Mentoring: Getting the right match is important if this relationship is going to work

?It’s not just about getting a mentor: it’s about finding the right mentor that’s the critical thing. A mentor is a trusted, experienced person who can provide support, advice and guidance over time.

Why work with a mentor in the first place?

Well, it maybe that you’re at a crossroads in your career, or at a point when you’re not quite sure where you’re going or need an external sounding board to gain perspective on direction or decision-making. Whatever your reason, working with a mentor can be a powerful way to get clarity, reassurance and confidence.

If you have been in a senior leadership role for some time, the mentoring objectives you are likely to agree with a mentor will probably be designed to embrace challenge, be relationship orientated, take on new perspectives, being open to being inspired and motivated by new ideas and trying new things.?

This means your ideal mentor must have the ability to: actively listen and expertly facilitate outside-in perspectives to broaden thinking, help you develop skills, and explore the impact of these changes on your business and personal goals. A mentor needs to be that experienced business person by your side, challenging and encouraging you in equal measure.

How do mentoring sessions work?

Every mentoring session is different, as are the needs of every mentee as they change over time.? Here are some of the things that are typically covered:

What to look for in a mentor

The key for a successful and productive working relationship with a mentor is finding someone who you trust and respect, someone you can build a relationship with and feel comfortable confiding in. You need to feel safe, can talk openly about the concerns you have, knowing that what you say will be treated sensitively, empathetically and in total confidence.

Trust is an interesting thing. Trust is earned and it is contextual. For mentoring, this is based around a strongly ethical way of working, with honesty and confidentiality at its core.

The benefits of mentoring

A mentor’s unwavering commitment to a mentee’s success brings many benefits both personally and for the business. There are times when we all need support and help to succeed, someone to hold up the mirror to us and allow us to gain clarity. A world with so much data, information and constant change can leave us overwhelmed and questioning ourselves and our strategies. Mentoring provides time and space to work on ‘me’ and that time can be precious beyond rubies.

Futurecurve’s Helen Blake is an accomplished and established mentor to senior executives, bringing her business and organisational psychology expertise and knowledge for the success of her mentees.? Helen has just posted her own view on mentoring if you want to learn more.? https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/helenblake