{"id":9986,"date":"2012-07-02T02:21:28","date_gmt":"2012-07-02T09:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=9986"},"modified":"2012-07-02T16:37:32","modified_gmt":"2012-07-02T23:37:32","slug":"still-dont-have-mentor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=9986","title":{"rendered":"Still Don’t Have a Mentor?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>You may have heard that you should get a mentor<\/a> to help you grow in your career. Have you gotten one? If not, it’s time to take action.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0mentor<\/a>\u00a0is not the same as a coach. Great athletes have coaches. Their coaches can’t outperform them, but they can help improve their performance. A mentor gives advice, imparts wisdom to and shares knowledge with a less experienced colleague. By definition a mentor is someone who is better or more experienced in some area than you are.\u00a0Unless you’re the smartest, most experienced person on Earth, you could benefit from mentoring.<\/p>\n

My mom always told me “There’s always someone better than you and someone worse than you.” Although tempted by both jealousy and arrogance, my aim has been to learn from those who were better and help those who were worse (not that I could always tell which was which).\u00a0Ever since I learned that there was such a thing as a mentor I’ve sought out people who could advise me in my career. And I’ve sometimes had more than one mentor at a time for different purposes. I personally feel that the advice of mentors has been the single-most important factor in my own career success.\u00a0This week we’ll explore mentoring, \u00a0how to get a mentor, and how to make good use of this valuable relationship.<\/p>\n

All but one of my mentors was an informal relationship that I sought out, but many companies have formal mentoring programs that will match you to a mentor. Here’s what one study revealed about formal mentoring programs<\/a> inside of a company:<\/p>\n

\u201c. . . formal mentoring programs can reduce turnover, enhance a company\u2019s recruitment efforts, increase the overall performance of a company and create an overall improved work environment, especially for women and people of color,\u201d said Candice Barnhardt, vice president, Nationwide Insurance.<\/p>\n

“Will You Be My Mentor Please?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course you shouldn\u2019t just run up to someone and beg them to mentor you! Here\u2019s some guidance on how to get the mentoring you need.<\/p>\n