COO at Orpheus Cyber, Cyber Security Awards and American Cyber Awards Judge, Industry Speaker.
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Mentoring has some amazing career benefits, for both mentor and mentee. While the world hopes we see some return to normalcy in 2021, it is likely that the workplace restrictions we have been in will continue for some time longer, and possible that the workplace has been forever changed. Getting ahead in your career in 2020 has been challenging. Not only have there been fewer jobs, but our ability to network, a key career move, has been made much more difficult. Even personal development within our current roles has been made harder as the majority of our interactions are done remotely. Here is where mentoring can fill the gap.
Obtaining a mentor is a great way to develop your own skills and your network. Your mentor will be actively looking for ways they can help you, and that will include making introductions to people in their network. Often, they will be external to your organization or they will at least not be responsible for your day-to-day work. This allows you to be more honest with your concerns and receive some useful feedback on areas you are concerned about.
Mentoring can also have great benefits for those in senior roles. We tend to think of mentoring as being reserved for junior professionals trying to work out how to get ahead, but this isn't exclusive to them. Often, as we become more senior, we stop investing in our own development and aren't routinely given access to personal development at work. Mentoring can fill the gaps that we experience here. Reverse mentoring is also something to consider, where more junior staff members can help keep senior team members informed of the concerns they have as well as new technological developments.
Becoming a mentor is also a great strategy for professional development. While we tend to think of mentoring as a way to give back, it also has benefits for those undertaking the role. It can be a way of developing your leadership and coaching skills that may not exist in your full-time position. If the person you mentor is in a different business area to you, you may gain exposure to issues that are facing that industry. Hopefully, you will have the answers to the issues your mentee is facing and remembering the basics can be useful to remind ourselves of such situations and how they can apply to our own.
Three Key Steps To Finding A Mentor
Although Sheryl Sandberg famously advised against it, asking people for their advice is essential. This doesn't have to be via a formal mentor request. Some of my key mentors are people who have answered my ad hoc requests for advice, rather than committing to anything formal. Finding someone you already have a relationship with, rather than a total stranger, could yield more success — but if you don't ask, the answer will always be no.
Use mentoring schemes. So many professional bodies and networking groups have mentoring schemes in place. These generally run a couple of times a year, and the group will put out a call for mentors and mentees. A really good program will ask what your goals are so they can match you with the best possible person. It may also offer guidance to mentors on how often to meet and topics to discuss at each meeting. These programs can be great in helping you achieve specific goals. If a group you are a part of doesn't have one, perhaps consider suggesting they implement one. You can start small and test what format works best for the people involved and the goals you want to achieve with the scheme.
There are also many mentoring schemes or people offering their help on social media. Searching for these should be easy to do. Use hashtags like #mentoring on any social media site to explore a huge number of groups and individuals. LinkedIn allows you to filter for posts made by your connections which can help you separate those who run mentoring programs for people you already know. Create a saved search for this to alert you to any new programs you could apply to. If you are looking for mentees for yourself, putting out a post that says you are open to helping (with some guidelines on how much time you can dedicate to people) is sure to be inundated with people taking you up on the offer.
Mentoring has benefits for all involved. It's great for networking, professional development and, in our current situation, to have some additional contact with the outside world. It's important to remember that mentors don't do the work for their mentees. Mentoring is a resolution that requires action and commitment and comes with the benefit of having someone keep you accountable.
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