A natural mentor is often your supervisor, but can also be someone with an interest in investment in the work you do, and who is willing to develop a professional relationship with you. A mentor is someone with greater experience who can impart general information but ideally would tailor their advice to your particular work challenges.
If your organization has a mentorship program, seek to have a mentor, as it demonstrates your desire to contribute and to improve and willingness to learn from others. At the least, it is an opportunity to learn from the experience of someone more senior in the organization, who has achieved a measure of success and internal recognition. If your organization does not have a formal program in place, you can express interest in having a mentor, ask someone to take on that role, or you can seek to develop informal mentoring relationships without a formal arrangement. There may be people in the organization from whom you seek advice for different purposes, and not all of them need have a strict operational focus. From various sources you can learn how to achieve work-life balance, how to network, how to manage time, how to prepare for presentations.
In some cases a mentor will seek you out, or have in mind to situate themselves to mentor you. This may be because they have taken it on themselves that they wish to give back to the organization, or have taken a particular interest in your area of work or in you, who they see as having potential for leadership or to positively influence within your professional sphere. If this is the case, and it is a positive relationship, consider yourself fortunate, and take advantage of this opportunity to learn.
As you enter into a mentoring relationship, consider what your needs are, and what purpose you would like to fulfill through the relationship. Review your mentor’s qualifications and strengths, and see what they are able and willing to provide to you. Whether formal or informal, it can be a good idea to establish a recurring meeting, at least to start, and from this there may evolve a natural, habitual pattern to discuss issues, or to create the opportunity to discuss issues outside of these established sessions as needed. Be prepared with input or topics of discussion relevant to your working reality, and with concrete examples which may be representative of issues you would like to discuss in terms of a better outcome. Your mentor may also be able to generate items of discussion or have specific lessons to impart to you. Keep an open mind, as experience they have that may not be immediately relevant may resonate later with you.
In an ideal mentoring relationship, the process will be its own reward, with both parties gaining new perspective from it as they consolidate knowledge, each giving and receiving in turn. As you benefit from the relationship, this will likely be a source of satisfaction, even pride, for the mentor. You will share your successes with your mentor. You can express appreciation and enthusiasm which will energize and sustain the relationship. You also show appreciation through active listening and by attempting to incorporate your mentor’s suggestions into your decision-making.
As the relationship deepens, and the two of you become able to anticipate one another’s reactions, you or your mentor may review initial goals or purpose of the mentoring, and refocus or redirect as necessary. It is possible to evolve the relationship, to seek a different approach, or to seek more or less involvement. If there is not a natural end to the mentoring relationship, there could be an easing off as you become more self-sufficient. Your mentor could then become an advocate in the organization, someone to provide a reference for you, or simply a trusted friend.
Having benefitted from mentorship over time, you can eventually consider how you will give back, and how you will seek to mentor another
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