Five ways that mentoring can boost your career
Are you looking into becoming a mentor? Perhaps you have been hearing about it being a great way to boost your career and open new horizons, and now you want to find out more? In that case you are in the right place!
The positive impacts of mentoring are many and varied, so for this article we have done our best to narrow down the top five career benefits. Read on to learn more.
1. Develop your people skills
People skills are of vital importance in your career. As Michael Page put it “if the people within an organisation struggle to explain themselves or understand how their coworkers feel about a given project, task, or challenge, it becomes much harder for them to work together to achieve common goals.”
Throughout your working life you will have to deal with a variety of different personalities, perspectives, and attitudes, whether with members of your team, organisation leadership, or the wider public. We live in a society. That means you need to be able to deal with other humans (which doesn’t always come easily).
Mentoring is based on connecting with another person in order to provide advice and guidance as they navigate a challenge or pursue a goal. In terms of career benefits, becoming a mentor can be a valuable opportunity for developing your people skills, from active listening to critical thinking, building relationships, complex problem solving and more.
Even further- being a mentor is a clear demonstration of this development. You are evidencing your mastery of these skills in a way which other people can easily recognise and acknowledge.
2. Demonstrate your leadership potential
Organisations are always on the lookout for talent, particularly that which can be potentially nurtured towards leadership positions. Whilst many may aspire to becoming leaders- and gaining the associated benefits in terms of position and salary- displaying ability is a key step in this process.
Mentoring another is a great way to put yourself on the radar. As previously mentioned, being a mentor is a great way to showcase your people skills (which are vital for leadership). However, you are also clearly indicating your commitment to the organisation as a whole. By actively supporting another to thrive, you are showing that you care for the wider company and are invested in its success.
The Bridgespan Group identifies the ‘total package’ for employees with leadership potential as “aspiration, ability and engagement”. Becoming a mentor allows you to highlight this trifecta of leadership potential, which with regards to career benefits is a definite boost for future prospects.
3. Gain a further qualification
CPD is an important part of anybody’s employment journey. Continually learning, growing and improving not only helps with your current role, but also helps make you stand out from the crowd when you are searching for your next opportunity. As Indeed states, “CPD is also important for businesses, as we when employees improve and develop their skills, this knowledge and expertise helps them to outperform competitors.”
The career benefits of gaining a mentoring qualification are particularly valuable for the number of transferable skills which this represents. For instance, The Mentoring School’s Practitioner courses, whilst being sector specific, are intended to impart dynamic skills and approaches which can be adapted to suit the situation at hand. This serves the dual purpose of providing a qualification which is simultaneously specialised for your career path, as well as fundamentally applicable to a wide range of contexts.
4. Improve your own sense of well-being at work
It is well documented that employment has a significant impact on people’s mental health, for better or worse. With work covering such a large portion of daily life, it is therefore vital that we find ways to make employment as positive an experience as possible. Looking beyond career benefits, taking steps to improve well-being has a clear impact on every aspect of your wider life.
Becoming a mentor can play an important part in this. According to Mind, “mentoring and buddy schemes can help new staff to understand your organisation faster and can support all staff to gain confidence and develop new skills.”
At the same time, Mentors regularly report that their practice has actually improved their own sense of well-being in the workplace. Being able to have a tangible, positive impact on another’s life in turn supports their confidence and self-worth. Many find that they feel more reconnected with their role, enjoying the recognition of the value of their experience, where previously they may have struggled with feeling overlooked.
Through mentoring you can find a new sense of positive purpose.
5. Broaden your horizons
Developing new skillsets is a great way to start exploring different situations where they could be applicable. With greater confidence in your abilities and experience, you may find yourself more willing to step up into new projects and positions.
What’s more, through mentoring you can meet and connect with a wider range of people than you might have previously. An article by Nature Communications noted how “in effective mentorship networks, mentorship extends beyond the relationships of mentors and their direct mentees.” From your mentee, to other mentors involved in a programme, to entire mentoring networks, you will join a highly varied community. The career benefits of this are clear- allowing you to hear new perspectives, find a wider range of support, and even be offered new opportunities from these connections.
It is a simple fact that doing something new leads you to discover new things. You may even surprise yourself with what you find.
So there we are, the top five career benefits of mentoring! As we said at the start, these are just the career benefits which we focused in on for this article. The positive effects of mentoring are varied and reaching, and our belief that everyone should be able to experience these is what drives The Mentoring School to continue raising the standards for training.
For more information about how mentoring could shape your future, check out our Career Pathways page.