Why Having a Mentor Is Critical to Your Career
A mentor is someone who acts as an advisor and support person for someone less experienced. There are a variety of different shapes and forms of mentoring. The traditional mentoring framework is between an older employee and a younger one for the purpose of career development. Peer mentoring is where colleagues mentor each other. Reverse mentoring is where the traditional mentoring relationship is flipped - the younger professionals mentor the older professionals.
Regardless of the type of mentoring relationship, it’s focused on growth and development. Here are 4 reasons why you should consider getting a mentor to help your career.
1. Kickstart your professional development
With guidance and support from a mentor, it can help you stay focused on your career. It can also help you gain confidence, attain goals, and expand your personal network. Mentorship will lead to more self-discovery and help you find the correct career path, as well as help, grow your career. Mentorship will help guide you in creating goals for yourself. A mentor can help a mentee define what these may be. Having SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Sensitive - gives a purpose to mentoring.
2. Holds you accountable to achieve your goals
By defining goals for your professional career, mentors can help you stay focused on what you need to do to advance your career. These goals are also a way to measure the success of the mentorship. Without goals, a mentee has no direction and no plan to get where you want to go in the long run. A mentor helps keep you on track and will hold you accountable for achieving these goals. It provides the motivation needed for mentees that many lacks.
3. Develops your leadership skills
Mentors can cultivate leadership skills such as listening, compassion, and receiving feedback. Participants develop these skills by using them in the relationship. Many mentees also found that they experienced increased self-efficacy and the ability to seek support when needed because of the peer mentoring they engaged in. The ability to lean on someone else for guidance, and support and to have one-on-one conversations with them is priceless when it comes to helping your professional development.
4. Expands your network
Through mentorship, mentees can expand their network and gain access to other communities. Mentors can share their connections directly with mentees. Alternatively, a mentor may introduce a mentee to individuals that help with your career development or goals. This further increases the mentee’s confidence because they can get out of their comfort zone while developing skills and gaining access to new opportunities.
Get Involved with Latinicida Mentoring
At Latinicida, we offer mentorship services for Latinas across the US. We can connect you with a mentor that understands your journey and can help guide you in the right direction. Contact us or fill out our mentorship form today to get started.