How Mentoring Will Help You To Improve Your Performance

In this time of technological advancement finding information and resources to help us develop isn’t a problem, they are everywhere. The problem is now sifting through this information. Online we can find expert videos, blogs, articles and white papers. Offline there are books, newsletters and magazines. There is a never-ending stream of advice, opinions and expertise at our fingertips, all at the click of a mouse. In truth trying to cut through the sheer volume of advice and information can be exhausting and confusing!

So who can we go to for wisdom we can trust? Where can we turn for experienced advice to help us achieve stronger performance? Increasingly, the answer is, mentors.

In this rapidly changing world it is important to be self-aware and plan for your career. Although plans can change and flexibility is a key advantage in the current job market, knowing your strengths and areas where you need improvement and the general direction you would like to take are key elements to success. This is where a mentor can help.

Mentors serve as guides and teachers, providing a good, reliable sounding board, a second opinion and support. We learn from their experience, their mistakes and their successes. And we often gain access to their (usually extensive) network of decision-makers.

“Mentoring makes a difference”

That’s what 82 percent of women professionals who participated in a LinkedIn study say, calling mentorship a “critical component” of career success.

Mentors are important agents in facilitating career mobility and professional fulfilment. They can provide a unique perspective and advice and can make the difference between a promising candidate and a successful one. Those fortunate enough to have benefitted from good mentors know this instinctively to be true.

The most powerful executives acknowledge their mentors. For example, technology executive and Lean In author Sheryl Sandberg pays homage to her mentor, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, for whom she worked in pre-Facebook days.

Mentoring plays a particularly important role in advancement of young professionals. They may be reluctant to ask for assistance and thus may not develop the skills and tools necessary for advancement.

Study after study demonstrates the importance of mentoring in education. Higher graduation rates are touted as a major benefit.

Mentoring can make an impact, and thus positively influence career advancement by:

• Fostering skills development
• Offering exposure and visibility
• Promoting mentees within an industry
• Acting as a role model
• Increasing the mentee’s confidence levels and aspiration to higher levels of success.

So what are you waiting for? Start improving your performance today and Find Your Mentor.