Sometimes it seems like the main source of benefits in a mentorship is for the mentee, but nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is, the mentor can be the one who gets more out of the relationship. Let’s look at a few of the benefits of being a mentor.
Makes Everything Feel New Again
It’s kind of like watching a child play in a park. You learn everything new again from their fresh view of life. Butterflies look more colorful, flowers smell better, and everything is a lot more fun. The same applies if you’re a mentor for an up-and-coming star in your company, or any company. It’s fun to watch them learn and grow, and it feels good to see.
Improves Job Satisfaction
Mentorships can help you avoid job boredom in your job. You’ll feel a lot more satisfied with your job when you realize that someone else would love your job and are in fact trying to become who you are. It feels great that someone will someday take over where you left off.
Encourages Self-Reflection
When you work with someone who is hungry, it can help you reflect on yourself and what you’re doing in your career. Are you really doing enough? How well do you know yourself? This relationship will help you think about these factors.
Builds More Professional Relationships
When you start working with mentees, you’re going to build a network of people who like you, know you, and trust you – even when they move on to a new corporation or start a new business. They’re going to think of you, recommend you, and want to keep working with you in some way.
Increases Peer Recognition
When you are a mentor for others and take care in your mentorships, your peers will respect you for doing it and think of you when it comes to leadership. They’re going to see you as more of a leader than others, and that can pay off for you.
Enhances Learning and Development
When you’re trying to help someone else see their learning deficiencies and improve upon them, you’re going to notice yours more too. You’re going to want to be a good example by taking more classes, going to seminars, and improving your own development.
Grows Your Network
For every mentee you work with, your network is going to grow by not just one but probably five to ten people due to the people you’ll meet through them, and the people you’ll meet for them when you look for people to help them.
If you want to garner these benefits of being a mentor, it’s important to seek to be a great mentor by learning about the skills needed, taking your mentorships seriously, and putting a lot into it. You get out of it what you put into it, just like everything else in life.
