Finding a mentor

Mentorship can play a major role in your career if done well. Having a mentor can help your career move in positive directions that would otherwise take longer without a mentor. A mentor can share their experiences with you which can help you gain experience without actually going through the experiences themselves and you can avoid making quite a few mistakes too. They can also train you through their own experiences and give you skills that will equip you for your entire career. That is why it is very important to select a mentor who will make a significant and positive contribution to your career.

What is a mentor?

A mentor is an experienced and trusted individual who guides and advises someone who needs specific knowledge and skills that they can assist with. 

“A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.” – Bob Proctor

How to find a mentor?    

• Choose someone you aspire to be like:

First decide what kind of individual you want to be in your career, think about the role you aspire to get into, then consider searching for an individual who fits as closely as possible to the image you have of your future self. Do some research about the person you want as your mentor. Try to find some similarities between the two of you to help simplify the process of creating a mentor and mentee relationship.

• Check the personality and qualities of the mentor:

Ask yourself if the person you have identified is as knowledgeable as you think, does he/she have your best interest at heart, are they supportive, available and do they respect you? All these and other questions will assist you to determine if the person is the right one to mentor you.

• Follow the mentor’s work:

It can be challenging to identify people with potential, the best way to recognise solid individuals is to follow your potential mentor’s work. Ensure that you follow them on social media and use that as a tool to assess their thinking, the views and the direction they wish to take in their career. Try to retweet their posts to see what kind of responses you will get and comment on their posts or even share their updates.

• Have a teachable spirit:

Some individuals want to be mentored but are unwilling to submit or learn from other people. Be willing to learn from others. Keep an open mind and adopt an attitude where you believe that you can learn from anyone regardless of who they are and what they do..

Once you have found a mentor

• Commit yourself to the mentorship

Being in a mentorship programme can be demanding as you will be given tasks and assignments. Once your mentorship programme has started make sure that you finish the tasks and do not lag behind when given tasks. Be proactive and take initiative in fulfilling the tasks.

• Honour meetings and appointments

In a mentorship programme you will regularly meet with your mentor to discuss progress or challenges you came across after being assigned a task, make sure you avail yourself for such meetings.

• Be great in what you do

Excelling in what you do is the best way you can be recognised. Make it a point that you go above and beyond the call of duty whenever you are tasked with an activity, make excellence a norm in whatever you do and always strive to produce work of great quality.

• Ask for more work

Asking for more work shows sense of responsibility and commitment. Don’t only wait for your mentor to give you work, be creative and go extra mile.