Mentorship helps mentors and mentees succeed with job promotion, salary growth and deceased burnout and it also improves institutional retention. While most Americans believe mentorship is important but only 37% have mentors. Also, a mentee never asked anyone to be their mentor, and the relationship developed naturally. this type of relationship that develops organically is more fruitful.
How does one go about finding a person who can serve as a potential mentor or sounding board when we are maintaining social distance.
Here are six potential ways of meeting a person who can become a mentor even when you are working from home.
Meet interesting people, virtually
Networking is at the root of mentoring and developing relationships. Be in channels where you can meet and talk to interesting people both within and outside your field. One way of meeting people with a common interest is to join webinars, online groups. In a webinar, you can look out for people, through chatbox, a person of similar interests, followup with them, make contact on social media. Any interesting article, reach out to the author and share your feedback on the same. When you reach out to someone, be authentic.
Reach out to your friends' friends
When considering people to turn to for guidance, look at your immediate network and the connections they can offer. A good mentor relationship is built on mutual trust, respect and empathy. The mentor can even be a friend with work experience or a neighbour in the industry you want to work in. Optimise the conversation by mentioning the challenges you are facing or the area you are looking for guidance.
Reach out with people from school
This is a great place to find a mentor as they know each other and have the alumni as the common factor. many could be dormant contacts, people who are part of alumni that one has lost contact of. Reach out and make contact and rekindle the relationship. Discuss work, share ideas, the challenges and how it can be overcome. This could blossom into a mentor/ mentee relationship over a period of time.
Give a talk
Never pass up an opportunity to talk even if it is alumni talk or virtual meeting. It will help one practice the talk, people will approach the speaker about the talk, exchange ideas and help enhance individual networks by way of introductions to others. This can be continued over a while and may result in guiding one another
Host a virtual meet and invite other people
Use the virtual meeting software that everyone has become comfortable using to host a meeting with a person one is interested in cultivating. If there is someone you are particularly interested in, invite them for a talk on social media if possible. Simultaneously invite your peers, classmates, colleagues making it an impromptu forum for discussion. This will give one direct access to the speaker and lifetime afterwards.
Engage with authenticity over social media
Social media is a good platform to find mentors as most people engage in some platform and share their experiences and seek ideas for solving issues. Connect worth people you admire. Engage with their post on a regular basis.
These are places where you can meet people and develop relationships which can grow into mentorship. It is important to keep the potential mentor in the loop about your progress and challenges and ask for specific guidance over time. These relationships take time and let the monitoring relationship develop.
How Do You Find a Decent Mentor When You’re Stuck at Home?
by Ruth Gotian HBR August 09, 2020
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