The_Essential_Manager_s_Handbook

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226 / BECOMING SUCCESSFUL

Defining the role
Mentors are people who guide others
through periods of change toward
agreed objectives. They can help you in
a number of ways. First, they can enable
you to work through your problems in
a safe environment. They may not solve
your problems for you (you need to learn
to do so), but they will ask questions to
make you analyze your position and alert
you to pitfalls or alternatives. Second,
they can give advice. This may be in the
form of what to do, or who to approach

within the organization to obtain help.
They may point you toward training
and development programs, or suggest
projects that you should consider
being involved with.
Third, they may open up your career.
They may have access to interesting job
opportunities before they become widely
available and may suggest roles that you
would never have considered. If they are
external to your company, they may have
their own network of contacts, but don’t
expect this as part of the relationship.

Choosing a mentor
Your organization may run a
mentoring service, but if they do
not, you will have to set up a more
informal mentoring relationship.
The person you select as your
mentor must, of course, possess
the experience you want to access
and should also be someone with
whom you can build a good working
relationship. He or she may not be a
technical expert in the field in which
you are working. This can be a real
advantage because it enables you
to work through issues from a
fresh perspective.

Working with a mentor


Finding and using a good mentor can be highly beneficial both to your
career and to your personal well-being. A good mentor is impartial, has
more experience than you in key areas, and acts as a safe and effective
sounding board for your ideas.

of companies in


one survey claimed


that their mentoring


programs helped


increase their


employee retention


77 %


US_226-227_Working_with_a_mentor.indd 226 30/05/16 3:03 pm

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