Introduction

Mentoring for both the mentor and mentee involves not only skill development and career advancement but also a profound personal growth experience. Embarking on a mentoring relationship is akin to unlocking a treasure trove of opportunities for mentees, while mentors also derive immense fulfilment from giving back and impacting people's lives, becoming a guiding force, sharing valuable insights and knowledge while providing a roadmap for mentees to navigate their aspirations.

By the end of this module, you'll be able to:

• Understand why mentoring is a mutually beneficial experience
• Enter your mentoring relationships with more self-awareness 
• Begin reaping the benefits of mentoring from the get-go

Mentoring is a two-way street

Mentoring relationships are voluntary, mutually rewarding connections that should be available to anyone. This symbiotic relationship involves a mentor, typically possessing extensive knowledge and experience, guiding a mentee through their learning or exploration process. Built on trust and respect, this relationship is dynamic and evolves over time.

But it can be easy to see what the mentee gets out of such a relationship - to them the mentor becomes a sounding board, confidant, advisor and cheerleader! What might not be apparent is what drives busy professionals to donate their time to these relationships.

Whether you become a mentor because you want to give back, learn and tap into a great network - or just because you are asked – becoming a mentor is almost guaranteed to be a very rich and enlightening experience for you, as well as the mentee.

Start by watching the below video, to hear from Vinnie Malcom his experience with the mutual benefits of mentoring and how mentorship played a key role in his career.

What's in it for the mentee?

• Personal and professional development
• Increased confidence
• A larger, more valuable network
• Accountability
• Applicable, real-life advice
• Human connection 
• Improved communication and leadership skills 

What's in it for the mentor?

• Keeping your hand in and staying connected to your industry
• Opportunity to give back and help others - altruism is it's own reward
• Two-way exchange of knowledge and learning (reverse mentoring)
• Creating a lasting impact
• A stronger, more diverse network
• Improved communication and leadership skills

Mentoring stories

You don't need to take our word for it - hear how mentoring has impacted the lives of real mentoring program participants:

Mentor Justin Morris on how mentoring changed is life

Mentee Eeleen They on how mentoring changed her life

Mentor Ben Monnie on how learning goes both ways

Lana Zegura on how mentoring helped her career

Conclusion

While mentoring is often viewed as a one-way street where the mentor sacrifices their time in order to help someone else, it appears that the age old practice of mentoring may continue to grow and thrive because there is so much value on both sides of the relationship.

Reflection task

Mentors, reflect on the rewards you anticipate gaining from mentoring and ask yourself: how do I envision my expertise and experiences enriching both my mentee's journey and my own development?

Mentees, reflect on the gains you expect to derive from mentorship and ask yourself: how do I envision my mentor's guidance shaping mt personal and professional trajectory while contributing to their growth as well?

In the next module, you'll begin learning about the mentoring mindset, and how there's no such thing as a perfect match.