A Few Tips To Finding A Great Mentor

Mentors can guide you through important decisions, helping you to become a better employee and advance through your career more quickly. It can’t be overstated just how important these professionals are at helping younger co-workers to traverse through the corporate landscape and to develop into a more mature employees who can be trusted with greater responsibilities from management. Finding your own mentor as soon as possible should be a priority for all corporate workers. Fortunately, there are a few tips which will make the search go much more quickly and improve the likelihood of making a good match.

Start With Realistic Expectations

You should begin by writing a personal statement to yourself of what you intend to get from such a relationship. Having realistic expectations that are specifically stated and understood before you begin your mentor search will help you to narrow down the candidates. For example, do you want someone to guide you through important topics related to the company’s industry? Or perhaps you simply want someone who will introduce you to important contacts, allowing for you to make better connections within your field. Either way, you’ll want to decide ahead of time.

Look Beyond Your Jobsite

Simply looking for the mentor closest to your work desk is limiting and could be potentially disastrous. Mentors come from all walks of life and don’t necessarily have to even work for your company. As a matter of fact, they can even be retired. Perhaps you’ve made a connection through a professional development seminar, for example. There isn’t any reason why you shouldn’t use this person as your mentor if they compliment your personality and needs well enough. Mentors can even be found within your own family. Perhaps you have an uncle, aunt, or even a parent who has been a business owner or manager for years. Not taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge they can provide to you would be a waste of a golden opportunity. Simply put, don’t think you have to choose someone from the company just because the two of you are in the same building together.

Ask For Help, Explain What You Want

You should start by simply meeting with the person you’ve chosen and ask them to mentor you. Be as direct as possible. The majority of people will be thrilled to help out younger workers who are looking for a guide. As a matter of fact, they generally consider it a compliment to be asked to mentor someone. Asking will allow for you to schedule meetings with each other in the future, which helps for the relationship to grow over time and develop into something which can be fruitful for both parties.

While seeking out a mentor can certainly be intimidating, it is essential in order to learn the ropes quicker than other workers. By staying ahead of the competition, you’re more likely to receive additional responsibilities which inevitably leads to promotions in the future. As we all know, knowledge is the ultimate power in the business world. There is no better way to obtain such power than by being mentored by those who have gone before you.