It’s time for another roundup of interesting articles on business mentoring that we’ve recently come across.
Let’s get to it.
3 Reasons Mentorship Leads to Winning for All Involved. In this article on CNBC.com, Dhanusha Sivajee discusses 
how mentoring is a win-win for mentors, mentorees, and the organization. She recalls her own personal experience at each level to demonstrate what she means.
- A favorite quote: “Feedback is a gift, and oftentimes the feedback from mentors is the most real you will ever receive. At every job and at every juncture in my career, a formal mentor or informal peer mentor has given me the ‘non-sugarcoated’ version of feedback I may not have received otherwise. To this day, I remember these feedback conversations as turning points in my career — where I took the feedback, put it to work and started seeing the results.”
The Value in Cross-Generational Mentoring. The author of this article, Ken Blanchard, is 75 years young and discusses how mentoring has affected his career. He also talks about a framework he developed: the MENTOR model.
- A favorite quote: “Mentors can assure the preservation of your organization’s knowledge and culture. The mentees you nurture today may become your organization’s leaders tomorrow.”
Have We Forgotten the Simple Art of Mentoring? This article from Business News Western Australia is a reminder that 1) mentoring is a universal concept and 2) when it comes to implementing effective mentoring programs, challenges exist no matter WHERE you are. The author gives some good advice for overcoming these challenges.
- A favorite quote: “Mentoring can fail when it becomes a ‘talk fest’ or ‘agony aunt’ relationship. The relationship can also become ineffective if it turns competitive with the mentor fearing they could be replaced by the mentee or the mentor’s power is abused. The mentor and mentee need to maintain focus on the original aim and ensure they evaluate against it.”
5 Tips for Successful Mentoring Program Implementation. Speaking of creating effective mentoring programs, this article provides solid steps. (We especially like #4 about training mentors and mentorees—we can help with that!)
- A favorite quote: “Successful organizations help set the stage for mentorship by training mentors and mentees on their roles and expectations, effective communication strategies, and relationship-building techniques. For mentors, training tends to focus on ways to talk to and build trust with mentees. For mentees, it’s often about how to ask the right questions and learn from their mentors.”
Making the Most of Your Mentoring Relationships. Once you’re in a mentoring relationship, you’ll want to get as much out of it as possible. This article has some great tips for doing exactly that.
- A favorite quote: “One unexpected benefit of being a mentor is staying relevant by staying plugged into the challenges mentees face, or concerns they may have. You might find yourself humbled by those flashes of obvious that you might have been overlooking. Ultimately, being a mentor makes you a better leader.”
Do you need help implementing your mentoring program or getting the most out of one that already exists. Request a free chat with our mentoring expert (that would be me!).
Here’s to your mentoring success.