Who is a mentor, and how can they be helpful?

THE CONTENT OF THE ARTICLE:

Who is a mentor, and how can they be helpful?

Did you know that about 70% of Fortune 500 companies have mentoring programs? This indicates that successful organizations are more loyal to work-life balance and training. According to Forbes research, executives who invest in mentoring and developing their employees earn 18% higher-than-average returns.

 

Even the IT industry has appreciated the potential of mentors and their role in developing companies. In addition to the fact that developers use training programs for subordinates, they also create software for this segment.

 

Market Watch analysts say that the market for digital products for mentors in 2021 reached a value of $291 million. Also, according to their forecasts, the field is subject to rapid development with a CAGR of 22.7%. Thus, by 2027, the industry's value will grow to nearly $1 billion. This figure demonstrates how much companies are interested in modernizing tools for mentoring.

 

The essence of mentorship itself is to guide newcomers to any industry on an effective path to development. The JOBITT experts have conducted their own research on this topic and have prepared comprehensive material for you with interesting and useful tips.

Who is a mentor?

Even from the earliest eras of human development, there has been a system for transmitting acquired knowledge. The older generations (mentors) shared life wisdom with the younger ones, giving examples of their own achievements and mistakes. Behind every successful commander, strategist, or entrepreneur, there were those who helped them on their professional path. Usually, they were philosophers, teachers, older friends, etc.

 

The modern mentoring system is a working relationship between an experienced industry representative and a novice. Typically, mentors are those who have already succeeded in a particular industry and are interested in passing on knowledge to newcomers. A prime example of this is Steve Jobs, the founding genius of Apple, who mentored Mark Zuckerberg and helped develop Facebook, the social network that recently scaled into Meta.

 

If you thought that the mentor was analogous to a teacher who sets tasks for the mentee and controls their execution, you are mistaken. The essence of mentoring is that without direct influence on the novice and their business, it is to impart knowledge to the person, to help them solve problems.

Why do I need a mentor?

Because a mentor has a lot of life experience, professional skills, and contacts, it is advantageous to work with a mentor for beginners. Beginners need a mentor for:

• development incentives;
• support in difficult situations;
• looking at problems from the outside;
• nudging the beginner in the right direction;
• communication;
• analyzing cases and results achieved;
• discussing points of growth;
• knowledge transfer;
• introducing the novice to other experts.

In other words, mentoring is more like a two-way relationship rather than a teaching relationship, from which the mentor also gets something. This can be a trivial monetary reward, as well as a new experience, practical or business benefits.

 

The mentor is generally needed to keep budding ambition from clouding the mind. In other words, they help assess prospects soberly, create a more realistic development strategy, and so on. The mentor is the only person who can help you find your way through the process.

Types of mentorship

A mentee often requires one of two key types of support: individual and professional. Of course, they can be combined, but as a rule, different mentors are better at one profile.

• Individual support. The mentor plays the role of a mentor, partly a psychologist and even a friend. For example, if the mentee decides to change the profile of activity, the mentor will help choose a direction, the industry will prompt where to start a career path to develop skills, etc.
• Professional or business support. The mentor acts as a personal consultant, but with some differences. For example, the mentor helps to find the best way to develop the startup, sharing knowledge, experience, and working contacts.

As practice shows, most mentors are senior colleagues, managers, or even company executives. That is, they pass on the experience to newcomers, advise on career development, improve skills, etc. And they usually do this for free.

 

The other type of mentoring is paid. The novice hires an expert permanently or pays them for periodic meetings. This is often practiced by people starting their business with little or no idea how to develop it further. In this case, the mentor helps the newcomer by pointing out typical problems, mistakes, and risks.

How does mentoring work?

Mentorship is a mutually beneficial relationship between mentor and mentee. As a rule, expectations from mentoring are somewhat overestimated, and perceptions of it are misguided or distorted due to a lack of information. Let's try to explain in brief.

• A mentor is a wise advisor, not a teacher. They should not teach you from a blueprint or lead you to the one and only right result. Draw from experience, consider your mentor's mistakes, and build your own path to success.
• A mentor is a shining example, but not a coach. They will not force you to go to any result. They will only partly motivate, prompt, and control the stages of development. No more than that.
• A mentor is a support, but not a friend or psychologist. They will help in stressful situations, give valuable advice, etc. They also have a business and other mentees, so you shouldn't pass your own problems on to them.
• A mentor is a developmental aid but not a guarantee of success. They will advise, listen, and help. The rest you have to do on your own. Again, what a mentor achieves is not guaranteed for their mentee.
• A mentor is an experience, not a manual. Remember that the person helps you by passing on their knowledge and experience. Don't expect them to give you step-by-step guides to follow.

To summarize. A mentor is a person with whom you make a verbal or written agreement, prescribing the rules and schedule of meetings and types of cooperation. They are not obliged to lead you by the hand, demand results or follow their example precisely, provide their own development resources, etc.

 

Lois J. Zachary's The Mentor's Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships describes the four phases of mentoring:

• Preparation. Practically it is acquaintance between mentor and mentee, evaluation of each other, establishment of contact, and description of ideas.
• Communication. In other words, planning the final goals of mentoring and how to achieve them.
• Growth. The direct process of mentoring, exchange of opinions, analysis of the situation, adjustment of the development strategy.
• Debriefing. Sharing the gained experience, discussing the process of cooperation and results.

A mentor helps you analyze situations, keeps you motivated, and suggests professional or individual growth paths. Whether you take the advice and achieve something or just repeat your mentor's mistakes is up to you. 

Mentor and mentee responsibilities

Responsibilities in mentoring are a subjective concept, constantly transforming both in general outline and in its essence. It has taken centuries to categorize responsibilities and to clearly shape the relationship between mentor and mentee.

