Criteria for choosing a mentor
You should be very careful when choosing an expert for mentoring, especially on the Internet. It is important to remember: appearances can be deceiving. It is better to rely on the following criteria:
Consideration of the mentor's personal qualities. Of course, professionalism is important. But, in addition to this, for long-term cooperation and effective mentoring, it is better to choose a specialist from whom you will be interested in learning. The expert should inspire confidence and be an interesting and authoritative interlocutor. If you choose a mentor through social networks, it makes sense to carefully study the specialist's profile.
Evaluation of professional overseas chinese in canada data knowledge and skills. It is important to evaluate yourself in order to understand what kind of mentor you need. After all, it may turn out that your level of knowledge may be higher than that of the mentor. Or the expert's activities have many professional specifics that are completely alien to you. For example, if the mentor holds the same position, but in a completely different industry.
Set a goal (specific and time-bound). For example, it makes sense for a beginning science fiction writer to choose as a mentor an author with experience in the same literary genre. Such a specialist should be successful in the professional field in order to support you in achieving your goals.
It is important to remember that mentoring is a two-way process, and the mentee must also be interesting and useful to the mentor . Initiative and fresh ideas from an interested student will be appreciated by him. And in general, it is important to know your strengths and rely on them in communications with people.
It is great if the mentor already has experience in teaching and mentoring, especially in business. It is more difficult for beginner mentors to be objective. They often give recommendations based only on their experience. Later, a neutral position is formed, the purpose of which is to reveal the talents of the mentee.
Criteria for choosing a mentor
In order not to make a mistake in choosing a mentor, it makes sense to study his portfolio, website, group, read publications, speeches. This way you can understand whether working with such a specialist will be useful for you, how similar you are or, on the contrary, how radically opposite.
How a Manager Can Become a Mentor
Mentor's hard skills: professional knowledge and skills, as well as extensive practical experience.
Soft skills:
emotional intelligence;
ability to show empathy;
eco-friendly communication;
listening skills;
teaching skills.
Any professional who has a desire to convey their experience and expertise can become a mentor.
Mentoring is not aimed at career advancement, but it does not exclude it. However, it provides many advantages for the mentor in horizontal growth: development of skills, increase in expertise and status, expansion of the client base.
For a novice mentor, an effective way to make a name for yourself is networking. Thanks to your circle of colleagues and acquaintances, you can find your first clients. In the future, referral traffic works great. For mentoring in today's reality, it is very important to develop a personal brand. The most effective ways are: participation in conferences, seminars, publishing articles, and active social media. In addition, a mentor should be aware of all the news in the field of activity and the industry as a whole. It is important to communicate with colleagues and create a circle of like-minded people.
As practice shows, working with a mentor, in addition to the main developmental function, helps the mentee to receive additional benefits. This is motivation, energy exchange with an expert, a fresh look and reasoned feedback on the mentee's ideas and projects. All this together gives an excellent end result.
By becoming a mentor, a professional discovers new facets of his personality, learns to pass on knowledge without imposing it. Such a specialist develops himself in the process of learning, expands the circle of social connections and increases his status.
Mentoring is a modern trend in training that should be implemented by progressive leaders who strive for the long-term prosperity of the company.