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What is the Purpose of Mentoring?

        3 yrs ago

Mentoring is receiving a lot of attention for its ability to attract and develop young professionals and encourage them to stay within a company. In fact, mentoring has become an important development tool that it has evolved to cover a wide range of activities, from being connected with people who can respond to questions and provide support to programs that are tailored to meet different needs. 


Given the value that is placed in mentoring, you are probably wondering what it is and what purpose it serves. You might also be curious who can become a mentor and what benefits can be gained from being one. All these questions will be answered by this article.


Understanding Mentoring and the Purpose It Serves


Eric Parsloe, author, executive coach-mentor, and one of the founders of European Mentoring and Coaching Council and The OCM, provides a brief yet sound definition of mentoring, which states that:


"Mentoring is to support and encourage people to manage their own learning in order that they may maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be."


Several points in the definition above can identify the main purpose of mentoring that can also help you understand it as a whole:


  1. “Support” and “encourage” mean that mentoring allows the mentee to take charge of their own actions, behaviours, and solutions as a result of listening to the mentor and taking in their questions. 

  2. “Manage their own learning” means that the mentee takes ownership of their learning and development needs.

  3. “Maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance” point to the mentee’s growth and development.

  4. “Become the person they want to be" pertains to the achievement of a goal.


Put simply, the main purpose of mentoring is for an individual to tap into the wisdom, experiences, resources, guidance and support of a more experienced individual or an expert in a particular field to accomplish a goal. That goal can be learning a specific skill, gaining exposure to a particular role or process, or having a sounding board to test out ideas. 


Mentoring does not serve the purpose of immediately improving weaknesses. Rather, it is about helping an individual to think through their weaknesses and formulate their own actions and solutions to engage in continued growth and development.


Knowing Who can Become a Mentor


It is important that the right mentor will be involved in the mentoring relationship. After all, a mentor will fulfil several roles throughout the mentoring that are critical to the success of both the relationship and the mentee. Those roles include being an advocate, a teacher, advisor, coach, sounding board and role model to the employee. Considering those roles, any person in a position of responsibility or influence can take on the job of a mentor. However, to be good at the job, it is also essential that they possess the following qualities:


  • A genuine desire to help others grow and develop. Good mentors see their experiences and skills as tools they can use to inspire, motivate, and challenge others so they can reach their potential and goals. They genuinely want to help even if there is no official reward in exchange for their effort.


  • The ability to commit time and effort to ensure that the mentoring relationship works. 


  • The readiness to impart their experiences, including their personal shortcomings. Good mentors not only share their success stories but also their failures to help their mentees realise what it takes to go for their goals.


  • A willingness to learn and grow. The best mentors are lifelong learners; they see every situation as an opportunity to broaden their own understanding of the world. They have a growth mindset and are open to take in the perspectives of others without judgement. 


  • The ability to help others develop. Beyond common sense, effective mentoring also entails several competencies to ensure the achievement of desired outcomes. That includes active listening skills, ability to build trust, instruction, providing corrective feedback, self-reflection, risk management, being able to ask powerful questions.


Benefits of Being a Mentor


Although taking on the role of a mentor is hard work, it makes a lot of sense personally and professionally. Research shows that mentoring not only brings plenty of benefits to mentees but to mentors as well. Below are some of them:


  • Mentoring younger individuals allows you to create new informal networks within or outside the company. With that, you can increase your visibility within your field of expertise and have the opportunity to reach out to potential collaborators and other professionals who can help in your career later on.

  • Since the majority of young mentees are more in touch with trends and upcoming technology, mentoring affords you the chance to pick the brains of the younger generation. This can help you understand what they value, which in turn can give you fresh ideas for products, projects, and innovations. 

  • Being a mentor is also an act of self-improvement. How so, you ask? As a mentor, you reflect on your own career path and what you did to get to where you are now. You learn to recognise what you could have done better, and in turn you are able to impart that to your mentee, helping them articulate their vision of their own career. Likewise, you are able to develop new capabilities because you also learn from your mentee and you get the realisation that you want to skill up for the future to advance your career and expand your relationships.

  • You also become a better person when you become a mentor. You can help your organisation have a better workforce by assisting mentees, who could be your younger colleagues, in remaining competitive. You also contribute in promoting diversity, inclusion, and equity by connecting with a wide range of people within and outside your circle. 


As you can see, mentoring can be a life-changing experience for both mentors and mentees. It is an important tool for realising goals, be they developing new skills or enhancing a career. Although it requires a commitment of time and energy, you can be assured that those investments will not go to waste since mentorship can deliver excellent rewards.

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