MENTORING
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Mentoring is an effective way to take charge of your learning process.

As you find out what you need to know to have a successful and profitable business, which is what this program is about, you can use one or more mentors to help you develop the skills, attitudes and values that you need as a professional.

What is a mentoring relationship?

A mentoring relationship is a carefully planned strategy to assist you with your learning objectives.

• It is an intentional relationship with timelines and objectives.

• It is structured to speed up your learning process.

• It works best when both you and your mentor are willing to consider new ideas and new ways of doing things while also drawing on your mentor's depth of experience to clarify and evaluate them.

What is a mentor?

A mentor is an experienced and very competent professional who is willing and able to spend time with you on a regular basis, to help you think about your professional activities, define ways to grow your professional attributes, and give you useful feedback about how you are doing.

Often a mentor is a more senior person in your industry (even a competitor), but that does not have to be the case. He/she could be a person from outside your association. The key is that the mentor has the professional attributes that you wish to develop, and is willing to participate.

A mentor can play a number of roles:

• Help you increase your expertise and skills.

• Reflect back to you and help you shape your attitudes and values.

• Give you access to information.

• Help you build a network and gain visibility for business development

• Learn from you.

• Listen and give encouragement.

What makes mentoring rewarding to you and your mentor?

WHEN BOTH OF YOU CLEARLY UNDERSTANDS:

• what mentoring is,

• what you are seeking to achieve and become, and

• what responsibilities each has in the relationship.

You should have these definitions before you approach someone about becoming your mentor, and the early meetings that you have will focus on clarifying those three things.

WHEN YOU AGREE ON AN ACTION PLAN, WHICH INCLUDES

• When and where you will meet and how you will use other forms of communication between meetings.

• A sequence of topics or agendas that capture what you are seeking to achieve.

WHEN YOU AND YOUR MENTOR HAVE A GOOD FIT IN PARTICULAR:

• you feel that you can learn from this person, and

• this person wants to dedicate time and share knowledge to help you grow.

How do you get started?

• Be very sure that you are willing to communicate openly and honestly with a mentor in all topics that might arise.

• Review the above points carefully, and prepare a written framework for the relationship, including a series of agendas.

• Select the person you want as a mentor, which might involve getting advice from your Association

More information about mentoring

Can a Mentor Further Advance a Career?
http://www.smartbiz.com/sbs/arts/mos42.htm