Give The Gift of Mentoring
Give the gift of Mentoring! As we quickly close out 2016 and head into a new 2017 I ask you to consider sharing the gift of mentoring. Today, we use the word mentor for anyone who is a positive, guiding influence in another (usually younger) person’s life.[1] I also don’t mean just for the holidays; I mean for the coming months and maybe even the whole new year! I’m sure many of you already mentor one of more people now, and thank you for that! But for those of you who haven’t tried mentoring a younger or new person at your work place, or other place, I hope you consider sharing the wealth of knowledge and experience you’ve developed over time.
Results demonstrate that mentoring is associated with a wide range of favorable behavioral, attitudinal, health-related, relational, motivational, and career outcomes[2]. Your insight, lessons learned and guidance can have a positive effect on both protégé and organizational performance. Transitioning military personal, parents heading back to the workforce or graduating college students trying to figure out their place in the world can benefit from sound advice and mentoring from a caring and usually more mature and experienced person.
Time and time again I encounter people at various stages of their career who have never had a mentor. Several people have shared their stories of regret for never having had any kind of a mentor/protégé relationship. Some share about the loss of years that could have been much more productive had they had at least some kind of mentoring. Many people know what mentoring is, but lack the knowledge or wherewithal to inquire about finding a mentor or joining a company mentoring program, but that’s where the mentor can come in.
Sometimes it’s up to the potential mentor to reach out or at least make it known that mentoring is available. There are many mentoring resources, but often it takes that one caring and concerned individual to connect with a prospective protégé to get things started. So, let’s get things started, below are a couple of mentor resources for both mentors and protégés to investigate. I hope this helps anyone out there, mentor or a protégé in need of mentoring. So, give the gift of mentoring, a gift that can last a life time.
For veterans – Veteran eMentor Leadership Program – https://www.ementorprogram.org/veteran-ementor/
For everybody – http://www.nationalmentoringresourcecenter.org/
[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mentor
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2352144/