 

NSPE (National Society of Professional Engineers) and BGSU (Bowling Green State University) experts developed an etiquette for mentors and mentees that is still followed today. It delineates the responsibilities of both parties and includes guidelines for actions to avoid. Let's take a closer look at them.

 

Mentor responsibilities:

• respect the mentee's time as well as your own;
• plan meetings in advance;
• discuss the idea only with the mentee's permission;
• emphasize that it is not necessary to follow the recommendations 100%;
• support the mentee on their path;
• respect the opinion and do not create conflict situations.

Not acceptable for mentor:

• ignore the opinion and ideas of the mentee;
• to force the mentee to follow specified algorithms of action;
• aggressively criticize the mentee's thoughts and ways;
• to force the mentee to imitate the mentor;
• belittle the successes and accomplishments of the mentee;
• to look down on a mentee.

Mentee responsibilities:

• actively initiate a dialogue;
• asking even obvious things;
• be interested in the mentor's opinion;
• to work on self-development and work on mistakes;
• be not afraid of criticism and mistakes;
• set long-term goals.

Not acceptable for mentee:

• transfer work or problems to a mentor;
• ignore the mentor's recommendations;
• copy the mentor, their style, behavior, ideas;
• react aggressively to criticism;
• impose oneself as a friend to the mentor;
• not respecting the mentor's opinion.

These rules practically copy the classical norms of etiquette. Mentorship is about sharing experiences, professional communication, mutual respect, and working through mistakes. If the relationship goes beyond these boundaries, such cooperation becomes toxic, negatively affecting both the mentor and the mentee.

How do I become a mentor?

To become a mentor for a mentee, you have to walk a thorny path to success in your industry. And even that won't make you an effective mentor.

 

Before you sign up for a mentorship service, do some introspection and answer the questions:

• What can I offer the mentee?
• How will my experience help them?
• Will I understand the mentee's needs?
• What path should I take to lead the mentee?
• Am I ready for the mentee to solve problems on their own?
• Will I be able to mentor the mentee correctly?

That is, the mentor must have not only experience but also skills and, most importantly, the desire to mentor beginners. It is essential to develop communication skills, social and teaching skills. And we are not talking about those who point out the topic and the textbook page. Not at all.

 

A true educator discovers a student's potential and motivation and directs their energy toward development. Mentoring is right for you if you are confident that you can support the future mentee on their path.

 

Over the course of working with a mentee, you must lead them through four key steps:

• unconscious incompetence;
• conscious incompetence;
• conscious competence;
• unconscious competence.

You can call yourself a mentor only when you reach the final stage. The mentoring should result in the mentee's professional and personal growth to your level (adjusted for experience and length of service in the industry).

How to choose a mentor?

When you have already understood what mentoring is and its features, you probably want to find a mentor quickly and start growing professionally. Isn't that right? First of all, you need to determine exactly what kind of mentor you need. And for that, too, we have some practical advice.

 

When choosing a mentor, pay attention to:

• the candidate's experience and expertise;
• matching the skills to your needs;
• the person's character;
• client feedback on working with the mentor;
• mentor's career path;
• the history of successes and failures of the specialist.

A well-known expert on your subject may not be able to help you develop. In this case, a less well-known person will easily understand your goals and needs and will guide you on the right path. You should choose your mentor responsibly and objectively assess the benefits of working with them.

Where to look for a mentor?

Here we come to the most interesting question, and where to find a professional mentor who will take mentoring over an ambitious mentee?

 

There are at least four options:

• social networking sites like LinkedIn;
• profile platforms like prjctrmentor;
• companies with mentoring programs;
• faculty and staff at universities.

We recommend choosing the first three options because they have several advantages. For example:

• mentors have 100% commercial experience;
• some mentors have their own courses;
• there is a large selection of mentors by specialization;
• there is an opportunity to get feedback on the collaboration;
• access to professional contacts.

There is almost nothing depending on where to find a mentor. No matter where a person is published, their mentoring qualities do not change from this.

 

For example, there are promoted "experts" who will charge you astronomical sums for mentoring, but will not bring any practical benefit to your development. And vice versa, a mentor can help you for free, investing all their experience and enthusiasm into your growth. But you won't find their name at the top of platforms or social networks.

Summarizing

The essence of mentoring is the sharing of experience, channeling motivation and potential into the development of the individual and the business. The program is designed to help you start your own business, learn from the mistakes of others, or get the support of an expert to help you realize your other goals.

 

If you want to develop and grow your career and have enough motivation and ideas to realize your ambitions, a mentor can help. If you still need to be motivated to do something - here, any mentor is powerless.

 

Learn and improve with the support of a mentor, and publish your resume on JOBITT. By the way, some companies offering jobs on the resource also offer mentoring systems for employees. So getting a job through JOBITT is another opportunity to find a mentor, and even more so for free.

FAQ

What is the difference between a mentor and a teacher?

The mentor guides the mentee's motivation and potential and helps with analysis, identifying problems, mistakes, etc. At the same time, they do not require the mentee to strictly follow instructions and attitudes. The mentor also accepts any results and points out non-obvious mistakes.

 

What should a mentor be able to do?

• Delve deep into the mentee's idea.
• Work on mistakes.
• Establish communication.
• Find compromises.
• Support mentee morally and professionally.

What is mentoring in simple terms?

The essence of mentoring is the sharing of experience, channeling motivation and potential into the development of the individual and the business. One way to succeed in starting your own business is to learn from the mistakes of others or to get the support of an expert to realize other goals.

 

What is the difference between a mentor and a coach?

A mentor helps you analyze situations, keeps you motivated, and suggests professional or individual growth paths. Conversely, a coach sets clear goals and creates a non-alternative path to achieving them.