The Importance Of Mentors

Mentoring seems like a pretty straightforward concept. Person A, the mentor, has been successful in some area of life, and Person B, the mentee, would very much like to be successful in that same area of life, so Person B asks Person A if they would be their mentor, and help Person B hopefully achieve similar or related success to Person A.

The road to actually entering into a mentoring relationship is generally a bit more bumpy, for several reasons. First, we, as humans, aren’t really fond of asking for help. It makes us look vulnerable, we have to admit that we are not where we want to be and ask for help from someone more successful than we are. Secondly, the potential mentor might not want to devote the time and mental energy to helping someone else along their same path. Thirdly, the logistics of how that mentoring occur (time, place, how often, what is included) can be complicated and must be worked out to the satisfaction of both parties, often a daunting task.

For Person B, this dance of seeking out a mentor and starting up a mentoring relationship can seem daunting, but it’s worth it if you find the right person to mentor you. A great mentor can be a valuable sounding board, advice-giver, accountability partner, and sometimes, they can see you better than you see yourself. For Person A, the reward is in helping someone else achieve what they’re dreaming of, and helping lift others the way others have lifted you.

I have been grateful for the mentors in my life who have spent many, many hours in dedicated mentoring conversations with me, encouraging me when I needed it, challenging me when I needed it even more, and generally providing the bumper padding I needed for the bowling lane of professional life, keeping me going the right direction. One of my mentors had a conversation with me several years ago about my professional potential that unlocked the courage for me to unclip my wings and fly to an entirely different industry and career and find my success in a new professional world, and I am forever grateful for that conversation and that ongoing mentoring relationship.

I have also very much enjoyed the time that I now spend mentoring others in leadership, startups, and professional skills-building, I learn so much from people who are just starting out in this professional space, and it’s a mutually enriching experience for both of us.

We all need the village of those who have gone before us and who are walking alongside us to help us reach the heights we are meant to reach. It turns out that we’re all connected, and investing in each other, teaching each other, and pushing each other makes us all better at navigating this complex world together. Find your mentors, and be a mentor for those in your community. We live in a complicated world full of challenging obstacles, but there is nothing we can’t solve together.