Archive for August, 2005
Becoming a Mentor
Seeking out a mentor can be extremely beneficial for anybody. By using the services of a mentor, you can receive valuable information, feedback, and support you might never have come across otherwise.
But what about reasons to become a mentor to somebody else? Whether it’s teaching piano lessons one-on-one, or giving a short speech to a group of small business owners, the benefits of mentoring another person are enormous:
- Mentoring keeps you knowledgeable about what’s going on in the topic you’re mentoring;
- Mentoring keeps you sharp and at the top of your game (an edge very few other people have);
- Mentoring keeps your name out there and in the open; you can build up a reputation for yourself as being an “expert” in your particular field.
1. Becoming a mentor keeps you knowledgeable.
A commonly tossed around statistic is that whatever knowledge is out there in a field right now will be doubled within 7 years. While the truth in that statement can be debated, it opens up a good point - just because you think you know everything in your field doesn’t mean that there isn’t something new to learn! 
When you become a mentor to somebody, you’re forced to keep yourself up-to-date on the latest happenings. If they come to you with a tough career question and you’re not sure of the answer, would you shrug off the question? Or would you do your best to research the question and give them a useful answer? The latter gives you a clear benefit and keeps new information flowing your way that you might have otherwise missed out on.
2. Becoming a mentor keeps you sharp.
An individual brand new to a career field may have vastly different viewpoints and information than somebody who has worked in that same field for 30+ years. Testing and research is being carried out in every single field - to have somebody who is a constant source of breaking new developments forces you on your toes. By keeping yourself up-to-date through somebody else, you constantly will be given given new information you can use and synthesize with your previous experiences and knowledge - an edge very few other people have.
3. Becoming a mentor keeps you out there.
People are social creatures, and they’re always trying to make new, interesting connections with other people. By becoming a mentor to another person, you might come into contact with other folks that can help you out in your own endeavors that you previously might not have had contact with. As an extension to that, you may also come in contact with resources such as equipment you didn’t have before. What does this translate into? Faster goal achievement for you! And it’s not a one-sided thing, either - you’ll be sharing your own contacts and resources with people you mentor, which can unlock new doors for them. It’s totally a win-win situation.
Think for a moment about one potential person you can mentor. Give it some serious thought. Would it be worth it, for you and for them? 
