THREE REASONS WHY VOLUNTEERING AS A MENTOR CAN HELP YOUR CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Volunteering to mentor someone outside of your immediate circles of influence and industry can offer many benefits like:
STAYING CONNECTED:
We all know entrepreneurship can be lonely. Often there are few people that share your perspective.
Having a strong community of peers (other entrepreneurs and mentors) outside your industry can offer a range of benefits. You can share common challenges and strategies, celebrate success and grow new skills together. It gives you a whole new lens on leadership and beyond.
New connections that can lead you to
- Potential employees and contractors,
- Resources like grants, funding, and professional services
- Technical resources like new apps and organizational systems
- Opportunities for leadership growth
- New business practices and a fresh approach to solving challenges
STAYING CURRENT:
It broadens your horizons!
Mentoring offers what I call – Reverse Mentoring. In the traditional mentor-mentee relationship, mentors usually have many years of experience, while young entrepreneurs come with a fresh new perspective and a different set of skills. This can be invaluable and can start a lifelong relationship when the pairing of mentor and mentee share similar life and work values. (I have personally experienced this on numerous occasions, thank you mentees!)
STAYING FORWARD-FOCUSED:
When you leverage your skills and talents by utilizing them in a completely new environment you have the opportunity for personal and professional growth. It’s a chance to fine-tune your current skills and kickstart new ones. It’s a chance to step into a deeper leadership role and work on your learning edges which enhances your career development.
Mentoring broadens your reach in many ways. You connect to a whole new world of entrepreneurs, other coaches, and mentors, which I can tell you firsthand, can lead to exciting new opportunities.
In addition, I always recommend working with your own mentor and /or a coach/consultant that can offer a fresh new perspective, unbias feedback, and support.
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