Mentoring

Wellness Wednesday~

January 25, 2012 

HOW TO FIND A MENTOR

“People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy."-Oliver Goldsmith

According to the NPS Mentor, mentoring is advising, guiding, counseling and role modeling. Perhaps, the toughest part of a mentoring relationship is finding a mentor. Think about your needs and what you’d like your mentor to do for you. It’s important to consider the types of services that you want your prospective mentor to provide. Again, services can relate to both the professional and personal areas.

A good mentoring relationship allows both mentor and mentee to develop new talents and build self-awareness. In business settings, the mentee can become more in-tune with a corporate culture and the mentor can hone leadership skills. When beginning your search, consider these tips:

·         Know yourself: Consider your strengths and weaknesses, and define how a mentor might guide you through your growth. If you don’t know yourself, how can another person support you and help you grow?

·         Be proactive: In some cases, mentoring relationships form naturally. But don’t count on it happening that way. Develop a deliberate course of action to find a mentor, a course which can include all of the ensuing tips

·         Ask for referrals: As with any search process, tap into your friends, colleagues, and networks to expand your reach. When requesting referrals, be clear about what you’re looking for and why.

·         Keeps an open mind regarding who this person might be: A mentor is someone who will help you grow in the area(s) most important to you.  Look for someone who exemplifies the traits and skills that you want to adopt.

·         Identify where you may find a suitable mentor: Good sources of mentors include your management team, industry associations, online communities, your clergy and/or congregation, and professors. (Note: Some personal coaches advise against choosing your supervisor as a mentor because of a possible conflict of interest.)

·         Know what you want to achieve from the relationship: A clear understanding of your purpose and desired result will ensure that you find a suitable mentor, and that you and your mentor find value in the relationship.

·         Think about people who have been your mentors in the past: Whether deliberately or not, each of us has had mentors in our lives. Think about the people who have mentored you and the qualities that you appreciated most about them. Use these traits as barometers to finding a new mentor.

It’s important to consider all possibilities when it comes to mentors. A person you may not have thought of originally may turn out to be the mentor of your dreams.

For more information contact Nancy:@ my.healthiswealth@comcast.net