Mentors are a Must

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Today, the average person changes jobs ten to fifteen times during their lifetime. Maybe more. Why is that? Are we finding ourselves in positions that fail to challenge us? Are there so many exciting jobs out there that we want to try as many as possible? Are we in search of that perfect benefits package?

Whatever the reason, while we move from job to job or sit comfortably in a role, it is important to take stock of what is happening to us while in the role. What skills are we developing? What projects are challenging us? What is exhausting us? What excites us? While taking note of all this, it’s important to check in with individuals who can guide us and provide valuable insight, someone, otherwise known as a mentor.

A degree of mentorship might already be taking place between you and your supervisor. Check-ins might be happening in the form of performance reviews. Although this is a good place to start, it’s not enough. Mentorship should also take place outside of the workplace.

Searching for a mentor

I have spent the last year in search of a mentor. Someone to provide guidance and help uncover my potential, that one person who would share their words of wisdom that I could then jot down and use as my daily mantra. That’s what I thought I needed. And when I noticed I couldn’t find all that in one person, I took a step back and realized I did not need to keep searching, because I already had many mentors in my life.

Mentors, plural

I don’t think it is fair to assign the term mentor to just one person in your life. That is a tremendous amount of responsibility to place on one person. Instead, think about diversifying your mentorship needs. Much like you would diversify your financial portfolio, think about doing the same for your mentorship portfolio.

Create a ‘mentorship group’

Call it your ‘Career Collective’, your ‘This is Us’ group, your ‘Coffee Night’ group, call it what you will. This is a group of people you have identified as being on a similar path, sharing a similar vision. Meet with the group once a month, check-in with each other, share stories, explore challenges you may be facing, help each other identify opportunities to grow.

Age is just a number

Mentors need not be older to be wiser. Do not get stuck thinking that mentors need to be twice your age. Some of my mentors are much younger than me and conversations with them have been as powerful and motivating as conversations with other age groups.

Make the relationship reciprocal

Remember that mentorship is a relationship. It can’t just be about what the mentor will be giving you. There must be a degree of giving back. What that looks like is entirely up to the mentor and mentee. But do sit down and identify how this will be a reciprocal relationship.

Have fun

This is an important one for me. Learning should always involve a level of fun and laughter. Make sure that during your talks, your true self can come out and if that involves having fun and laughing, let it out.

And that is how I see it…

My mentors empower me, they make me laugh and they remind me that I have such goodness in my life. They are a collective of unique, creative, and inspiring personalities that have decided to share their time and their experiences. And I am so thankful for each one of them.