In business, leaders are always thinking ahead, solving problems and seeking out avenues for growth. It can be difficult for some leaders to consider turning their attention to anything that does not directly impact or benefit their business. But the most impactful leaders are those who recognize there is no way to know everything, and see the tremendous benefit of an outsider’s perspective. That is where an effective mentor can be an invaluable asset.
Too often, leaders have the wrong idea about mentorship. Often, they see it as an obligation to follow non-flexible requirements of a formal mentoring program. Others believe that a mentor only comes in the form of a wise, industry elder who offers ground-breaking advice. In reality, a mentor is someone with experiential perspective who can spark new ways of thinking, broaden a leader’s perspective and strengthen their connections to their industry and community.
It’s easy for leaders to put off finding a mentor when there are so many elements of business that demand their attention. But identifying a good mentor should be viewed as an investment that can pay dividends for a leader’s business and professional development.
Let’s look at a few best practices to find the mentor that’s right for you – a mentor who can help you get the most out of the relationship to incorporate into professional growth and business operations.
1. Choosing the Best Mentor: The most impactful people in a leader’s career are rarely those who always agreed with them. A mentor should be someone a leader trusts and admires, who challenges their ways of thinking and asks questions that generate new ideas. A mentor could be someone with whom a leader is already connected in their network or someone with whom they had a candid conversation at an industry event. When a leader considers a potential mentor, it is important that leaders are transparent about their intention. A truly impactful relationship is more than a business connection and a mentor relationship should be defined as such.
2. Investing in the Relationship: Once a mentor relationship is established, both mentors and mentees need to be invested. While the structure of the relationship may vary, mentees should feel they have access to their mentors and that they are deriving meaningful insight and advice to develop their skillset. For mentorship to be impactful, both mentor and mentee must allocate the necessary time to develop and grow the relationship.
3. Putting it into Practice: For mentorship to mean something, it must be put into practice. As mentees, leaders should take what they have learned, share it with their teams and test new ideas and approaches to a business’s problems. Doing so will prove to employees that the leader is open to evolving and values continuous learning. This approach is what prevents businesses from becoming stagnant. Instead, it positively impacts culture, operations and overall business viability.
Often, a mentor experiences as much benefit from a quality mentoring relationship as their mentee does. These relationships help establish a community of leaders, both those who are mentors and those who are mentees, who can share ideas, learn from each other’s mistakes and successes and connect each other with resources to better their businesses. In many respects, mentorship helps establish community as an essential pillar of business. Without it, leaders may be making uninformed decisions clouded by their closeness to an operation. A mentor can help break leaders out of this cycle and set them up to help others do the same.
A mentor goes far beyond someone who can answer your questions. When done intentionally, a mentor-mentee relationship can create life-long connections with people a leader can trust in both business and the community. Every leader, no matter where they are in their careers, can benefit from an effective mentor in terms of business, career development and personal fulfillment.