a mentoring relationship at some point in their lives.

As Richard Branson famously said:

If you ask any successful businessperson, they will always have had a great mentor at some point along the road.

Unfortunately, many people never get to experience the benefits of having a relationship with a mentor. They're being held back by many factors such as ego, pride, fear, doubt, or even lack of awareness.

Mentoring is one of the key disciplines that can help you in your journey for personal and professional growth. It can be a fulfilling and rewarding experience for both the mentor and the mentee through establishing strong relationships, sharing knowledge and wisdom, setting meaningful goals, seeing their progress, and making a positive impact overall.

Mentoring could be one of your main assets when you want to achieve something important that isn't currently within your reach. Choosing the right mentor and committing to this relationship could be instrumental to your success.

Mentoring is also vital when you’re not at your best and you need a trusted advisor who can guide you through the tough times. A mentor can provide encouragement, help you identify areas of improvement, and offer ways to overcome obstacles to bounce back and gain momentum. Their experience and insights can be invaluable in navigating setbacks and turning them into opportunities for growth and learning.

Over the years, I've had the fortune and the privilege to have several mentors who have helped me achieve goals that seemed unreachable and shaped who I am today through many different interactions such as one-on-one meetings, shadowing, or just observing how they act in certain situations.

What is Mentoring?

Mentoring is a relationship in which an experienced individual (the mentor) provides guidance, support, and advice to someone less experienced (the mentee). The goal is to help the mentee develop specific skills, knowledge, or abilities to advance in their career or personal development. Mentoring can take various forms, such as one-on-one sessions, group mentoring, or even virtual mentoring through online platforms. It often involves sharing experiences, offering feedback, setting goals, and providing resources to help the mentee grow and succeed.

Mentoring vs Coaching

Mentoring and coaching are both forms of professional development, but they have distinct differences. Mentoring involves a long-term relationship focused on holistic career or personal development, with mentors providing guidance and sharing their experiences. Coaching, on the other hand, is typically short-term and task-oriented, aiming to improve specific skills or achieve particular goals through structured sessions.

Mentors are often experts in their field, offering comprehensive support and acting as role models, while coaches specialize in techniques to facilitate growth and development. Mentoring covers a wide range of topics and can last for months or even years, while coaching is more focused and has shorter durations with specific objectives.

Having been in both types of relationships in the past, I can share the sentiment that mentoring and coaching can be valuable tools, depending on the individual's needs and goals.

The Experience for the Mentee

The experience for the mentee in a mentoring relationship can be very beneficial and transformative. Mentees have the opportunity to:

• Gain insights from the mentor's knowledge, experiences, and perspectives into their field or industry.
• Mentors provide guidance and direction, helping mentees navigate challenges, make tough decisions, and set meaningful goals.
• Expand their networks as they gain access to the mentor's network, which can lead to new connections, opportunities, and collaborations.
• Develop their skills and competencies, whether it's technical skills related to their profession or soft skills like communication and leadership.
• Boost their confidence through the support and encouragement provided by the mentor, empowering them to take on new challenges and pursue their aspirations with greater conviction.

As a mentee, I've benefited from all of the above over the years. Below are a few examples from my professional career to date.

My experience as a mentee

The beginning of my journey in Product Management

In my second year as a Quality Assurance Specialist, I was already convinced that I wanted to pursue a career in Product Management. I enjoyed being able to influence the way products and features are built, and when I was given the opportunity, I took it straight away. This was my entry into Product Management, and at that time, there weren't that many materials or trainings available, so it was more of an "on the job" learning, shadowing, and observing how others do things well and not that well respectively.

One of the main reasons for my move was the Chief Product Officer at the time (the boss of my boss), whom I had great respect for. I didn't need to think twice when I was offered to move into his team and work closely with him on a couple of very important initiatives for the company. Although we haven't had an official mentor-mentee relationship, I took the most out of our time spent together. He was very open and transparent, providing direction and guidance all the way. I've learned how to make important decisions, validate product requirements by identifying the right stakeholders, work with external parties, and probably the most important lesson of them all - how to pick my battles.

At some point, we've both moved on, but I've already had a strong foundation on which to build going forward.

