6 Eye-Opening Reasons to Become a Mentor

Everyone working today needs guidance and good role models. You can help provide that guidance — by becoming a mentor to a less experienced employee. You may wonder: with so much on my plate, why should I put aside even more time to mentor someone? The answer: mentoring doesn’t just benefit mentees — it can and does benefit mentors in myriad ways. Here are just six.

1. Build on your professional growth. As a mentor, you’ll need to be up-to-date on your organization’s programs and procedures so you can successfully help your mentee. This will make you even better at your job. As a result, you’ll be seen as even more valuable to your organization, and you’ll strengthen your coaching and leadership skills.
2. Deepen your understanding. When you teach your mentee a skill, you’ll solidify everything you know about the subject you’re teaching. Your clarity about how to negotiate a price, hire a new employee, write a report, perform an audit, and so on will improve exponentially when you need to explain it to someone else. 
3. Advance your career. Mentors are seen as achievers. As a mentor, you will automatically be seen as a leader who is willing and able to help others. You will garner respect and admiration from both your peers and those above you. 
4. Help your organization. Sharing your knowledge, your success, and your mistakes will help improve your mentee’s productivity—and that will help your organization as a whole. Developing talented people is a win-win for everyone.  
5. You can change your mentee’s life. When you share your knowledge with mentees, you challenge them to “think differently.” In doing so, you spur their personal and professional growth. You may also connect them to others in your organization or network who can open doors for them. This can truly change their lives. What do you get out of this? An enormous feeling of satisfaction. 
6. You can change your own life. Becoming a mentor will lead to experiences and challenges that you can't begin to anticipate when you start the process. In helping others navigate the issues in their work lives, you’ll undoubtedly look at your own life and work processes—and find yourself changing some number of them for the better.

If you are interested in joing ASAP's Mentoring Program, find out more or register here.