The_Essential_Manager_s_Handbook

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