Acting with integrity and leading by example

In order to be a successful leader, I strongly believe that you need to act with high integrity, show respect, and always lead by example. These are the qualities I've admired the most in the people I've looked up to for guidance and mentoring advice.

To put this into perspective, here is a quick story. During my first trip to my company's office in Montreal, I was able to secure a one-on-one session with the Chief Operating Officer, who I already knew from an email thread we were both part of a couple of months back. I've used my visit as an opportunity to approach him and to my surprise, he agreed to meet. Because of his busy schedule, his secretary had to move our connect twice during the week. On my last day in the office, we met in the elevator, and he realized that our meeting hadn’t happened yet. He asked me when I was heading home, and when I told him I was leaving the next day, he said we would definitely speak in the afternoon. Ten minutes later, I got an updated invitation and this time, the meeting was not moved. After that first connect, we established a strong relationship which is still lasting to this day.

Moving into Senior Management

A few years after I became a people manager, I began aspiring for a move into senior management and take a more strategic role within the team. As I had been a solid and consistent performer, I thought that my promotion was sealed and there was no way around it. That, unfortunately, wasn't the case. I didn't get the role I wanted. I was disappointed and confused, and I wanted to understand the reasons for that decision.

It wasn't until I had a one-on-one with the CEO of the division that she shared very openly what I was missing. It wasn't that I wasn't a good performer. I was actually doing great. The problem was that performance only accounts for 10% of what is required to get a senior management promotion. The rest was made up of image and exposure.

I must admit that I was a bit shocked when I heard that. To my surprise, the CEO offered to mentor me over the next six months and prepare me for that career jump. And it paid off. I got the role I wanted in the next year cycle, and I couldn't have done it without her mentoring advice, and guidance.

How to Find the Right Mentor

Before you start looking for a mentor, you need to make sure that you have a clearly defined goal that you would like to pursue. No matter whether you want to become a cook, a writer, or a product manager, this is your first step.

Once your goal is clear, you can begin identifying potential candidates. The most important principle is to look for someone who not only has the expertise in your desired field but also genuinely cares about your development. The best option is to look around you, in your current workplace or within your family and group of friends. Even if there isn't a suitable match, you can get valuable direction that will make your search easier. If that doesn't work, you can search online, either on social media platforms like LinkedIn or in one of the dedicated mentoring platforms out there. Don't be shy to reach out and create new connections. You never know when you might find a great match.

After you've secured a mentor, there are several important elements to consider while establishing your relationship:

• Define clear goals and expectations from both sides.
• Choose the focus areas on which to emphasize.
• Agree on meeting frequency and duration.

Finally, be proactive, regularly seeking feedback and showing appreciation for the mentor's time and advice.

Common Misconceptions

While the focus in this article has been on the mentee, I want to switch gears and write about the role of the mentor for a bit. There are quite a few misconceptions and stereotypes that define what a mentor is and who can become a mentor. To name a few:

• Mentors have all the answers

Reality: No, they don't! Mentors don't and shouldn't be expected to know everything. Their role is to guide and support the mentee grow by sharing their own experiences and insights.

• Only people with formal training can become mentors

Reality: Can formal training help? Yes, of course. Is it a defining factor? No, it isn't. Successful mentors rely on their own life experiences, intuition, and willingness to learn and grow.

• Mentors should be perfect role models

Reality: Nobody's perfect! As with every other human being, all mentors, no matter how successful, have their fair share of flaws and failures. The real value lies in their willingness and ability to share these experiences, providing realistic and reliable guidance.

• Mentoring is a one-way relationship

Reality: No, it isn't. Effective mentoring is a two-way relationship where both the mentor and the mentee mutually benefit. Mentors often gain fresh perspectives and new ideas from their mentees.

• Mentors should be older

Reality: This is a classic stereotype, as people tend to confuse age with wisdom. Although they can be related, the true value mentors hold is in their experience and ability to connect and share their hard-learned lessons with their mentees.

Closing words

Mentoring is one of the best and most important tools a person can use to drive both their personal and professional growth. Although it's not an easy and straightforward endeavor, it can offer you invaluable guidance, support, and opportunities on the path toward achieving your goals.

I wouldn't have been where I am today without all of the mentoring relationships I've had to date, so I strongly encourage you to take a leap of faith and give it a go. It's 100% worth it!