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Sep 27, 2018
Dan Rose, Content Creator at SkillPath
When thinking of mentorships, consider the interaction between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars movie.
Obi-Wan encouraged, instructed and guided the talented—but unpolished—future Jedi warrior and liberator. In other words, he served as a mentor, teaching Luke vital skill sets and providing experience-based knowledge that helped the young Skywalker develop into a Jedi Master. Luke, in return, maintained and expanded on Kenobi's initial teachings.
Mentoring itself has a long tradition beyond mere fictional Hollywood fare. It’s a critical element recognized for its value in nurturing talent in many fields, including sports, politics, and the humanities. Likewise, its role in successful business organizations is legendary.
Effective mentoring of talented associates leads to the development of tomorrow's business leaders, and that helps ensure the long-term success of a company. While many businesses merely pay lip service to mentoring, it is a reality in successful organizations with winners and winning teams.
In effect, a mentor who has "been there and done that" can convey accumulated knowledge and acquired skills, while providing fresh perspective on inner workings of a firm and an industry to other talented associates. Typically, that is how the star performers will align their career aspirations and goals with your organization.
Mentoring is all about giving people broader outlooks, more things to consider. It is for career planning, succession planning and retention. It allows employees to soak up character, judgment and approach. It is the opportunity for them to apprise situations and cultivate their own ways.
Meantime, the mentor similarly benefits, gaining a personal sense of fulfillment by passing along acquired talents to up-and-coming employees, further facilitating creativity.
The worthiness of the mentor role is well established, but actual practice of certain processes is crucial in achieving a positive result. Mentoring not only includes giving advice, but also showing the colleague how to utilize skills, and—crucially—working in close collaboration with the associate. Mentoring is about doing and it’s about understanding.
Here are eight tips to nurture effective mentoring relationships. (These eight steps will help you stand out and be a greater asset to your company and your co-workers):
Dan Rose
Content Creator at SkillPath
Dan Rose is a content creator at SkillPath who uses his experience from a 30-year writing career to focus on timely events that impact today’s business world.
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