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Nine Reasons Why Mentoring Matters to You
by Kevin Eikenberry
There are many
roles we play or hats we wear in our lives. We are professionals, family
members, brothers, sisters, co-workers, leaders, coaches, friends, parents,
and neighbors to name just a few. While you may not wear all of the hats
I listed, you can likely add several more that I left out! Many of these
roles are a given – we don’t have much choice of having the role – they
come with being a responsible adult.
Because of these
many roles, we find ourselves very busy. Many tasks and priorities find us
perhaps busier now than we have ever been before!
With these two
factors, many roles and little time, it may seem absurd to write an article
that encourages taking on yet another role and adding another task to your
over-booked calendar. But that is exactly what I am going to do. In this
article I’m going to show you why, despite the competition for our
time and energy, being a mentor is one of the best things you can do.
There are many
reasons why being a mentor is valuable to the other person. They get the
value of your expertise, knowledge, and experience. They get a chance to
advance more rapidly and create greater success than they would have been
able to without your insight and advice. While these are altruistic reasons,
they don’t say anything about how you benefit. And while we all like
to help others, sometimes we need to see what is in it for us as well.
There are benefits
to you personally to spending your time and energy, sharing your expertise
with others as a mentor. In fact, there are at least nine benefits that you
might derive from being a mentor. These include:
You’ll
develop a close relationship with your mentee. We can never have
enough close relationships. And chances are the person you mentor will
be someone you benefit from being around. After all, they are interested
in improving themselves, care about learning, and are likely excited about
the possibilities in their future. Which brings me to the second benefit…
You’ll
be re-energized personally. Get around someone enthusiastic, and
you naturally become more enthusiastic yourself. Some activities sap our
energy while others spark it. Being a mentor is like carrying a book of
matches with you. If you want to re-energize yourself to your own possibilities,
be a mentor.
You’ll
increase your commitment to your own career and organization. This
one applies most if you are mentoring in a business situation. You can
see how this would happen – as you get more enthused, you see new
ways you can contribute. You see how your mentee can make a difference
in the organization and this new vision will increase your commitment.
You’ll
learn more by talking about and teaching things. It is funny how
our brains work. When we teach something or explain something to someone
else, we then understand it more clearly ourselves. As a mentor you will
relive experiences, teach or share ideas. And when you do this you will
learn and re-learn these concepts for yourself. Often you will find yourself “taking
your own advice” to your great personal or professional benefit.
You’ll
expand your impact in your organization. Not only will your personal
commitment grow, but as you help others be more successful, the organization
will succeed at higher levels. Think of the satisfaction you will get from
knowing you are playing a part in making that happen.
You’ll
enhance your self-esteem. It just feels good to help others. You
will feel better about yourself and your abilities when you share your
wealth of knowledge and experience with others. Your self esteem will rise
because you are doing good things for someone else.
You’ll
increase your skills. As you mentor others, you will become a
better mentor. The skills that make you a better mentor; empathy, listening,
caring, building trust (to name just a few), make you more effective in
many other parts of your life. Being a mentor is actually great training
in itself!
You’ll
grow more confident. The culmination of many of these other benefits
is that your confidence will increase. You’ll be more confident in
many sorts of interpersonal relationships and conversations. You’ll
know that you can have a positive impact. You’ll know that you can
make a difference.
You’ll
leave a legacy. Successful athletic coaches do more than grow
their teams and win lots of games. The best also create a linage of coaches
that leave their staff to become head coaches as well. This is an important
legacy that they leave – a statement of their influence and impact.
By mentoring others with care and compassion you will be adding directly
to your legacy.
Take minute now
to be selfish. Think about yourself as a mentor. Identify what you see as
being in it for you. Envision how it will feel to give back to someone else.
Then go out and become a mentor – you, along with your mentee, will
be glad you did!
Kevin Eikenberry is a leadership expert and the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a learning consulting company that helps Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. To receive your free special report on Unleashing Your Potential go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/index.asp or call us at (317) 387-1424 or 888.LEARNER.
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