Show Notes:

No one is ever a pro right in the beginning. All of us have to start somewhere, so don’t feel pressured to be a beginner in the industry that you want to pursue, because there are a lot of ways to learn and get help for ourselves – just like mentoring!

For this episode, I’d like to talk about one of the topics that I value the most – mentoring in general, finding a suitable mentor to work with, growing your relationship with them, and reciprocating their efforts. Not only that you’ll have an honest and reliable opinion on your decisions, but your friend list will definitely grow as well!

Transcript:

Hello, and welcome to The Traveling Introvert! Today, I’m going to talk about mentoring. I think mentoring is something that is very important and often overlooked when people are out thinking about their careers. You are in charge of your own career, and as part of that, you should have a plan. While it’s an idea of where you want to go, and if not getting outside your views and help, and mentors can help you in while doing that. While beefing up your career skills, mentoring is proven to be essential for your career success. Several mentors to utilize range from CEOs to CMOs to college professionals. There’s no one set thing that a mentor should be as far as job title is concerned. But these people are instrumental to your career growth and success. They will offer their time, care, and commitment to improving your skills. Great mentors have the knowledge and experience to guide you, your men, as a mentee. Mentors are valuable because they guide you on your career path whether you are an experienced professional or recent college grad, mentors are a valuable asset in your career toolkit.

And how do you get started with creating a relationship with your mentor? Well, you should determine your mentorship goals before you seek out a mentor. [Right now], all your expectations and the role that you would like to mentor to play in your life. Do you want a mentor who can help you with installing network attempts? Or would you like a mentor who can assist you in learning more about a particular industry? Or do you want someone who can provide guidance on how to be a successful entrepreneur? There is a specific experience or skills in your career that might need further improvement. It’s crucial to determine your set of objectives and goals because this is what you and your mentor should be achieving together.Then you have to recognize what is a good mentor. While trying to discover a good mentor, you may look for someone that can aid your personal growth, but in addition, you need to find someone who’s truly brilliant and has found success in many areas. The most obvious mentor candidates are your current or former bosses, colleague, or college professors because you already have a good relationship with them and they are leaders that can help you beef up your career skills in almost any field of work.

During the entire process, however, bear in mind you are not limited to a single mentor. You can choose to have a mentor for each stage of your career or different areas of your career. There are multiple mentors who will specialize in different areas, so just think about that. Don’t feel you just have to have one mentor, and then like how do you request the mentorship? So, it’s easy to approach a mentor candidate if you’ve known the person for a while and have a pre-existing relationship with them. You can easily ask them for a meeting at a coffee shop or an office environment, so that’s okay. If it’s someone that you don’t know, sending out an email or connecting with them on LinkedIn is the first step. And then, showing interest in what they do and then proceeding from there. Communicate all of your career goals and identify some of the areas that you want to improve in. Explain that you have high regard for that specific leadership or experience and skills and you would like to take the opportunity to learn from them, and there’s nothing wrong with asking for a person to be their mentor. But remember, they are giving up their time, so be very clear and specific about what you’re looking for. You could ask for a mutual friend to be introduced to someone else as a mentor. There are other places you can reach out on social media like Facebook. You can be persistent, but don’t be annoying, and have a couple of people in mind, because like I said, it might just be the wrong time. Explore different ways of crossing path with your mentor. If your mentor is an online influencer or professional organization member, maybe you could attend one of their events. Don’t stop them but be proactive about the opportunities where you can meet them in an outside setting. So, show admiration for things that they do and show enthusiasm for growth.

Now, the next part is actually being a mentee. As I said before, people are extremely busy and they consider their time to be valuable. Therefore, when a person has agreed to mentor you, you need to realize this is a privilege and an honor and give the respect and time to the mentor by being prepared before you go out and meet them. Be careful in planning the questions and topics that you want to address. This must be done beforehand so that when you meet you will have a focused meeting. Ask suggestions but in moderation. Don’t reach out for suggestions all the time because that could be seen as too much work for your mentor. Reach out only for advice on career decisions, not little challenges. Make sure you listen. Mentors are dispensing an advice. You might not always take the advice, but you should at least listen to it and you should be able to explain why you did something different and share your development. Show, you know, what you did that’s changed and show your gratitude. Just saying thank you or sending a card is a really great way to let them know that they’ve made a difference in your life and you can keep in touch with them later on even if they’re not your mentor anymore.

So that was just a quick episode on mentoring and it’s something that is close to my heart. If you have any questions, please email me at janice@thecareerintrovert.com.

Thank you for listening, and I look forward to helping you with your career and your business moving forward.