5 Ways Mentoring Can Boost Your Career
Over the years at the Centre for Career Development we have worked with many individuals who have fulfilling and interesting careers. There are many reasons for their success including being strategic with their career choices, having great managers and the confidence to grab challenging opportunities along the way. However, we have found that the most common reason for their career success is that they have benefited from having a mentor.
How mentoring can boost your career?
A trusted mentor can
- Provide valuable advice and a fresh perspective on what it takes to get ahead
- Act as a sounding board for innovative ideas
- Help to identify the skills, capabilities and behaviours you need to succeed in your role
- Assist in enhancing your communication skills
- Help you stay focused on what you want to achieve in your role
What are the attributes of a trusted mentor?
He/she has:
- A genuine interest in seeing you advance your career
- An ability listen to your problem/issues/concerns without judgement
- A wide range of skills and abilities to pass on
- An excellent understanding of the organisation, how it works, and where it is going
- Good interpersonal skills and the confidence to provide constructive feedback
- Sufficient time and energy to devote to being a mentor
- The emotional intelligence to exercise sufficient control of emotions so that any negative ones do not get in the way of building a positive relationship